COL COVID-19 Response

As the COVID-19 pandemic has spread, millions of learners and educational institutions globally have had to make rapid, unforeseen changes to how they run their learning programmes. Face-to-face teaching and learning have become impossible in many countries and there is uncertainty over when educational institutions will reopen their doors. This may have long-term effects on school programmes, examinations, and most importantly, learning

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many educators and learners to explore new resources in remote learning. It also places much greater emphasis on learners being able to engage with educational resources as the primary mode of learning. OER provides a great opportunity in ensuring that quality educational resources are accessible to learners and educators. 

OER include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, videos, assessments, software, tools, materials, and techniques used to support access to information. 

Below are some initiatives  undertaken during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. 

• How can governments and institutions operationalize the OER Recommendation? (19 November 2020)

• How can you use MOOCs in your teaching? (21 October 2020)

• Online assessment: How do we know if students are learning? (18 September 2020)

• UNESCO’s OER Recommendation Dynamic Coalition Consultations: The way forward (26 August 2020)

• The Open COVID Pledge for Education (12 August 2020)

• How can OpenCourseWare help you to improve your courses?(16 July 2020)

• Evaluating Open Content (2 July 2020)

• Adapting Open Content (25 June 2020)

• Sharing Africa’s knowledge through open data (18 June 2020)

• Sharing Africa’s knowledge through openly licensed publishing (11 June 2020)

• Podcast: OER and their Relevance to the COVID-19 pandemic (5 June 2020)

• Sharing Africa’s knowledge through open African research repositories (29 May 2020)

• Emergency Remote Teaching Webinar Series – All resources available (18 May 2020)

• OER Repositories in Africa (8 May, 2020)

• How to Find Open Content (30 April, 2020)

• Online (and offline) reading resources for children (23 April, 2020)

• Showcasing OER Platforms: OER Africa (15 April, 2020)

• Understanding OER in a Context that Necessitates Remote Learning (9 April 2020)

• OER Africa COVID-19 Statement (3 April, 2020)