An outcome of the Pacific Region OER Consultation

1. 1
PACIFIC REGION OPEN EDUCATIONAL
RESOURCES
WORKING GROUP
PHOTOGRAPH BY COMMONWEALTH OF LEARNING, 2017.
Pacific Region OER Strategic
Paper

2. 2
Pacific Center for Flexible and Open Learning for Development, USP, 2017.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License.
Pacific Center for Flexible and Open Learning for Development, 2017
Any part of this document may be reproduced without permission, but with attribution to
USP Pacific Center for Flexible and Open Learning for Development (PACFOLD).
CC-BY-SA (share alike with attribution).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
If you have any queries about this report, please contact:
Matai Tagicaki
Project Officer
PACFOLD
University of the South Pacific
Statham Campus
Laucala, Suva
FIJI.
tagicaki_m@usp.ac.fj

3. 3
CONTENT
ACRONYMS & ABBREVIATIONS Page 4
Background Page 5
Purpose Page 5
Strategic Statement Page 6

4. 4
ACRONYMS & ABBREVIATIONS
1. OER Open Educational Resources
2. ROER Regional Open Educational Resources
3. OEP Open Education Practice
4. UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation
5. COL Commonwealth of Learning
6. FEdMM Forum Education Ministers Meeting
7. Open Pedagogy Teaching and learning practices motivated by the practice
of OER

5. 5
Background
The Pacific Region OER Strategic Paper is in response to the Pacific Regional Consultation on
Open Educational Resources (RCOER) held in Auckland New Zealand, June 29th
and 30th
,
2017. The RCOER participants consisted of members representing stakeholders within the
region and partners from COL, UNESCO and the Slovenian Government.
The Regional OER Consultations was facilitated by the Commonwealth of Learning for six
regions. This was done in the lead up to the 2nd
World Open Educational Resources (OER)
Congress, held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from 18th
to 20th
September 2017. The Regional
Consultations were organised in partnership with UNESCO and the Government of Slovenia,
with the support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The consultation theme, “OER for
inclusive and Equitable Quality Education: From Commitment to Action”, reflects OER focus in
achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4).
In attendance were the Slovenian government, UNESCO, UNESCO Chair for OER and Open
Learning, Minister for Education Kiribati, PS Education Kiribati, President of COL, CEO and VP
of COL, Chair of the COL Board of Governors, COL Focal Point from Samoa, COL Focal Point
from Tonga, Representative of the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat, Chief Executive Open
Polytechnic New Zealand, Tasmania University representative, Swinburne University
Representative, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade New Zealand, UNESCO/ICDE Chair in
OER, OER Foundation , Commonwealth of Learning Chair in OER, Otago Polytechnic, PNG
University formed the consultation forum. It was suggested and agreed that the consultation
group also form the Pacific Region OER Working Group.
The Pacific Center for Flexible and Open Learning for Development (PACFOLD) was tasked by
the Pacific Region OER Group to initiate a Pacific OER strategy paper which may be tabled at
the next FEdMM through the office of the Minister for Education Kiribati.
Purpose
This Paper aims to encourage engagement, participation, advocacy, awareness and capacity
building for Open Educational Resources within the Pacific region
OER is defined to be Educational Resources in any and all format that is licensed openly, as in
Creative Commons Licenses, that encourages a learning culture which is collaborative,
inclusive, equitable, accessible, affordable and free. The 21st
century culture of Open Pedagogy
through Open Learning is substantiated by David Wiley’s 5R
(https://opencontent.org/blog/archives/2975, 2017) that characteristically describes OER as:
1. Free to access
2. Free to use
3. Free to revise
4. Free to remix
5. Free to redistribute
Open Educational Resources suggests more than just access to free and affordable quality
learning resources. OER may be used to gain maximum quality learning outcomes, research
for contextualization, invigorates constructive thinking and as a human right to access
education, OER is a platform for inclusivity and equitability.

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This document also intends to align with the Pacific ODFL Framework through Priority Area 5;
Educational Resources, recognizing that most PICTs lack access to quality, affordable and up
to date Educational Resources. In support of Pacific Island Leaders responses through FAIDP
which further underpins ICT’s role within the Pacific region in its focus on education,
emphasizing efficient, effective and equitable access to quality education; Contributing to
Pacific Island Leaders vision in implementing goals of the Framework for Pacific Regionalism,
intended to develop law abiding citizens who are empowered economically and socially, stand
for good governance, social justice and advocate sustainable development through
regionalism.
Strategic Statement
Vision:
Open Educational Resources as enabling Instruments that supports inclusive and equitable
education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all in the Pacific Region.
Strategic Goals:
1. Government and national education stakeholders adopt and mainstream OER
through institutional policies and participate in best practices.
2. Equitable access to free and affordable, inclusive and quality educational resources.
SUGGESTED STRATEGIC PATHWAY for PACIFIC OER
Priority: Building Capacity in the Pacific for Open Educational Resources - Adopt Open
Educational Resources as a Pacific Region mainstream instrument for equitable and inclusive
education for lifelong learning and a sustainable future.
CHALLENGES STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES SUCCESS INDICATORS
Continuous advocacy and
awareness of OER -
Government and other
education providers may need
to take up a more engaging,
responsive and active role.
Lack of capacity building with
national governments -
Governments have an
obligation to its citizens to
ensure that education is made
accessible, free, and
affordable for all. OER is an
enabling tool.
Relevant policy and adequate
financial resources for digital
1. Foster awareness
and use of OER
 OER a component in teacher
training.
 OER a component of
Curriculum Development,
MoE.
 OER used as curriculum
resources
2. Facilitate enabling
environments for use
of ICT
 Internet more accessible and
affordable.
 Developed national ICT
infrastructure
 National sustainable ICT
development strategic plan
 Use of offline digital devices
to access OER
3. Develop strategies
and policies on OER
 Deliver National OER Policy.
 OER reflected in National
Education Strategic
Development Plan.

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infrastructure - Governments
needs to play an engaging
and active role in ensuring its
citizens access OER as an
enabler for quality education.
Access to connectivity and
power, insufficient ICT
infrastructure - Governments
and ICT Providers must work
in collaboration for the best
interest of its citizens.
Possible gaps in National
strategic planning and
prioritization - National
strategic planning documents
could address the need for
accessing free, affordable and
quality learning resources
through OER. Align to
Regional Framework and
policies.
Lack of demand from
development partners -
Government could align
National strategic plans to
global approach to attract
donors and other external
support.
4. Understand the use
of open licensing
frameworks
 Active advocacy and public
awareness on Open
Licensing.
 Active National awareness
programs within all
government departments.
5. Build HR capacity in
the sustainable
development of
quality learning
materials
 National OER Quality
assurance/peer review and
assessment/accreditation
framework
6. Foster strategic
alliances for OER
 Established network of best
practitioners in OER.
 Established research
network.
 Global participant in OER
developments.
7. Development OER in
a variety of Pacific
languages and
cultural contexts
 Publish OER in cultural
language and context.
 Adapt relevant OER to
cultural context.
8. Encourage research
on OER
 Adopted best practices in
OER.
 Established network of OER
contributors.
9. Facilitate funding,
retrieving and
sharing of OER
 Established funding model
 Use of Open standards and
user-friendly tools.
10. All publicly funded
government
educational
resources Openly
Licensed under
Creative Commons.
 National Open Licensing
Policy
 Educational resources
published under Creative
Commons Licensing
 All publically funded
educational resources are
adapted as OER.

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11. Establish a Pacific
Region Federation of
OER Repository
 Develop national OER
repository
 Establish interface with
Pacific Federation of OER
Repository
 Access all Pacific Island
nations OER repository
through Pacific Federation of
OER Repository.
 Pacific region OER
repositories collectively
merge online through an
information retrieval
technology that allows the
simultaneous search of
multiple searchable
resources.