Dear Dr Bhargava: University Vice Chancellors and professors in India may consider Open Course Ware and Open Educational Resources initiatives. The Knowledge Commission may facilitate by convening a workshop/ brainstorming session. Regards. Arun [Subbiah Arunachalam] ----------------------
From Peter Suber's blog
UNESCO report on OA educational resources Paul Albright, Open Educational Resources, UNESCO, undated but released April 4, 2006. The final report of a six-week forum on open educational resources (OER) convened by UNESCO in late 2005. Forum participants included 490 individuals from 90 countries. See UNESCO's press release. Excerpt from the report itself: The OER movement is breaking down barriers that have blocked access to academic content. Until recently, most electronic course content was locked up behind passwords within proprietary systems, noted the forums initial moderator, Sally Johnstone. OER represents a major step toward sharing teaching materials, methods and tools, just as academics have shared their work in scholarly papers for a long time. The result is to augment teaching resources while expanding knowledge opportunities for learners and faculty members. Throughout the forum, a forthright exchange of views stimulated thought and ideas that can advance the cause of OER. Participants stressed the importance of providing open, accessible and superior higher education content for a global community of teachers and scholars, students and lifelong learners. Whether OERs are categorized as open access or free content, they collectively promote autonomy and self-reliance within the learning community. Without the constraints of time or geography, the power of education is released to combat economic, social and cultural obstacles. Through independent, self-determined learning and open academic content, the individual is able to grow intellectually beyond previous personal, institutional or local boundaries. Other benefits range from developing valuable work skills to engaging in life-enriching, lifelong learning....The main challenge to widening access to OER lies in overcoming reticence and uncertainty within the academic community. Although participants reported a growing awareness of OER, many emphasized the need to explain and promote the institutional benefits, and to provide incentives for faculty members to become actively involved....There appears to be a growing tension between the ethical push to promote open access to knowledge and the need for university managers to maximize income from their key assets. How can OER fit into this increasingly commercial, financially and intellectually competitive framework for higher education?