OER October 30, 2010

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Gareth Dart <g.dart@worc.ac.uk>
Date: 28 October 2010 12:25
Subject: Re: [OER] The BIG Shift: From open resources to open practices
To: Open Educational Resources - an online discussion forum <oer-forum@lists.esn.org.za>

Dear All

Mention is made of TESSA below and it might be worth saying a little more
about it - www.tessafrica.net  TESSA is a consortium of 18 national and
international organisations including 13 institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa
who are using the TESSA materials in a variety of teacher education
programmes.

To quote from the TESSA website;

"TESSA is a research and development initiative creating open educational
resources (OERs) and course design guidance for teachers and teacher
educators working in Sub-Saharan African countries.
TESSA has produced a large bank of materials  directly aimed at enhancing and
improving access to, and the quality of, local school based education and
training for teachers. These materials (including audio and other media) are
modular in format. They focus on classroom practice in the key areas of
literacy, numeracy, science, social studies and the arts and life skills. All
the materials are available through this website in a variety of different
formats and languages."

Some of the defining features are;

Quality through localisation - materials have been developed at a local level
so that the resources take into account local context and culture.

Flexibility of access - material can be accessed online, but also are
available via CD or even can be printed off thus reflecting local needs and
realities an important consideration to keep in mind in many parts of the
World still.

Flexibility of use - TESSA carries no award in itself but can be used to a
greater or lesser extent as needed by local institutions whether they be
universities, colleges of education, schools or even individual teachers.

There has been recent interest in the model from Nepal and Pakistan.

Gareth Dart
University of Worcester UK
TESSA link-person Zambia