Abstract
<p style="text-align:justify">Open educational resources (OER) are an innovation coined to bridge the educational divide by providing free quality learning resources. Consequently, this study explored the perception of the Namibian open and distance learning institutions' perception of the use of OER as a pedagogical approach. The study focused on faculty members from the three public ODL institutions in Namibia. Integrated theories with a qualitative case study and interpretivist paradigm underpin this study. Qualitative methodologies were used to collect and analyse data. This study showed an inconsistency between the faculty members' perceptions and OER use within the ODL institutions in Namibia. Although the faculty members displayed positive attitudes towards the use of OER, very little has been achieved in the use of OER within the institutions for the benefit of the Namibian ODL students. The study identified various challenges that impede OER adoption at the institutional level. Recommendations were formulated to address the identified challenges.</p>
Highlights
In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the field of open educational resources (OER) as a powerful tool to increase equitable access to quality educational resources and to promote technology-enabled learning
The following research questions were posed: To what extent faculty members empowered to use Open educational resources (OER) is? What are the views of faculty members regarding the use of OER in facilitating learning? Three themes were identified from the research questions, namely, 1) OER competency, 2) use of OER by faculty members, and 3) views of faculty members on the use of OER in teaching and learning
This study discovered that faculty members of the Namibian open distance learning (ODL) institutions lack professional competency in the OER as a pedagogical approach
Summary
There has been an increasing interest in the field of open educational resources (OER) as a powerful tool to increase equitable access to quality educational resources and to promote technology-enabled learning. Through the ratification of the Paris declaration, the Namibian government promotes the development and use of OER within the education system in the country. OER is primarily accessible via the internet increases flexibility in education by allowing learning to take place anywhere, anytime, and at no cost (Onaifo, 2016). OER supports the open distance learning (ODL) system, characterised by flexible learning methodologies. In developing countries, OER can provide more comprehensive access to education to those in disadvantaged situations or who live in remote areas and cannot join educational institutions (Butcher, 2015;)
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