BRAOU Achieves a Milestone in Creating Micro-Credential Courses for OER Advancement
Dr. B R Ambedkar Open University (BRAOU) in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, launchedseven Open Educational Resources (OERs) and eight micro-credential courses developed by its faculty members on 12 January 2024. These courses werecreated through the technical assistance and professional development offered by the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), the regional centre of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). The courses, available in English, Urdu, Hindi, and Telugu, span diverse subjects such as Survey Research Methods, Human Physiology, Information and Communication Technologies for Education, Anchoring, Basic Skills in Electricals, Sambhashan Kala, and Guidance and Counselling as OERs and Nuclear Weapons and Environmental Implications, Human Health, Disease and its Management – Basics, Basics of Programming with Python, Information Technology aur Urdu, Basic Concepts of Physics, Sahityik Evam Sahityetar Anuwad, Ganitha Shastra Bodhanaku Pranaalika Rachana, and Soft Skills – Learning Communication for Academic Purpose as Micro-credential courses. Each of these courses incorporate a blend of media, including audio, video, and textual content with graphics. Furthermore, they integrate online assessment and outcome measurement techniques for comprehensive learning experiences.
As the Chief Guest, Dr B. Shadrach, Director of CEMCA, commended the micro-credential courses created by BRAOU faculty members and urged them to continuously refine the resources based on learners’ feedback. He encouraged course creators to develop new courses, emphasising their newfound membership in the open universities’ OER community, which offers numerous resource-sharing opportunities. Dr Shadrach proposed that BRAOU should assume the leadership position and invite OER practitioners for experience sharing and peer-to-peer learning.
Professor K. Seetharama Rao, Vice Chancellor of BRAOU, presided over the event. He acknowledged the support provided by COL and CEMCA, emphasising their instrumental role in establishing a robust OER foundation at BRAOU. Highlighting the significance of the Ahmedabad Declaration issued during the Indian Open Universities’Forum in August 2023, and advocating the expansion of Open and Distance Learning and Open and Distance e-Learning across the nation, Professor Rao extended an invitation to host the next Open Universities Forum at BRAOU.
Prof. Ghanta Chakrapani, Director, Academic, and Prof. G Pushpa Chakrapani, Director, Centre for Online Education and Learning (COEL), BRAOU, were also present on the occasion along with several faculty members. CEMCA has been actively facilitating the training of BRAOU faculty members, covering various aspects of OER and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). This training empowered faculty members to create their own OER resources with appropriate licensing, culminating in the development of an Institutional OER Policy, seven OERs and eight micro-credential courses, a cadre of trained OER practitioners, an Institutional Repository (https://ir.braou.ac.in), and an Institutional OER Repository (https://oer.braou.ac.in). The latter houses audio-video lessons and course materials spanning the period from 1984 to 2016.
