The Use of Open Education Resources at the University of Malawi (UNIMA)

Considering the challenge of providing quality, cost-effective learning resources, it made sense that UNIMA should experiment with using OER. Through grants from the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the International Association for Digital Publications and OER Africa, an initiative of the South African Institute for Distance Education, were able to facilitate these projects.

• The first project, conducted at Kamuzu College of Nursing (KCN), aimed at training staff to source, evaluate, and adapt OER for an e-learning University Certificate Midwifery Course.

• The second OER project, conducted at Bunda College of Agriculture (BCA), called for the use of OER to compile a first-year communication skills textbook.

• A third project, also running from Bunda, was designed to provide Post Graduate students with access to copyrighted ebooks, a component of IADP’s Affordable Access programme.