Technology and Open Learning: The Potential of Open Education Resources for K-12 Education

Abstract

The growth of distance education methods of delivery was a key feature of education in the twentieth century and continues still. Three primary reasons for this trend can be identified. First, the need has grown to provide access to students who would – either because of work commitments, geographical distance, or poor quality or inadequate prior learning experiences – be denied access to traditional, full-time contact education. Second, it has been necessary to expand access to education to significantly larger numbers of learners. Third, there has been a need to shift patterns of expenditure to achieve economies of scale by amortizing identified costs over time and large student numbers (SAIDE, 2002, 2004). In African contexts, these drivers are often underpinned by the need to transform education systems that have been ravaged by colonial histories and political instability. In the K-12 sector, many countries around the world, when faced with problems of learner access to the conventional schooling systems, have implemented some or other form of Open School as a response to these problems...