Developing Open Educational Resources to Share Knowledge for Lifelong Learning

NTTU – Open educational resources are a valuable source of scientific information that helps educational institutions enhance their access to high-quality education, develop appropriate plans and strategies to improve the research process, enhance the quality of teaching and learning, and promote lifelong learning.

Promoting a Learning Society

The term “Open Educational Resources” (OER) was first introduced by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2002. On November 25, 2019, at the 40th session of the organization’s General Conference, 193 member countries, including Vietnam, unanimously adopted the Recommendation on Open Educational Resources, making open educational resources a necessary development trend worldwide.

In Vietnam, open educational resources were officially introduced into higher education through Decision No. 1117/QD-TTg dated September 25, 2023, by the Prime Minister approving the “Program for Building an Open Educational Resource Model in Higher Education,” which aims to create equality between teachers and students in accessing high-quality learning resources, increase the proportion of the population with access to higher education, and enhance the quality of local human resources.

Therefore, the development of OER is becoming increasingly necessary. The task of educational institutions is to take advantage of the benefits that OER brings: “open, can learn anytime, anywhere” to achieve sustainable development goals – SDGs of UNESCO, especially SDG4: “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”

Nguyen Tat Thanh University is actively promoting awareness of the role of OER in modern education throughout the university.

Developing open educational resources to share knowledge for everyone to learn.

Over the past 25 years of development, Nguyen Tat Thanh University (NTTU) has always aimed at the comprehensive development of capabilities and qualities for learners, linked with fundamental innovation and comprehensive education in a modern, integrated direction. The university continuously creates the best and most favorable conditions for everyone and the community in society to have equal opportunities for development, access to common resources, participate, contribute, and benefit together.

Speaking at NTTU’s OER Week, Dr. Tran Ai Cam, the university’s president, emphasized: “The more knowledge is shared and nurtured, the more educational resources develop and become sustainable, contributing to turning the education system into a lifelong education system in the true sense. The journey of building and developing OER that we aim for not only serves teachers and students within the university but also serves the community, contributing to building a learning society and lifelong learning in a digital environment. This effort is also the foundation for the university’s sustainable and autonomous development, enhancing its reputation, increasingly receiving widespread recognition from domestic and international quality assessment, ranking, and accreditation organizations, and meeting the goals set by the Ministry of Education and Training and implementing Ho Chi Minh City’s education sharing model.”

NTTU_Dr. Tran Ai Cam – President of Nguyen Tat Thanh University, speaking at the Launch Ceremony of the Open Educational Resources Competency Framework for Lecturers.

NTTU is the first university in Vietnam to collaborate with the OER Research and Training Institute of the Association of Vietnamese Universities and Colleges to develop and publish the first version of the OER competency framework for lecturers in November 2023. The university also actively organizes OER Week, conducts OER training courses, and hosts the OER Exploration Contest. It is planned that in 2024, the university will incorporate OER content into its undergraduate training program.

In addition to its policies promoting education and talent, community activities aimed at gender equality, the university’s focus on building and developing OER is one of the positive factors for educational innovation and the sustainable development goals of NTTU. It is a core task that NTTU aims to accomplish to fulfill UNESCO’s SDG4.

Outlined in the Objectives for the Development of OER by 2030, NTTU has set out key tasks related to policy development, regulations with a dedicated OER department, criteria and tools for assessing the quality of OER; applying technological solutions for building, developing, and managing OER; organizing OER training courses for lecturers and students, striving for 75% of lecturers and 100% of students to participate in using OER…

OER is creating significant opportunities for higher education in Vietnam in general, and NTTU in particular, to support learners in accessing quality learning resources at low costs for self-study, providing the community with easy access to information and expanding knowledge, and developing lifelong learning skills.

News: Thanh Huong

Photos: Media