Year: 2024 | Month: December | Volume 15 | Issue 2
Open Educational Resources and Inclusive Learning: Opportunities for Equitable Access in Higher Education
Satyendra Kumar* and Amiteshwar Ratra
DOI:10.30954/2231-458X.02.2024.6
Abstract:
Open Educational Resources (OERs) have come out as a revolutionary development in global higher education, whereby they provide free and open resources with the capacity of breaking down existing barriers of cost, geographic constraints, and socio-cultural exclusion. Even with the increased utilization of OERs, the literature on the overall impact of such resources in terms of access, affordability, and learner diversity, especially in the Global South, is highly fragmented and under-theorized. The current systematic literature review aims at assessing how OERs foster equity in terms of access to higher education by analyzing the role of such resources in fostering access, overcoming affordability barriers, and promoting learner diversity, with a focus on India. Based on the PRISMA 2020 framework (Page et al. 2021), the search strategy involved an extensive search on Web of Science, Scopus, ERIC, and Google Scholar databases on peer-reviewed literature on the issue from January 2019 to August 2024. A total of 63 studies qualified as per the inclusion criteria after duplication removal and subsequent screening. In the presence of institutional infrastructure, OER provide substantial cost benefits, expanded geographical reach, and pedagogic equity to higher education. Digital divides, language barriers, quality issues, and inadequate faculty preparation remain significant limitations on the power of OER to transform marginalized communities. The findings suggest the need for a systemic policy approach that encompasses digital infrastructure, multilingual OER production, and faculty development, especially for India and the developing world at large. While there is a rich body of research on open educational resources, this paper provides a unique perspective on OER equity in India within the broader scope of OER research. In addition, the review includes an original conceptual model connecting OER features and inclusivity through the Capability Approach, UNESCO OER Framework, and Universal Design for Learning.
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