Educational Resources Portal (SK0130)

• Educational Resources Portal (August 1, 2020)

• How Open Educational Resources can Help OGP Initiatives (June 1, 2020)

The commitment builds on previous action plans to map the situationon open education in Slovakia and take steps to preparelegislative conditions, construction of technical infrastructure and preparation of conditions for creationand the use of open educational resources. Important steps towards this goalthe commitments defined in the OGP Action Plan 2015 and OGP Action Plan 2017 - 2019 related tointroducing the use of open licenses 21 for available educational resources procured from publicresources which should subsequently be available to the public without restrictions. Following these steps, in 2018 the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and SportSR (hereinafter referred to as “MŠVVaŠ SR”) created on-line portal Central repository of digitalContent (CÚDEO), which aims to bring together digital educational content. Its launching intooperation is expected in the near future. To develop the theme of open educational resourcesand the effective use of the CUDO portal is important to address the key challenges of removing barriersto prevent the spread of newly created traditional educational resources, in particular textbooks, supportcreating new open educational resources in predominantly digital formats and educationeducators to use and create new open educational resources.

The aim of the commitment is to make effective use of the emerging portal of educational resources by preparing legislationconditions that would guarantee that newly created educational resources arising from public sources,e.g. textbooks will be created with an open license, so it will be possible to share them on the CÚDEO portal. 23CUDEO should not be limited to formal education materials. The portal is also intended fornon-formal learning materials that can be used not only outside formal educationtraining in youth work, but some of its elements can be effectively used in the environmentpre-primary, primary and secondary education. Such focused content could in addition to alreadyThe above mentioned people also use and share with youth workers, volunteers, lecturers at work withyouth and other professionals working with this target group. Another objective of the commitment is to prepareadequate conditions for financing the creation of new educational resources with an open license,which, once approved, will be integrated into the Learning Resources Portal. There are several openings in this topicdiverse possibilities, including calls from EU funds, grant scheme of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Slovak Republic;incubators and laboratories, hackathons ... USS ROS organized in this respect in 2018Meeting with relevant actors from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, directly managed by the Ministry of Education,publishers and representatives of civil society. An essential part of the commitment istraining teachers to use the portal and create educational resources.

A functional educational portal adequately filled with approved, relevant and innovativeeducational materials have the potential to contribute to the diversification of the educational resources available topupils, students, parents, but also the public within the framework of lifelong learning. availabilitydiverse educational resources on the portal will increase the quality of the educational process and promote inclusive education in schools. Educational training will contribute to effective learningthe use of the CÚDEO portal and encourage the emergence of new educational resources. Remove currentbarriers by legislation will enable further filling of the portal with newly created educational resources,especially digital versions of textbooks or outputs from publicly funded projectsresources.Thanks to a functional and well-filled portal, pupils, students, educators and the public will gain accessaccess to publicly funded educational resources, contributing to the increasetransparency in the management of public resources. Creating adequate conditions for creationnew open educational resources will also open up new opportunities for civil society,educators or academics to engage in the creation of educational resources, thereby strengthening civicparticipation in the creation of educational resources.

The commitment is closely related to Slovakia's will to improve the quality of education by using innovative approachesand instruments, which are reflected in several strategic documents:
• Concept of informatisation and digitization of the education sector with a view to 2020 25 sais dedicated to the topic of digital educational resources, with recommendations closely linked tosupport of creation, approval process, education of teachers to use digitaleducational resources and making such resources available outside the school environment,
• National Program for the Development of Education , which is based on the document LearningSlovakia 27 , foresees the development of a central school to improve the quality of educationDigital content storage with free distribution licenses
• Proposed national priorities for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, which continues the objectives on a permanent basisUN Sustainable Development , in Education for Decent Living, is one of the challengesstrengthening the principle of inclusion in the education process and guaranteeing equal opportunities forall children, pupils and students, regardless of their social background, healthdisadvantage, talent, nationality or ethnicity, in accordance with the principles of gender equality.
• Upcoming Vision and Strategy of Development of Slovakia until 2030 in the chapter IntegratedDevelopment Program I. - Natural Resources, Human Resources and Cultural Potential, Part Increasethe quality of education, including lifelong learning and the development of human and material capacitiesThe education system envisages improving the quality of education, including lifelong learningand the development of human and material capacities of the education system, including through:deepening the individual approach to the individual in terms of inclusive education;available open educational resources can make a significant contribution.

Specific milestones towards the goal:
9. Legislatively adjust the conditions for the introduction of open licenses for selected emergingeducational materials that are centrally funded and financed or co-financedfrom public sources of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic and its directly managed organizations
Deadline: until 31 December 2021
Responsible: Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic

10. Determine the authority at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports responsible for the systematic and coordinated creation of digitaleducational content, including open educational resources, at all levelspre-primary, primary and secondary education
Deadline: 30 June 2020
Responsible: Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic

11. Encourage the creation of open educational resources and report on outputs each yearsupport
Deadline: until 31 January each yearResponsible: Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic

12. To educate educators on the use of the CÚDEO portal and on the creation of new open educational programsresources
Deadline: until 31 December 2021
Responsible: Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic

13. Participate in monitoring, publishing and continuously updating the databaseopen educational resources, other resources suitable for use in education and for educationraising awareness of open education created in the Slovak Republiccivil society.
Deadline: continuously
Responsible: Government Plenipotentiary for Civil Society Development

Ongoing tasks in the topic of open education, still ongoing from Government Resolution no. 104/2017are listed in Annex no. Article 1, point 2.1.

5. Support the creation and maintenance of educational resources online

Main Objective

“Make effective use of the educational resources’ repository.” [74]

Milestones

1. Adopt legislative changes concerning the use of open licenses for selected, newly created educational resources centrally provided and funded or co-funded from public resources of the Ministry of Education or institutions under the Ministry´s authority.
2. Establish an authority at the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic responsible for systematic and coordinated creation of digital educational content including open educational resources at all levels of preschool, primary and secondary education.
3. Promote creation of open educational resources and report on the measures taken on a regular basis.
4. Educate teachers in use of the educational resources repository and in creating new open educational resources.
5. In a participative manner monitor, disclose and continually update the open educational resources database and other resources suitable for use in education and to increase awareness about open education that were created by civil society in the Slovak Republic.

Editorial Note: For the complete text of this commitment, please see Slovakia’s action plan at https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/slovakia-action-plan-2019-2021/.

Commitment Analysis

Building on the efforts in previous action plans, [75] this commitment aims to develop further activities around the repository for digital educational resources (with the emphasis on open resources), such as removing legislative barriers to open education, establishing an open education-dedicated agency within the ministry, supporting teachers in engaging with it and creating their own resources, and making more open educational resources available. These measures tackle some of the criticism that was raised in previous IRM reports, such as the lack of ministerial leadership in the topic and the absence of teacher and civil society engagement in the repository’s implementation.   

The commitment is relevant to the OGP value of access to information because it will ensure more formal and informal educational resources are publicly available in open formats and for reuse. It is also relevant to civic participation, as it will monitor and update an educational resources database in a participatory manner, engaging both teachers and civil society active in the area.      

The commitment gains new importance in the COVID-19 pandemic, as online alternatives to face-to-face teaching proved to be critical for the successful continuation of education. Under ordinary circumstances, digital educational materials can be accessed by teachers only, and from schools. [76] The milestone of creating a unit at the Ministry of Education responsible for the agenda of digital and open educational resources will address this and other limitations to open education, and is in line with the recommendations of IRM and experts interviewed for this report. [77] Four different ministers [78] have led the ministry since it declared its intent to support open education, hindering the implementation of the projects. The current Minister for Education, Branislav Gröhling has emphasized the use of digital technologies in education practices. [79] 

There are currently restrictive licensing policies resulting from the contracts between the Ministry of Education and publishers despite pledges in the previous action plan [80] to make open licensing obligatory for all new educational resources created using public resources. Currently the open licensing conditions on the online platform are unclear for unregistered users (copyrighted materials might be blocked to unregistered users [81] but such licensing is not explicitly stated in the metadata or visibly next to displayed materials). [82] An expert on educational policy argued that the burden of distinguishing open educational resources from those that are not open should not be placed on teachers. [83]

Materials on the platform are currently not available across many subject areas. The IRM researcher explored the publicly accessible version of the repository and concluded that provided materials do not cover many social science subjects, such as history, literature, geography, and languages other than English. [84] Teachers surveyed for this report [85] argued that many materials in the repository were transferred from a previously existing platform Planéta vedomostí. [86] The commitment could increase the volume of open educational resources across subject areas if both teachers and civil society are engaged in their creation. Milestone 5 (to update the database of resources created by civil society) could help to better orientate what is already available to be used. Civil society activities in this area are emerging. [87] It would be useful if the ministry follows them closely, builds partnerships and encourages them to create resources. So far, the Office of the Plenipotentiary has been substituting the ministry’s role in this regard. For instance, it follows CSOs’ educational activities, systematically collects open educational resources, [88] and shares useful tips. [89] The ministry should take over these activities. Therefore, a milestone to support the creation of open educational resources and inform on the outcomes of such support on an annual basis is also a useful measure thanks to its monitoring element.

In terms of public awareness, only 23 percent of surveyed teachers stated that they had heard of the repository, and mostly from colleagues and CSOs active in education. Only a few obtained the information directly from the ministry. 65 percent of surveyed teachers for this report stated that they heard of the repository for the first time when surveyed. These survey results echo previous concerns that the Ministry of Education’s outreach activities are limited. These concerns were repeatedly raised by participants [90] of working group meetings organized by the Office of the Plenipotentiary and by interviewed experts for this and previous IRM reports. [91]

One milestone commits to providing teachers with training on how to use the new repository and incentivize them to create new educational resources. Of the teachers surveyed, 51 percent stated that they would be interested in participating in training related to open educational resources. The majority of those teachers who had experience with the platform evaluated it positively. Some expressed concerns that the repository ignored pupils that are taught in other languages than Slovak, [92] as it does not offer materials in minority languages. Some interviewees [93] and surveyed teachers [94] experienced problems using and navigating the repository. Although guidelines [95] are available, they are 73 pages long, which might discourage teachers, students, or parents.

The potential impact of the commitment is moderate. If fully implemented, the commitment could substantially increase access to open educational resources. The creation of a unit within the ministry that would be responsible for systematic and coordinated creation of digital educational resources, including those in open formats, could champion and strengthen the implementation of open education and lead to an increase in the volume of resources available. Also, the milestone to provide training to teachers could encourage greater use by teachers and the creation of more open educational resources. The ministry could consider significantly decreasing administrative burdens to access materials. [96]

5. Support the creation and maintenance of educational resources online

Limited

The commitment included several milestones. However, for most, there is little evidence of what was accomplished, despite the pandemic raising the importance of open educational resources. “Open education” encompasses resources, tools and practices that are free of legal, financial and technical barriers and can be fully used, shared and adapted in the digital environment.

The Ministry of Education initially appointed the general director of pre-primary and primary education to coordinate the open education agenda. [44] However, this falls short of creating a dedicated unit as expected by the action plan commitment. Moreover, the responsibility for this agenda has changed several times and at the moment, the ministry cannot clearly indicate who oversees it. [45] The lack of ownership of open education topics within the ministry has been persistent, leading to limited action. A CSO representative argued that this lack of ownership and expertise is the main reason why they see all OGP efforts in open education to have not succeeded. [46]

There is no publicly available evidence of activities carried out to promote open educational sources and train teachers, and a CSO representative was unaware of any actions taken. [47] The IRM researcher was unsuccessful in contacting the Ministry of Education [48] and therefore filed a FOI request. [49] In response, the Ministry’s Methodology and Pedagogy Centre referred to a hybrid training, organised from 1 January to 31 October 2021, on both using repository resources for digital educational resources [50] and on creating educational resources. [51] Six hundred and ninety-three teachers have participated in the training, and 273 have completed it. The Centre also provided syllabi for the courses, but there is no reference to open educational resources and only one mention of licensing policies; it is unclear to what extent the courses focused on open education. The syllabi [52] refer to “digital” sources, which as discussed in previous IRM reports, the ministry uses interchangeably with “open” sources.

The milestone to adopt legislative changes concerning the use of open licenses for selected, newly created, and publicly funded educational resources was also not implemented. Although the School Act [53] was amended several times, it did not include a provision requiring open licensing of newly created educational resources. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Section 13 of the law introduced special provisions requiring that educational resources be provided under open licenses in the event of an emergency. However, by this provision, open licences are granted only for the period of an emergency.

The Office of the Plenipotentiary completed the milestone to monitor, disclose, and continually update the open educational resources database, in a participatory manner. At the time of writing this report, the list [54] included over 30 resources. The Office of the Plenipotentiary also promoted available open educational resources on its social media. [55] As reported in previous IRM reports, this office has been replacing the role of the ministry to a great extent in open education topics. [56]