Open Educational Resources and the Evolving Value Chain of Education in Developing Countries

Monica Mora, Kamal Hassin, Andrew Pullin, Steven Muegge Department of Systems and Computer Engineering, Carleton University mmora@connect.carleton.ca, khassin@connect.carleton.ca, apullin@connect.carleton.ca, smuegge@sce.carleton.ca Abstract
Open educational resources (OER), in combination with emerging information and communication technologies (ICT), may enable opportunities for education in regions of the world where few opportunities exist today. There are growing literatures examining the underlying technology and the practice of open education, but the social implications of OER for groups and communities in developing countries have received comparably less attention. This paper seeks to better understand the social impact of OER by systematically applying two theoretical frameworks from the management literature on technological innovation. First, we assess the influence of nonmarket forces on the motivation and ability for OER innovation. Second, we examine the evolving value chain of education in developing countries. We find that OER are causing some participants in the value chain to change their roles, allowing others to shorten distances and bypass barriers, and enabling new participants that did not exist before. For developing countries, these changes provide opportunities to enhance access to education resources. Tools: software to support the development, use, reuse and delivery of learning content including searching and organization of content, content and learning management systems, content development tools, and online learning communities. Implementation resources: intellectual property licenses to promote open publishing of materials, design principles of best practice, and localization of content. UNESCO, the OECD, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) international agency are just a few examples of the governmental agencies, private and public funding organisations, and consortia of leading educational institutions which are heavily supporting OER [3]. CERI recommends that the OER movement be best understood as part of a larger trend towards openness [2]. Thus OER may have much in common with open source software (OSS) [4], open innovation [5, 6], and open access scholarly journals [7]. This paper examines the social impact of OER in developing countries by systematically applying two theoretical frameworks from the management literature on technological innovation. It is organized in five sections. Section 1 has provided a brief introduction. Section 2 surveys previous research on OER and argues that the social implications for groups and communities in developing countries have received comparably less attention than the growing literatures on OER technologies and practice. Section 3 employs the motivation/ability framework [8] and analysis of the evolving value chain [8-13] to examine the social implications of OER. Section 4 is a discussion and section 5 summarizes our conclusions.

1. Introduction
In the developing world today, information and communication technologies (ICT) are often difficult to obtain due to economic, social, and political factors. The emergence of open educational resources (OER) together with new supporting technologies creates new opportunities for innovation in the education domain. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines OER as digitised materials offered freely and openly for educators, students and self-learners to use and reuse for teaching, learning, and research [1]. According to the OECDs Centre for Education Research and Innovation (CERI), OER can take at least three forms [2]: Learning content: full courses, courseware, content modules, learning objects, collections and journals.

2. Background
2.1. Education and ICT Usage
The imbalance in quality of education between the Western world and developing countries has been a central theme to recent IEEE conference papers [14, 15]. Some have stressed that providing technology to the

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developing world is ineffective if learning environments are not implemented correctly [15-17]. Others have examined the major barriers to growth of ICT, such as cultural differences [18-20] and localization [21]. Solutions have been proposed for digital knowledge sharing [22] and improving student-computer interactions [16] in order to achieve UNESCO Education for All (EFA) goals1. The IEEE hosts an annual international workshop on Technology for Education in Developing Countries (TEDC) which focuses on ways to effectively use ICT for teaching and learning in developing countries [23, 24] and the barriers to their adoption [25]. Recent TEDC papers have examined issues relating to ICT use in higher education [26, 27] and various OER enabling technologies such as e-services networks [28], hardware building blocks [29], application platforms [30], and mobile technologies [31].

2.2. Emergence of OER

The OER movement was born among institutions and individuals sharing digital learning resources over the Internet, offering these assets openly and without cost for everyone. These digital resources were initially called learning objects, open content, and OpenCourseWare. UNESCO introduced the term OER in 2002 [3]. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology OpenCourseWare initiative (MIT OCW) is one of the earliest and most well known OER projects [1]. MIT launched OCW in 2002 with 50 courses2, and as of March 2008 it contains more than 1800 full courses available in at least 10 languages including Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, French, German, Vietnamese, and Ukrainian [32]. Early writings on OER (strongly influenced by the MIT OCW initiative) included articles focused on the implications of OCW for higher education, usage motivations and obstacles, the scope and definition of OER, and the distinction of OER from other movements such as OSS [1]. Other well recognized movements such as OSS, open access and open content are considered OER enablers [33]. Three prominent OER initiatives MIT OCW, the Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative (OLI), and Rice University Connexions provide illustrative examples of some of the various possible approaches to the production and sharing of OER content. MIT OCW provides free, searchable, access to MITs course materials for educators, students, and selflearners around
EFA is a global commitment lead by UNESCO to provide quality basic education for all children, youth and adults by the year 2015. UNESCO is currently promoting research in OER development to increase usage in the developing world and deliver EFA goals. More information: http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.phpURL_ID=53844&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html 2 The pilot version with 50 courses was launched in 2002 and the official launching was in 2003 with 500 courses and Chinese translations.
1

the world. The content, provided exclusively by MIT faculty, is organized into full courses from most undergraduate and graduate programs3. Like MIT OCW, Carnegie Mellon faculty develop content for the Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative4, however OLI includes not only online full courses but also elements of instruction and support as an online learning experience. Rice University Connexions5 is a platform to develop collaboratively and share freely scholarly content on the Web [34]. Unlike OCW and OLI, everyone can contribute material to the Connexions common repository with the Web tools provided by the platform. The content is organized in small modules that are part of a larger collection of material. All the content is free to use and reuse under the Creative Commons attribution license6. Recent IEEE conference papers have examined tools for sharing instructional materials based on OER [35], and the effectiveness of advanced learning technologies (edu-portals, content management systems, educational laptops) to provide benefits to a wide audience [36]. Eisenstadt [36] analyzed the characteristics common to OER and Web 2.0 technologies, concluding that OER have the potential to develop open participatory learning infrastructures to harness the potential of the use of Web 2.0 principles in education. Nonetheless, OER and its social implications remain largely unexplored.

2.3. Potential Impact of OER

Easy access to educational resources is considered key to reducing social inequalities, especially in developing countries [3]. The combination of OER and other enabling technologies can potentially bring access to high quality learning materials for both children and adults within the financial grasp of many groups within the developed and developing worlds [37]. ICT for low-cost computer infrastructure, including laptop computers, open source operating systems and software, and Internet connectivity are widely available in many countries. The One Laptop per Child (OLPC)7 initiative seeks to proliferate low cost computing for children in the developing world. OER complement the low-cost computing infrastructure to provide high quality open content that is localized and compatible with existing infrastructure [15]. OER have the potential to provide children with opportunities for primary learning that are equivalent to those currently in Western nations. Community-based learning programs increase the support of OER learning to a larger audience in countries where education is not a
3 Over 70% of MIT faculty have contributed course material to MIT OCW [34] 4 Official website: http://www.cmu.edu/oli/ 5 Official website: http://cnx.org 6 Official website: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ 7 Official website: http://laptop.org/

priority. In China and Nepal, for example, there is demand for educational and training materials for topics including health, agriculture, income-generation, and micro-enterprise management [38]. The Youth-Managed Resource Centers (YMRC) in Nepal are an example of a place where both youth and adults can gather and learn relevant skills8. This creation of knowledge results in opportunities and jobs did that not exist before. Currently, the impact of OER in developing countries remains below its potential. Most existing OER are in English and based on Western culture. Few resources are currently allocated to the development of OER in developing countries throughout Africa, Asia, and Central America. The rate of OER development is much slower in these countries where primary education is not always available. There is also a risk that developing countries will contribute less to the development of localized OER due to the language and cultural barriers, and therefore become dependent of externally generated content. However, a number of projects now exist in developing countries to develop OER based on their own languages and cultures [1]. Some recent announcements include the launch of the Vietnam OpenCourseWare9 in December 2007 and a report that the state-owned Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IIITM-K) will soon be opening up its courses to IT professionals and academia [39].

Following the conventions of the management literature, the various OER organizations and stakeholder groups are referred to here as players in the OER market.

3.1. Motivation/ability Framework

Management theory predicts that progress from innovation requires both the motivation and ability to innovate [8, 40]. Motivation is defined as the incentives to innovate. For profit-seeking companies, motivation is the pot of gold awaiting for the winners [8, p. 294], which is generally determined by market characteristics, industry attractiveness, competitive forces within a market, and various government levers such as tax treatment, competitive policy, and regulatory asymmetries. Ability is defined as the capability to obtain resources, craft them into a business model, and offer products or services to customers [8, p. 291], generally determined by resource availability, standards, market access, industry development, and various government policy levers. This framework predicts that innovation flourishes in environments in which both motivation and ability are abundant. The resulting framework can be visualized as a 2x2 matrix as shown in Figure 1 (adapted from [8, p. 75]). Applying the framework is a three-stage process: 1) Classify the industry participants into the correct matrix quadrants. 2) Identify the necessary forces that will drive these participants to increase their motivation and ability and reach the hotbed quadrant where innovation can flourish. 3) Identify the opportunities to create and exploit innovations.
Motivation

3. Analysis
In this section, we employ theories of innovation to analyze the value chain of education in developing countries, and seek insights into the social impact of OER. Central questions addressed by the theories of innovation include the following [8]: What are the true drivers of innovation? Which forces affect these drivers? Which activities present the greatest opportunities to innovate? Answers to these questions are salient to OER sustainability and localization efforts of many organizations such as NGOs, universities, and governing bodies. This section is comprised of three subsections. First, we draw on previous work that employed the motivation/ability framework to assess the incentives and opportunities driving OER innovation. Second, we examine the existing value chain for education in the developing world. Third, we examine the evolution of the education value chain in response to technological and social trends that we identify.

Looking for a target

High

The hotbed

The dilemma
Low

Looking for the money

High

Low

Ability

Figure 1. Motivation/ability framework (adapted from [8, p. 75]) The four quadrants of the motivation/ability framework represent different circumstances: the hotbed, in which players have sufficient motivation and ability;

8 9

Official website: http://ymrc-nepal.org/ Official website: http://vocw.vef.gov/

looking for the money, in which players lack motivation to capitalize on a new idea and become profitable; looking for a target, in which players lack the ability to access resources or reach their desired market; and the dilemma in which players lack both the motivation and ability to innovate. In a previous study of the motivations driving OER participation, CERI [2] identified a wide variety of reasons for both institutions and individuals to be involved with OER: some are altruistic and idealistic, others are economic. Some of these players in the OER market include international organizations and their agencies, non-government organizations (NGOs), developing governments, and profit-seeking businesses. Previous work [41] systematically applied the motivation/ability framework to examine the OER

market, assess the position of key players, and examine how various developments and forces at work would be expected to impact the positions of these key players in the framework. The findings of that analysis are summarized in Figure 2 (adapted from [41, p. 79]). The findings suggested that many players are increasingly likely to innovate in the OER market, according to their positions near or within the hotbed quadrant. The proliferation of OER resources represents one of a number of key trends that may have a significant impact on the education value chain in the developing world. The current education value chain and the impact of this and other trends will be discussed in the following sections.

Motivation

University

High

UNESCO Education NGOs Big Business

OLPC

Low HDI Gov.

Med. HDI Gov. NonEducation NGOs Education Firms High HDI Gov.

Low

Low

High

Ability
Figure 2. Motivation/ability framework containing different OER market players (adapted from [41, p. 79])

3.2. The education value chain in the developing world

Porter defined a value chain as a sequence of activities through which a product passes in order to create value and competitive advantage [9, 12]. Value chain evolution (VCE) theory [8, 10-13], extends Porters work to offer predictions of how value chains are expected to change over time in response to technological and market changes, and the appropriate organizational design decisions to compete effectively. By arguing that companies ought to control activities that drive performance along dimensions that matter most to customers, VCE offers insights into modularity and appropriate integration [12, ch. 5], commoditization and the capability to retain attractive profits [12, ch. 6, 13], and appropriate outsourcing decisions. VCE theory has been employed to examine various technology sectors including the computer industry [10, 11] and the telecommunications industry [8, ch. 10]. Previous application of VCE to analyze the education value chain in the Western world [8, ch. 5, 42] argued that there exists an important segment of overshot customers customers who stop paying for further improvements in performance and that the introduction of disruptive or catalytic innovations such as community colleges and e-learning methods are targeted at those customers looking for a good-enough education that will serve their learning/career goals. In this analysis, VCE theory is applied to the education system of the developing world, where change is also on the horizon. The emergence of OER supported by a lowcost computing infrastructure can reshape the value chain in ways that drive out cost, route around barriers that exist today, and create new capabilities and value for endusers. Figure 3 depicts the existing education value chain in the developing world. It attempts to include key roles without necessarily including every player specific to each individual country. 3.2.1. Knowledge Creation. Knowledge creation is the first step in this education value chain. In a developing country, this can be from both local internal and external sources. Content that is generated by local authors must find a way to be published and distributed. This can often be expensive; thus most content is externally generated by

authors for extremely impoverished nations. However, every country has its own culture and language(s) that must be accommodated by any education curriculum and resources [20]. If the content is not localized for a particular group, its learning effectiveness is greatly reduced [21]. This is why knowledge creation is a twostep process: development and localization. Localization can also pose major challenges. The cost of translation alone can often discourage countries from importing content. In addition, finding local people who are experts in two languages as well as the subject matter can be difficult. 3.2.2. Publishing. Publishers are the key link between authors and the developing countries. In many countries, there is a distinction between printing, the physical act of manufacturing books, and publishing, the business of distribution [43]. Even if there is a means to print, distribution is often a barrier. Publishing is affected by economic factors such as costs of labour, materials, and printing machinery. However, social, political, psychological factors can also play larger roles. This stage in the value chain is where wealth is generated. Most of the time, publishers are foreign organizations that have little knowledge of the localization needs and financial capabilities of the developing world. It is not uncommon for knowledge to be developed internally and then be published externally. Competition from developed country publishers is a major cost barrier for local publishers. This is due primarily to low literacy rates and low amounts of disposable income in developing countries. Economic difficulty is increased by the fact that their own languages do not have much currency outside their borders. Even among Arab, Latin, and Francophone countries, there is no effective international book trade to enable developing country publishers to reach the international market [43]. 3.2.3. Local Distribution. Before books and knowledge are transferred to academic institutions, publishers supply local bookstores or NGOs. Their goal is to facilitate the transportation of books into the country. In some countries, these two groups work in cooperation with academic institutions.

knowledge creation

publishing

local distribution

institutions

knowledge dissemination

students

Figure 3. Current education value chain in the developing world

Local bookstores play the same role n the developing world as in the Western world. NGOs such as World Vision10, Save the Children11, and Oxfam12 can assist those countries that cannot afford education materials on their own with fundraising efforts to provide books. However, not all efforts produce the desired benefits. For example, as explained by Curry [44], libraries in Cambodia receive some useful material from overseas, but they have also received material which is totally irrelevant to [their] needs now or in the future. Filling library shelves with this irrelevant material discourages rather than encourages use, thereby thwarting the donors intentions [44]. Since 1990, Book Aid International (BAI)13 has tried to focus their cause to target the educational needs of specific countries in which resources are limited. In the case of sub-Saharan African countries, BAI and the Africa Book Collective program14 have tried to purchase books from other African countries and then distribute those books to schools [44, 45]. However the scarcity of local publishers makes this initiative difficult to maintain. NGOs that collect foreign cash donations also face sustainability barriers. Citizens are not empowered by learning to sustain education systems on their own. 3.2.4. Institutions and Knowledge Dissemination. Academic institutions and teachers provide the means to disseminate knowledge locally. Schools and community centres often accommodate children within a village. They also face some of the same key barriers as previously mentioned: financing and sustainability [38]. Schools are limited by the availability of resources that are often expensive. Government funding for schools and community centres often does not cover all costs of books and teachers. This is a major obstacle for education all over the world. Provision of food and health to children in developing countries is often considered more urgent than education. In this sense, governments tend to prioritize their resources to address these needs first, paying less attention to proposals for innovative solutions for education [41]. NGOs can help this situation by funding schools, importing education resources, and employing foreign teachers. Teachers Without Borders15 is an example of an NGO which places teacher leaders from different cultures within specific countries.

However, without the necessary learning resources, these efforts cannot reach their full potential. 3.2.5. Students. Students are the final element and endcustomer of the education value chain. The purpose of all preceding stages is to deliver quality knowledge to this group. Educating this group depends on the cooperation of all players in the value chain. This includes overcoming the preceding barriers to deliver content that is localized and sustainable. There are currently many obstacles to widespread education in the developing world. In the future, the motivation and ability of these players to innovate at different stages in the value chain can help achieve these social benefits.

3.3. Evolution of the education value chain

This section describes the evolution of the current education value chain in the developing world and the causes of this evolution. Technological and social change is pressuring some participants to alter their roles. It is enabling others to shorten distances and route around barriers that exist today, and it is enabling new elements that did not exist before. Collectively, these changes are creating capabilities and value for end users that promise social benefits for students in the developing world. 3.3.1. Knowledge Creation. This section describes two trends that will impact the way that knowledge is created. Already in place in parts of the Western world, these trends are beginning to reach institutions and authors in some developing countries and enabling them to create knowledge in new ways. The first trend is the rise of low cost computing infrastructure. There is a growing desire from a variety of organizations to bridge the digital divide and bring both technology and education to the developing world. The term digital divide refers to the gap between those with access to technology (hardware, software, and connectivity) and the abilities to use them, and those without. For-profit and not-for-profit businesses in both education and technology are increasingly targeting people in developing countries. Foreseeing enormous potential for consumption of products and services, businesses are taking steps to compete in this market. Competing in the bottom-of-the-pyramid markets, described as a sandbox for innovation is becoming important for organizations seeking organic growth, innovation, and organizational transformation [46]. Ubiquitous network connectivity is no longer an insurmountable barrier in many developing countries. ICT is building the bridge to cross the digital divide. Specifically in the technology sector, there are many firms looking to improve the quality of computer technology, communication infrastructure, and Internet connectivity in the developing world. Combined efforts

10 Additional information: http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/pr.nsf/stable/press_developmen t_edu?Open&lid=Dev_edu&lpos=main 11 Additional information: http://www.savethechildren.org/programs/education/ 12 Additional information: http://www.oxfam.org/en/programs/campaigns/education/ 13 Official website: http://www.bookaid.org/ 14 Official website: http://www.africanbookscollective.com/ 15 Official website: http://www.teacherswithoutborders.org/

from technology companies and international organizations are making it possible for developing countries to access computing resources. The XO-1 laptop of the OLPC Foundation focuses on durability, low power consumption, and network connectivity. This computer provides a means for students to access online resources previously not available. Materials and peripherals follow open source formats and standards [47]. Taiwan computer maker Asustek Computer Inc. launched its low-cost laptop computer that the company claims will put the Internet within reach of users in the developing world [48]. A model of the product priced at $199 US will be available to consumers in the developing world and the company expects to ship over three million units in 2008. The second trend that impacts knowledge creation is the increasing availability and sophistication of supporting technology to help OER authors create, manage and distribute the knowledge they produce. Platform independence allows a variety of products to be used regardless of computer manufacturers, operating systems and formats. Multiple channels of distribution take advantage of the variety of existing devices (such as cell phones, which have a relatively high penetration in some developing countries) and varying infrastructure capabilities (such as creation of mirror sites for OER in places where Internet connections are slow, expensive, or unreliable). For example, the eGranary Digital Library16 is an ICT tool that provides digital educational resources by garnering permissions, copying Web sites, and delivering to partner institutions in developing countries. These technologies are helping authors primarily in higher education institutions in developed and developing countries. Many Western universities spend millions of dollars on OER course development [49]. Currently there are over 2000 freely available university courses offered online by hundreds of universities. The United Kingdom Open University (UKOU) alone has over 200 undergraduate courses in their inventory, which represents a total investment of $600 US million, and an ongoing spending of $75 US million per year. Significant resources are being dedicated to higher learning OER for those who already have access to excellent educational resources [49]. The number of initiatives in developing countries is growing. In China, 750 courses are available by 222 university members of the China Open Resources for Education (CORE) consortium [1]. 3.3.2. Publishing. As enabling technologies grow the capabilities of authors to produce and distribute knowledge, the role of publishers must evolve as well. They have to find new ways of creating value utilizing

these new technologies to remain competitive. Two examples from the Fourth Annual Open Education Conference (Utah State University, September 2007) hint at how the role of the publishers might evolve in the future. Both examples illustrate how OER can create value that the end-user is willing to pay for. The National Repository of Online Courses (NROC) is a non-profit organization specialized in high-quality online courses for students and faculty in higher education and high school17. They use a combination of annual membership for course evaluation in higher education and high school educational organizations. In addition, online advertisement for their free courses is offered to companies interested in targeting an audience of 15-21 year-old students and licenses fees for commercial vendors and textbook publishers use of the content provided at the site [50]. These strategies have allowed NROC to become a financially self-sustaining non-profit institution, built around OER. Flatworld Knowledge is a venture championed by the Center for Open and Sustainable Learning (COSL) at Utah State University, and two entrepreneurs from the OER community. This company will publish free and open source college textbooks by authors from the worlds top business schools18. The books will be available through a web-based platform in which students and users can read, edit, comment and provide feedback on the content. Since these business authors already have a pool of institutions that use their textbooks, the revenue stream will come from selling customized packages of content, suited for the specific teaching needs of institutions. This publishing model sells the editing and customizing services and gives away the content itself. 3.3.3. Local Distribution. The role of NGOs shifts from distribution of books to OER localization and providing educational resources to low HDI (human development index) countries. NGO impact is becoming more evident as a result of their increasing technological capabilities. OER allow them to overcome previous barriers, such as the provision of localized content to meet the specific needs of the community. Previously, NGOs had to rely on publishers to supply them with the materials and resources to teach in these communities. Now, they can use OER and localize it by themselves or with the assistance of the local community, such as the participants in the Youth Managed Resources Centres (YMRC) in Nepal [38]. NGOs such as the OLPC Foundation can take advantage of low cost computer infrastructure to give these countries technology capabilities that will enable their students to take advantage of OER. Two NGOs that are building technical competencies to support other NGOs
17

16

Official website: http://www.widernet.org/digitallibrary/

18

Official website: http://www.montereyinstitute.org/nroc/ Official website: http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/

are Tactical Technologies Collective (TTC)19 and Aspiration20. TTC improves the capabilities of NGOs working for different causes. Their goal is to build a network through which other NGOs can learn about open source software and take advantage of its use. Aspiration provides software solutions to promote OER usage and adoption. Its focus is on rewriting software to better localize educational content created as OER. The evolving value chain creates opportunities for social entrepreneurs to both create and capture value. A social entrepreneur recognizes a social problem (health, finance, education, etc.) and builds a sustainable organization (often a business venture) to make a social change. Success for social entrepreneurship is assessed by social impact and wealth creation may be merely a means to an end. Social ventures must remain competitive; if they do not shift resources to economically productive uses, they tend to be driven out of business [51]. Just as innovative entrepreneurs have discovered many novel ways to profit from open source software and open innovation [6], OER may enable innovative social entrepreneurs to earn a sustainable living in the new education value chain. Collaborative partnerships with governments may encourage progressive policy change where education was not previously a high priority [52]. Further research is required to identify and understand the sustainable business models for social entrepreneurs in the open education domain. 3.3.4. Institutions. Knowledge institutions benefit from the changes in previous stages of the value chain. They can access knowledge repositories directly at no cost, and adapt the content for their needs. This will break their former dependence on publishers once the sole supply of high-quality teaching resources. ICT enables new forms of infrastructure and ways of interconnecting people as alternatives to formal academic institutions. ICT are in place in many developing countries as a way to disseminate useful and practical knowledge to members of the community. An innovative ICT integration strategy [53] in combination with OER can have a significant impact in the living standards of these communities. 3.3.5. Knowledge Dissemination. Local and volunteer teachers from NGOs also benefit from the evolving value chain. Teachers from NGOs can obtain free and highquality educational resources through the NGOs they represent, and localize those resources according to the needs of the communities they attend. One current initiative is Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA) an international consortium focused on helping all forms of teacher education in Sub-Saharan

Africa to expand and develop21. TESSA creates open content multimedia resources and course design guidance for teachers and teacher educators working in SubSaharan African countries. Local teachers, if provided with the technological infrastructure, also benefit from having resources that are constantly updated and can be improved with their own experiences in the classroom. 3.3.6. Students. In the end, students obtain benefits from the evolution in the value chain. Due to the increasing availability of ICT, students can access educational resources from different stages in the value chain. They are no longer limited to what is provided by their teachers. For example, the XO-1 laptop and other similar low cost technologies empower youth to find and use educational resources on their own. The process of innovation at different stages of the value chain and the availability of low cost computing multiplies the ways in which educational resources can be delivered and ultimately improves the final product that reaches the student.

4. Discussion
OER, in combination with supporting ICT developments such as low-cost computing infrastructure, are motivating some participants in the education value chain of developing countries to change their roles, allowing others to shorten distances and bypass barriers, and enabling new participants that did not exist before. Market and non-market forces are creating a hotbed of motivation and ability where OER innovation can flourish. The potential for positive social impact is enormous. Policy-makers and governments should recognize that their decisions can impact the motivation and ability for organizations to innovate. The evolving value chain for education in developing countries is opening up new opportunities for profit-seeking companies to create and capture value in previously inaccessible markets. Novel business models enabled by OER and ICT provide a sustainable means for social entrepreneurs to effect positive social change. Enfolding other frameworks from the management strategy literature, and taking into account the unique local circumstances of specific developing countries could usefully extend the analysis in this paper.

5. Conclusions
The powerful combination of OER and emerging ICT capability has the potential to revolutionize education in the developing world by creating opportunities where few
21

19 20

Official website: http://www.tacticaltech.org/ Official website: http://www.aspirationtech.org/

Official website: http://www.tessaprogramme.org/

exist today. The systematic application of theoretical frameworks from the management literature on technological innovation has been useful for better understanding the social impact of these changes.

[18] [19]

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