Dealing in Disruption - OA policy in an African context

Dealing in Disruption

Some rights reserved by barbourianeBooks, universities and publishers in a digital

age

We all know that we face a radically changing

environment

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Disruption Attribution Some rights reserved by sjcockell

…in which the web is changing everything

The defining feature of print books – they have covers, marking a beginning and an end

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A scarcity model – the important thing is

containing expensive-to-produce knowledge

for publication

http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveyll/332723930

Filters matter in

this context

Filtering OUT…

In this world, publication is a

critical component of

knowledge production

Knowledge was the result of winnowing, as was what made it through the

editorial process. Knowledge was that which was settled... While knowledge

was of course contextual and related to its sources, its expression was in

discrete units that try to encapsulate everything the reader needs to know…

David Weinberger http://projectinfolit.org/st/weinberger.asp

Individual End-to-end

Packaged

StaticLinear

© ClosedAuthoritative

Hierarchical

Print media

Top-down

20th century - consolidation of global media industries

Worldmapper: Books publishedhttp://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=343

In South Africa

Homogenisation of content, market dominance by large multinationals.

Local publishing concentrated in large undergraduate classes.

Overall, a shortage of locally relevant content.

Can we celebrate digital media as a route to new,

more expansive opportunities?

The trajectory of change

Availability of e-textbooks and customisation options

The horseless carriage – the

e-reader

…has its advantages…

http://www.jonmccormack.com/blog/?p=835

A more collaborative, interactive model emerges

Apple iPad interactive textbooks

But there are serious barriers to our

access to these and other powerful educational tools

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music2work2

“This title is not

available in your

location, Africa”

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Dysfunctional business

models are encouraging

piracy

E-books need a seamless, worldwide,

customer-focused market

And in the universities?

Research is increasingly networked and collaborative

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Working with a deluge of data

Collaborative

Granular

Hyperlinked

Interactive

Disaggregated

Social Integrated

OpenInteroperable

Digital knowledge

Now knowledge occurs on a capacious network characterized by links. It’s thus taking on a shape that reflects its new medium. Deeply linked, incomplete,

inconsistent, in multiple-voices, unsettled, bottom up as well as top

down, multiple curated. Knowledge now looks like a network (of the Internet sort

specifically) because it is a network.

David Weinberger http://projectinfolit.org/st/weinberger.aspSee Weinberger, D (2012) Too Big to Know. New York, Basic Books

Publishing/communication in

this environment is continuous, no longer the final,

fixed output

The lines between research output

and teaching materials are

becoming more fluid

Students are online, accessing course materials

in multiple media

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They will need to learn how to find,

sift and select information

More than 90% of UCT students have at least one course delivered on the LMS,

Vula.

There will be increasing

demands for integrated textbook

materials, flexibly licensed

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mararie/3313582639/ CC-BY-SA

OA and OER are now becoming widely adopted worldwide and is supported by

international, regional and national policies

UNESCO supports OER national policy development

UNESCO is convening regional policy workshops

Open Aire in the EU

The UK hires Jimmy Wales to advise on OA policy

WiLLGT09

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported WiLLGT09

‘The goal of attaining meaningful post school education will be supported by the development and sharing of well designed high quality learning resources that build on the expertise and experience of top quality scholars and educators. ‘

The SA Green Paper on Post-School Education and Training

These resources should be made freely available as Open Education Resources (OER) for use with appropriate adaptation. This would be in line with a growing international movement …supported heavily by organisations such as UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning. http://www.dhet.gov.za/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=yhGLBBQZBzM=&tabid=36&mid=1071

Licensing frameworks will be needed and institutional IP policies that include open licensing , in the light of the Green Paper

provision for’ an overarching policy framework on IP and copyright in higher

education’.

Empowerment through collaboratio

n – new partnership

s will be needed

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What is developing…

“The combination of free access to world-class textbooks and the flexibility to

modify the material exactly to our needs makes Flat World Knowledge ideal for

pairing with the OCW Scholar courses,” remarked MIT OpenCourseWare

Executive Director Cecilia d’Oliveira.

What partnerships are waiting to develop in

South Africa?

Paper delivered at e-Textbooks – Tools of Change for the Digital Migrant Teaching the Digital

Native

Van Schaik Bookstores Conference 10 May 2012

Eve Gray Scholarly Communication in

Africa ProgrammeUniversity of Cape Town

http://www.gray-area.co.za

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