( In Vietnam, Open Educational Resources (OER) initiatives at universities, especially institutional OER repositories (IOER), are largely spontaneous, and few have been successfully developed. This leads to ambiguity in the development process of IOERs and the roles of campus stakeholders involved, resulting in a lack of confidence and unwillingness among higher education communities to engage with OER and IOER development.
Considering the development of IOER as an educational change at higher education organisations (HEOs) in Vietnam, this study utilises Michael Fullan's theory of Educational Change (2007) as a theoretical framework to ascertain the development of IOERs and clarify the roles of stakeholders in the process. In particular, two out of the three phases (Initiation, Implementation, and Institutionalisation) of the educational change process (Fullan, 2007) were adopted. Since only a few IOERs have been developed in Vietnam to date, it was not possible to investigate the Institutionalisation Phase of the change in this research.
Using a qualitative approach, this study involves twenty-one semi-structured interviews with OER champions, university leaders, faculty members, and library leaders and staff from various HEOs in Vietnam. Collected data were then analysed employing a directed content analysis approach (Hsieh and Shannon 2005). Participants in this study believe that the development process of IOERs aligns well with the first two phases of the educational change process, as proposed by Fullan. The initiation phase is not believed to require a high level of intricacy to progress, yet thorough preparation is significant for the project's approval. The implementation phase, on the other hand, is more complex and includes several steps, such as IOER management, OER awareness-raising, OER use, and IOER content creation.
These steps involve participation and collaboration among different campus stakeholders. In this collaborative process, the roles of libraries are significant as the implementers of IOER development projects. Although the indispensable roles of libraries are well-highlighted by the participants in this study, and VanScoy (2019) also indicates that libraries can potentially play the role of IOER policymakers, their roles in general are still underestimated due to the ingrained social prejudice regarding the peripheral role of libraries as merely book storage facilities in Vietnam. This perspective was mentioned by some participants and other researchers in Vietnam, such as Do et al. (2017).
By providing a picture of the current state of IOERs in Vietnam, this study helps clarify the IOERs development process and the campus stakeholders involved. It also highlights the significant roles of academic libraries in embracing the OER movement. Considering the findings, highly authorised stakeholders in Vietnam, such as the government or leaders of HEOs, can support and empower libraries to propose policies that effectively accelerate the OER movement in Vietnam, further facilitating open education for everyone.
Included in
[Session 6D]: Open Pedagogy, RepositoriesReferencesFullan, M. (2007). The new meaning of educational change (4th ed.). Teachers College Press. Hsieh, H. F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277-1288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687 VanScoy, A. (2019). Bridging the chasm: Faculty support roles for academic librarians in the adoption of open educational resources. College & Research Libraries, 80(4), 426. DOI:10.5860/crl.80.4.426 Do, V. H., Kieu, T. N., Bui, T. T., & Pham, T. K. (2017). Vai trò của thư viện trong việc thực hiện các mục tiêu phát triển bền vững của Liên Hợp Quốc [The role of libraries in the implementation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals]. Tạp chí Thư viện Việt Nam [Vietnam Library Journal], 4, 3-12. https://bit.ly/3ATdK5n
Author KeywordsOpen Educational Resources, OER, institutional OER repositories, Vietnam, Library, Development process
