Women’s empowerment through openness: OER, OEP and the Sustainable Development Goals
ARTICLE
Leigh-Anne Perryman, Beatriz de los Arcos, The Open University
Open Praxis Volume 8, Number 2, ISSN 1369-9997 e-ISSN 1369-9997 Publisher: International Council for Open and Distance Education
Abstract
This paper explores the potential of open educational resources (OER) and open educational practices (OEP) in helping achieve women’s empowerment in the developing world. Our evidence comprises the Open Education Research Hub open dataset, featuring survey responses from 7,700 educators, formal and informal learners from 175 countries concerning the use of OER, the barriers faced in respect of OER adoption and OEP engagement, and the perceived impact of OER on teaching practices. Our findings indicate that OER and OEP can give women a voice, access to information and education, and the opportunity to connect with peers and train others. However, they also highlight extreme inequalities in digital empowerment and extensive technological barriers to digital participation. We argue that while such technological barriers certainly need removing, the potential of openness can only fully be realised when ‘offline’ societal and economic barriers to women’s empowerment are also minimised.
Citation
Perryman, L.A. & de los Arcos, B. (2016). Women’s empowerment through openness: OER, OEP and the Sustainable Development Goals. Open Praxis, 8(2), 163-180. International Council for Open and Distance Education. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/173545/.
Keywords
References
View References & Citations Map- Glennie, J., Harley, K., Butcher, N. & Van Wyk, T. (2012). Open Educational Resources and Change in Higher Education: Reflections from Practice. Vancouver: Commonwealth of Learning. Retrieved from http://www.col.org/PublicationDocuments/pub_PS_OER_web.pdf Gurumurthy, A. & Chami, N. (2014). Gender equality in the information society: a review of current literature and recommendations for policy and practice. IT for Change& BRIDGE. Retrieved from http://www.gender-is-citizenship.net/women-and-governance/sites/gender-is-citizenship.
- Kabeer, N. (1999). Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women’s Empowerment. Development and Change, 30, 435–464. Retrieved from https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~kmacd/IDSC10/Readings/research%20design/empowerment.pdf
- Open Knowledge Foundation (2014). Do open educational resources have to be online? Open Education Handbook. Retrieved from http://booktype.okfn.org/open-education-handbook/_ Draft/_v/1.0/do-open-educational-resources-have-to-be-online/
- O’Neil, T., Domingo, P. & Valters, C. (2014). Progress on Women’s empowerment: From technical fixes to political action. Development Progress Working Paper 06. Retrieved from http://www.developmentprogress.org/sites/developmentprogress.org/files/case-study-report/progress_on_Womens_empowerment_-_from_technical_fixes_to_political_action_final_-_20-11-14.pdf
- Perryman, L. (2013). Addressing a national crisis in learning: open educational resources, teachereducation in India and the role of online communities of practice. Seventh Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF7), 2–6 Dec 2013, Abuja, Nigeria. Retrieved from http://oro.open.ac.uk/39658/1/Addressing%20a%20national%20crisis%20in%20learning%20PCF7.pdf
- Perryman, L., Buckler, A. & Seal, T. (2014). Learning from TESS-India’s Approach to OER Localisation Across Multiple Indian States. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2014(2), 7.
- Perryman, L. & Lesperance, J. (2015). Collaborating across borders: OER use and open educational practices within the Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth. Open Education Global Conference 2015, 22–24 April, 2015, Banff, Alberta, Canada. Retrieved from http://oro.open.ac.uk/43344
- Perryman, L. & Seal, T. (2015). Open educational practices and attitudes to openness across India: reporting the findings of the OER Research Hub pan-India survey. OER15, 14–15 April 2015, Cardiff. Retrieved from http://oro.open.ac.uk/43345 Potnis, D. (2015). Inequalities creating economic barriers to owning mobile phones in India: Factors responsible for the gender digital divide. Information Development, 1–11. Http://dx.doi.org/
- Sandys, E. (2005). Women 2000 and Beyond, Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women Through ICT, United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/public/w2000-09.05-ict-E.pdf Sen, A. (1999). Development As Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- UNESCO (2015). Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2015: Gender and EFA 2000–2015 achievements and challenges. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002348/ 234809E.pdf?new
- Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: learning, meaning and identity. London: Cambridge University Press.
- WorldWide Web Foundation (2015). Women’s Rights Online: Translating Access into Empowerment. Retrieved from http://webfoundation.org/about/research/womens-rights-online-2015/
These references have been extracted automatically and may have some errors. Signed in users can suggest corrections to these mistakes.
Suggest Corrections to References