[Information reposted from email communication by Lindsay Young, UNESCO]
Dear OER Community,
UNESCO is posting a Call For Expression of Interest-Consultant: Study for the OER Policy Indicators
The details:
UNESCO is looking for a consultant to undertake a study on developing a set of indicators to measure OER adoption and impact.
An initial report shall be developed that will critically assess past and existing mechanisms, tools, platforms, and organizations that monitor OER adoption and impact.
The outcomes of this report will feed into Version 1 of the study, which should be the guiding principle for the entire study and also have a recommended first set of indicators.
Version 1 will serve as the basis for consultations with Experts with a view to developing Version 2 of this document.
Version 2 will serve as the guideline to test pilot the set of indicators in selected countries. It will include a comprehensive assessment of how the indicators are scrutinized against national OER policies.
The outcomes of Version 2 will serve as the final stage of developing Version 3 of this document, which will recommend a final set of indicators for full adoption by Member States.
The first draft of Version 1 should be made available by 14 October 2016 and the final draft by 11 November 2016.
The first draft of Version 2 should be made available by 9 December 2016 and the final draft by 6 January 2017.
The first draft of Version 3 should be made available by 28 April 2017 and the final draft by 26 May 2017.
The first draft of the document shall be ready by approximately 30 June 2017, a revised draft for public consultation for August 2017, and final version by 4 September 2017.
Background:
In 2002, the term “Open Educational Resources” (OER) was first coined at UNESCO’s Forum on the Impact of Open Courseware for Higher Education in Developing Countries, sponsored by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Since then, there has been a significant increase in the development, use and sharing of OER as more and more governments and institutions come to realize their value. OER can be defined as teaching and learning resources in any medium, digital or otherwise, that permit no-cost access, use, reuse and repurposing by others with no or limited restrictions.
To date, UNESCO has performed extensive work in OER including regional policy and training workshops in Africa, Asia and with the Gulf Cooperation Council. These regional workshops have led to national workshops and seminars that provided comprehensive support and an eventual framework of creating and implementing a national OER policy. Since 2013, national workshops have been conducted in Indonesia, China, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, and Madagascar. For the rest of 2016 and in 2017, planned national workshops are to be conducted in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana, Togo, and Kyrgyzstan.
Although the OER program has moved quickly to a level of competency shared across all stakeholders, there are only assumptions on OER’s potentials-and to a greater degree, assumptions on OER’s successes. What is currently lacking are indicators (and evidence) against which data can be collected for the purpose of monitoring and evaluating OER. This project aims to define these indicators to measure adoption and direct impact of OER policy at the national level. These set of indicators will provide the evidence base required for policy-making and to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the OER policies and initiatives.
Task:
In this regard, UNESCO is seeking a consultant to:
1.Identify past and existing mechanisms, tools, platforms, and organizations that monitor OER adoption and impact
2. Identify factors of success, shortcomings, and challenges of monitoring and evaluating OER adoption
3. Set the guiding principle that will underscore the importance of OER in all Versions
4. Identify preliminary set of OER indicators for Version 1
5. Test and scrutinize indicators in selected countries with existing national OER policies with full outcomes in Version 2
6. Identify final set of indicators to be used for all future OER policy analysis in Version 3
The final study document should be between 50 to 60 standard pages in English, and include the complete methodology of Versions 1, 2, and 3, as well as Annexes as necessary. It should provide background, contacts and recommendations on points 1 to 5 above.
Profile and qualifications required:
– At least Master’s degree (or higher level qualification) in Education or other related area; a specialization in Open Educational Resources (OER) is desirable
– At least 10 years’ experience as a professional staff or advisor in Education with specialization in OER with proven track record of engagement with OER stakeholders
– A network of expertise in OER with previous or ongoing projects in OER
– Excellent command of English (oral and written), in particular proven expertise writing concise studies documents for international organizations in English, within a collaborative setting.
– Proven experience interviewing educational stakeholders on their professional practice in a variety of different cultural settings
Selection process:
The consultant will be selected through a competitive recruitment process by a panel composed by UNESCO staff.
How to apply
All interested candidates are invited to apply by 23 September 2016 by sending an email to Mr Fengchun Miao (f.miao@unesco.org) with copy to Mr Lindsay Young (l.young@unesco.org):
– CV of maximum 5 pages, with Annexes as necessary;
– At least two examples/references of the author’s writing that are relevant to OER (if possible);
– An indication of expectations regarding the fees to carry out the consultancy, including an estimated number of working days, a provisional timeline, and draft methodology of this study.