1. AN OVERVIEW OF THE STRATEGIC OER POSITIONING OF THE ONLY DEDICATED ODL UNIVERSITY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA Presentation to OER Asia Symposium September 2012 Kerry de Hart & Truida Oosthuizen

2. UNISA - background “towards THE African university in the service of humanity” South Africa’s only dedicated distance education university

3. South African education environment Technology enables UNISA as ODeL institution Shortage of academics Burgeoning numbers of students draft Policy Framework on Distance Education in South African universities May 2012

4. UNISA and OER  Policies and official documents  Contributions to OER  Practice  Web presence  Other expressions

5. Policies and official documents Since 2010, 4 policies which specifically mention OER 21 of 27 policies reviewed disregard facets of OER Some policies even hamper the adoption of OER It is the authors’ recommendation that all old policies need to be revisited so that all procedures in the university are aligned and talk to the strategic thrust of the university and guide the institution on the path that it should be taking.

6. The Unisa OER trajectory Exploring OER Three phase study DISA 2011 Engage the community OER Strategy Workshop March 2012 Engaging with government’s approach to OER Green Paper - PSET Draft DE Policy OER World Congress Examining the policy direction 2012 OER Strategy Development Task Team 2012 UNISA OER STRATEGY Council Senate Slide – Liz Archer, OER at Unisa- reflections on the journey

7. Contributions & Practice Econ Tutor Life consumer science Household food security Learn to speak an African language Ethics in Accounting SATEA About Econ Tutor This is an initiative of the Department of Economics at the University of South Africa to provide teachers and learners of economics with teaching and learning resources. econom.co.za/

8. UNISA, OER and the web

9. Other VICE- CHANCELLOR Prof Mandla Makhanya VICE- CHANCELLOR Prof Mandla Makhanya PRO VICE- CHANCELLOR Prof Narend Baijnath PRO VICE- CHANCELLOR Prof Narend Baijnath Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities 2012 WORLD OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) CONGRESS UNESCO, PARIS, JUNE 20-22, 2012 2012 PARIS OER DECLARATION

10. Conclusion All indications are that UNISA is committed to the OER movement. By using and contributing towards OER’s, UNISA can be a conduit through which education can become the right and responsibility of the masses, not without challenges – however as an institution we are ready to embrace them.

11. Thank you for your attention Contact: Kerry de Hart Department of Taxation, Unisa dhartkl@unisa.ac.za Truida Oosthuizen Manager: CEMs Tuition and Quality Assurance, Unisa Toostuiz@unisa.ac.za