Open Educational Resources in Mongolia: Current situation, Challenges and Initiatives The International Conference IITE-2010 ICTs in Teacher Education: Policy, Open Educational Resources and Partnership November 15 -16, 2010 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation Baatar OCHIRBAT Professor of CSMS, Mongolian University of Science and Technology, Mongolia
CONTENTS Open Education Resources (QER) in Mongolia :
Introduction - Opportunities - Challenges - Initiatives Conclusions
INTRODUCTION Today many of Asian countries are undergoing massive change. Open and Distance Learning is one of the main features of education in the new century. Asia has the largest number of adult ODL learners in the world. --The Open Learning is the most optimal way of delivering flexible, open, accessible, and efficient education services that are not limited by time and space. New methods and technologies based on progressive achievements of information and communication technology are especially important to Mongolia with vast territories and a small population.
INTRODUCTION Mongolia Mongolia is a large landlocked country in central Asia, with a population of 2.7 million in a country of 1.6 million square kilometres. (half the size of India). --Mongolia is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. The population is 52.4 percent urban and 47.5 percent rural, and half is under the age of 20. --About a third of the rural population live in provincial or district centres; the remaining two-thirds live a nomadic or semi-nomadic life. ---
INTRODUCTION Mongolian Government is taking measures to choose and introduce the most convenient, efficient and less expensive ODL solutions to fit in Mongolia by utilizing international experience on open and distance learning. --Mongolia now spends perhaps 20 per cent of own national budgets on education. --UNESCO always supports and cooperates with Mongolian Government such as ICTA and some private ICT sector in this field. --Mongolia and UNESCO are long-standing partners in the area of Open and Distance Learning
OPPORTUNITY 1 Key Laws on ICT : 1995 – Law on Communications 1999 – Law on Radio Wave 2000- Concept to develop ICT in Mongolia by year 2010 2001 – Revised law on Communications 2002 – Mid – term strategy to development ICT 2003 – Law on Post 2005 – E-Government Master Plan 2005 – E- Mongolia National Program 2008 – National Program to Establish registration and Information Unified System 2008 – Master plan for develop outsourcing
OPPORTUNITY 2 E- MONGOLIA NATIONAL PROGRAM :
7
OPPORTUNITY 3 Use of combinations of various technologies Infrastructure Development and Technological Advancement of Mongolia --Correspondence study, audio, video, broadcasting, computer/Internet and mobile technologies, and/or satellites --Well understood the strengths and limitations of various technologies --Such varieties enable all levels of people to reach education
OPPORTUNITY 4 Use of combinations of various technologies A large and growing number of dual-mode providers New virtual consortia, open schools and non-formal institutions/ NGOs, Provide DE/ICT for rural populations Examples: UNESCO/DANIDA – DE for Gobi Women to teach literacy and numeracy ; livestock rearing, business skills and other topics But ‌computing cannot benefit where infrastructure is not in place. Mix of the old and new technologies works better than digital technologies alone
OPPORTUNITY 5 ICT development In Mongolia, growth of infrastructure / high internet connection / possible costs / digital divide --Mobile service – 2.016.738 users --Internet usage rate * : Users in 2000-- 30000, Users in 2009 –106480, Presentation rate(% of population) is 10,7 % --ICT development and adoption in Mongolia offers great opportunities for DE policy makers and educators to reach out to more rural populations. * - Asian Internet usage and penetration rates
CHALLENGE 1 Quality Assurance Some still equate quality in education with history, tradition, exclusivity, generous resource provision and intense student-teacher contact --Not as ‘second chance education’ but as ‘second rate education’ --QA approaches to DE/e-learning to be developed --Urgent need for quality assurance, quality enhancement/improvement of DE in Mongolia --QA for non-formal DE also important
CHALLENGE 1 •Physiological
barrier. Educational managers, teachers and learners have a physiological barrier about e-learning. Promotional and advertisement programs need to be done. •The policy and regulations on e-learning are not clear expecting for the “E-Mongolia” program. •Theoretical and methodological research is needed. Lack of national distance learning, e-learning researchers and methodologists. •Lack of knowledge on e-learning standards. •Digitizing of print materials. •Copyright and security. •Lack of English knowledge. As well as general knowledge, the ICT skills of English are essential.
CHALLENGE 2 Cultural diversity -
-
Difference in ways of teaching and learning: Mongolians prefer TV and tele-lecturing over impersonal text on the Internet and asynchronous online conferencing --Face-to-face components important --Teacher-led instruction expected --Group-based, teacher-dominated and centrally organised pedagogy --Blended approach preferred
CHALLENGE 3 Capacity building and Leadership Alike as in many Asian DE institutions, in Mongolia - staff development in ICT-supported DE pedagogy limited by time, money, scope and a shortage of trainers --DE leaders, top managers, ICT coordinators and departmental heads –transformative leadership and commitment to new policy direction
CHALLENGE 4 Ethical issues in ICT uses Several studies conducted in Mongolian context conclude that there is need to: Further investigate ICT-related ethical issues in the context of Mongolian DE/e-learning --Establish appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks at national level --Develop action guidelines at institutional level --Teach staff and students about the ethical use of ICT
INITIATIVES Open Educational Resources (OERs) A pool of open educational resources (OERs), another great opportunity for Mongolian DE to provide quality education at low cost. --OER Commons - full courses, course modules, syllabi, lectures, homework assignments, quizzes, lab and classroom activities, pedagogical materials, games, simulations, and more resources --Need to the Open Courseware Consortium (CC)
INITIATIVES Open Educational Resources (OERs) Many IT companies and some government organizations are making use of open source software. --A new Mongolian open source content management system called MAUS is being developed based on the Joomla open source content management system. --However, use of open source software among non-IT personnel is quite low. --Generally speaking, ordinary users of computer systems are not aware of the existence of open source operating systems such as FreeBSD. This is due to the lack of awareness-raising activities, such as seminars and workshops, on open source software. -
INITIATIVES/CASE OF OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATION SYSTEMS IN MONGOLIA MUST, CSMS From 1991 Mongolian first distance education project was implemented Computer Science and Management School (CSMS) of the Mongolian University of Science and Technology (MUST) is increasing, classrooms are insufficient, and instructors are overloaded
18
INITIATIVES Main
web page of E-Open University of MUST :
19
INITIATIVES Open Educational Resources (OERs) These OER approaches can be cost effective, offer greater flexibility and provide wider access to high quality educational content. --A recent paper titled “Open Education Resources in Mongolia: Opportunities, Challenges and Initiatives� -investigating what and how far the OER movement has taken roots in Mongolia , what need to be done at policy, legal, pedagogical and technological aspects to promote the use of OERs in Mongolian DE.
CONCLUSIONS Discussed opportunities , challenges and initiatives in Mongolia DE/ICT using OER : - Identify groups in studying areas - Review current policies and practices for these learners - Specify their demands, cost-effective models of providing DE and combinations of appropriate technologies - Need collaborative efforts for developing and sharing educational resources and staff development, and more cross-national sharing in research - Need collaboration among governments, regional bodies and DE institutions in developing cross\border QA and accreditation in ICT-supported DE.
REFERENCES
http://www.mces.gov.mn http://www.neac.mn http://www.must.edu.mn http://www.moodle.org/ http://www.e-learning-dot.com/ WHITE PAPER, INFORMATION AND COMMUNOCATION TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT OF MONGOLIA, 2010 UNESCO. : ICT use in education, 2009 AEN (2008) “ Survey research in on e- Learning in Asian countries” Fiscal year report. Asia e-Learning Network , Tokyo. Sambuu.U (2005) “The Usage of ICT for secondary education in Mongolia” International Journal of Education and Development. Vol.1.No 4 22
REFERENCES
Future of Open and Distance Learning in Mongolia.(2005) The International Conference in ICT Education., Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Sambuu.U. (2005) “The usage of ICT for secondary education in Mongolia”, The International Journal of Education and Development, Vol, 1,№4 IT applications in Mongolia and the country’s potential for cross border e-services – a synopsis of the findings of the mission. (2006) NGO Survey. Ulaanbaatar.Mongolia “Vision and Strategies on IT Industry” (2007) The 5-th Pan-Pacific Symposium on Information Technology Busan , Korea. Loxley,W & Julen.P . (2008) Information and Communication Technologies in Education and Training in Asia and the Pacific. ADB, Manila, Philippines. e- Learning in Mongolian development. (2009) “e- Knowledge” NGO Review. Ulaanbaatar.Mongolia Digital Review of Asia Pacific 2009-2010 (2009) ORBICOM, by IDRC, Malaysia.
23
Thank you! Спасибо
Interested in research “ OER in Mongolia ” ? Email: baatar@must.edu.mn