This study evaluates a group of Afghan teachers’ use of Open
Educational Resources (OER) from the Darakht-e Danesh Library (DDL) – a
digital library comprised of educational materials in English, Dari and
Pashto – investigating whether these resources enabled improvements in
teaching practice and led to improved subject knowledge. Conducted with
secondary-school teachers in Parwan, Afghanistan, who accessed the DDL
over a four-week period in 2016, the study asked the following research
questions: To what extent did teachers in this study access and use OER
in the DDL? Did access and use of OER in the DDL enhance teachers’
subjectarea content knowledge? Did access and use of DDL resources
enhance teachers’ instructional practices? To what extent did teachers’
understanding of OER and its value change?
The study utilised quantitative and qualitative methods to examine
the behaviour and practices of 51 teachers in rural Afghanistan, all of
whom were teaching at the secondary level or affiliated with a local
teacher training college. The study collected data from server logs,
pre- and post-treatment questionnaires, lesson plan analyses, teacher
interviews and classroom observation. A purposive sampling technique was
utilised to select the teachers, drawing from educational institutions
with which the Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan non-governmental
organisation had previously interacted.
Findings indicate that when the DDL was used by teachers, the OER
accessed positively impacted teachers’ knowledge and helped them in
lesson preparation. On average, the 33 teachers who visited the lab at
least three times downloaded 12 OER each over the course of the study.
However, a number of teachers did not download or use any OER, and many
more preferred to continue using only the traditional textbook to
prepare their lesson plans even after exposure to the DDL. Furthermore,
while teachers found the OER helpful in creating assessment activities
for their students, there was no observed improvement in teacher
understanding and use of formative or summative assessment. Lastly,
there was limited understanding among the teachers of the exact meaning
of “open”, with most viewing OER as learning materials obtained from the
internet, libraries or simply from outside of their school. Teachers
made little reference to licensing or to the accessibility
characteristics of OER. Thus, while teachers who used OER appeared to
benefit from these resources, the concept was new to them, representing a
disruption to the familiar way of preparing and delivering lessons.
For further diffusion of OER as an innovation in teachers’ learning
and practice, concerted action will be required to build the collection
of OER available in Afghan languages, provide support in how teachers
might integrate OER into their teaching, and ensure connectivity in the
context of limited internet access in rural areas and a teacher
population with widely varying levels of proficiency in using digital
technology.
The dataset arising from this study can be accessed at:
https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/dataportal/index.php/catalog/622</p