Open Education Resource Policy Adoption in Tanzania Higher Learning Institutions: A Literature Review

Authors

Beth KachotaFollow

Abstract

Recently and particularly in Tanzania higher learning institutions have experienced significant trends in the adoption of open education resources and exponentially advanced towards the application of open education policy and guidance. Open education resource policies are essential tools in guiding, using, sharing, and modifying online resource practice This study used a survey design to assess open education resource policy adoption in Tanzania higher learning institutions. Specifically, areas related to the availability of open education resource policy; community awareness of open education resource policy, and implementation of open education resource policy in higher learning institutions were addressed. The survey involved five purposely selected public higher learning institutions, SUA, OUT, NM-AIST, MU, and MoCU based on their long experience in education, programs offered, and widely extended campuses throughout the country distance learning that demands comprehensive open education resources policy. The findings reveal that most higher learning lacks open education resource policy except for the Open University of Tanzania, which was based on providing distance learning. Instead, most institutions have a repository policy available online and easily accessed from respective pages. However, policies are not reviewed, which can result in inconsistent practice and the use of old software versions, which can lead to human errors and sometimes system failure. Thus, the study recommends policy review and upgrade of software systems to encourage the creation, access, re-use re-purpose, and redistribution of quality OERs to support teaching and learning practice.