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Introduction

The UNESCO Chair on Multimodal Learning and Open Educational Resources (OER), hosted by the North-West University, South Africa, was established in April 2019. The Chair aims to promote an integrated system of research, training, information and documentation sharing on self-directed multimodal learning and OER. The Chair is situated within the Research Unit Self-directed Learning (SDL) of the Faculty of Education at the North-West University in Mahikeng. The Chair was led by Prof. Jako Olivier from 2019 to 2022 and is now led by Prof. Dorothy Laubscher, Associate Professor in Mathematics Education from the North-West University.

The promotion of multimodal and self-directed learning has been identified as important aspects in the NWU Teaching and Learning Strategy as part of the university's commitment to accessible and relevant high quality teaching and learning, with a view to enhancing student success as well as experience of the curriculum.

The research for this Chair will focus on multimodal learning (a blending of face-to-face and e-learning modalities) as well as the multiliteracies required for culturally appropriate and effective learning within an environment that is conducive to self-directed learning and Open Educational Resources (OER) (peer-reviewed shared online resources that include material, books, videos, lessons and even full courses).

The purpose of the research chair is to (1) build networks in Southern Africa around OER and multimodal learning, (2) build capacity at the NWU and in Southern Africa, (3) train and develop academic expertise among staff concerning multimodal learning and the creation and use of OER as well as (4) doing research on OER and multimodal learning. The NWU has already taken a leading role in promoting multimodal learning and research on OER in the region and internationally. The establishment of the UNESCO Chair was recommended by the NWU’s Institutional Committee for Research and Innovation on 14 September 2016. The formal agreement with UNESCO was signed on 15 April 2019.  The NWU applied for renewal of the Chair in November 2022. On 7 March 2023, the NWU was informed by UNESCO that the renewal was approved and that the agreement between UNESCO and the NWU concerning the UNESCO Chair on Multimodal Learning and Open Educational Resources will remain valid until 30 June 2027, with Prof. Dorothy Laubscher as chairholder.

 

Prof Dorothy Laubscher: Chairholder

Erasmus+ Project: Transforming STEM teacher education in South Africa through Self-Directed Open Educational Practices (Ted-SOEP)

North-West University serves as the coordinating partner of the Erasmus+ project Transforming STEM Teacher Education in South Africa through Self-Directed Open Educational Practices (Ted-SOEP). Funded by the European Union, the project falls under the Capacity Building in the Field of Higher Education – Strand 1 programme. Prof. Dorothy Laubscher serves as the project coordinator.

The overarching aim of Ted-SOEP is to foster collaboration between South African and European higher education institutions (HEIs) by facilitating the exchange and transfer of expertise, best practices, and knowledge in the integration of self-directed learning (SDL), open educational practices (OEPs) and open educational resources (OERs) into STEM teacher education. The project supports the development of self-directed learning (SDL) skills among future STEM educators and promotes sustainable, context-sensitive transformation in teacher education.

 

 

For more information, please follow the link: tedsoep.org

 

NWU OER FELLOWS

NWU OER Fellows 2025/2026

Following the successful completion of the 2021/2022 NWU OER Fellows Project, we are pleased to announce the launch of a second cohort of NWU OER Fellows, which will be implemented in 2025/2026.

NWU OER Fellows 2021/2022

The UNESCO Chair on Multimodal Learning and Open Educational Resources launched the NWU OER Fellows programme for NWU Staff in 2021.

 https://education.nwu.ac.za/unesco-chair-oer-fellows

 

SOUTH AFRICAN DIGITAL HUMANITIES OER CHAMPIONS

South African Digital Humanities OER Champions 2025/2026

A second cohort of SADiLaR OER Champions will be implemented in 2025/2026, continuing the initiative’s commitment to advancing open educational practices in the digital humanities across South African universities. This programme will be led by Prof. Dorothy Laubscher and the UNESCO Chair on Multimodal Learning and OER Executive Committee.

 

South African Digital Humanities OER Champions 2022

The UNESCO Chair on Multimodal Learning and Open Educational Resources (OER) facilitated the South African Digital Humanities OER Champions for 2022 in collaboration with the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) through the ESCALATOR Digital Champions Initiative.

Scholars from South African universities were invited to apply to participate in the Digital Humanities OER Champions Initiative. This was an ideal opportunity for researchers, lecturers, and postgraduate students interested in including new online resources in their teaching or adapting their resources to their students' specific contexts to receive support and funding for creating or adapting open learning content and researching the process.

The programme, facilitated by Jako Olivier, aimed to stimulate activism and research around the use and/or creation of OER for the digital humanities (DH) at universities in South Africa.

For more information:
https://escalator.sadilar.org/champions/dh-oer/

 

 

GREAT: Games Realising Effective & Affective Transformation

The North-West University is an associate partner in the GREAT project. This is also a project funded by the European Union. Prof. Byron Bunt, a member of the UNESCO Chair on Multimodal Learning and OER executive committee, leads a South African case study exploring how sustainable development can be empowered through game-based learning.

For more information, please follow the link https://www.greatproject.gg/

PROSPER, AN EDUCATIONAL GAME FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Prosper is an educational game developed by Prof. Byron Bunt and Dr Lance Bunt, both affiliated with the university. Designed for use by teachers with learners and students aged 10 to 22, the game introduces various societal challenges and encourages players to engage in dialogue and problem-solving. This innovative resource represents a meaningful community engagement initiative by the Bunt brothers, contributing to the broader education community. Their work is informed by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which serve as a foundation for their collaborative project, particularly Byron’s work under the UNESCO Chair. Prosper is freely available for download on both the MERLOT and OER Africa platforms, providing educators worldwide with immediate access for printing and classroom use.

 

More news available at https://news.nwu.ac.za/nwu-launches-educational-card-game-prosper-mark-world-ip-day

 

BOOK PUBLICATIONS

Contextualised open educational practices: towards student agency and self-directed learning was published as open access in 2022 https://books.aosis.co.za/index.php/ob/catalog/book/345

Self-directed multimodal learning in higher education was published as open access in 2020 https://books.aosis.co.za/index.php/ob/catalog/book/210

Radical solutions for education in Africa: open education and self-directed learning in the continent edited by Daniel burgos and Jako Olivier was published in 2021 https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811640988

 

More information on the UNESCO chair programme:

https://en.unesco.org/unitwin-unesco-chairs-programme