Open educational resources, technology-enabled teacher learning and social justice

Abstract

This chapter addresses two questions: What is the role of teacher education in increasing access to, and participation in, education, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa? and How can digital technologies (DTs), such as the internet and mobile technologies, be harnessed to facilitate more equal access to, and participation in, education? This chapter outlines the theoretical framework for understanding DTs and new media in teacher education as tools for achieving distributive, recognitional and associational justice. The affordances of DTs and new media in promoting access to, and participation in, shaping education, as a matter of social justice are examined, using open educational resources (OERs) as an example. Case studies from the Commonwealth of Learning’s teacher-education projects in Sierra Leone and Kenya are presented to illustrate how technology-enabled, flexible models that utilise OERs are leveraged to increase access to teacher professional development, as well as to support new pedagogies that incorporate principles of collaboration, self-directed learning and dialogue. Based on the lessons learned from these projects, recommendations for policy and praxis are advanced.