Dr B. R. Ambedkar Open University (BRAOU) in Hyderabad, India recently launched seven open educational resources (OER) and eight micro-credential courses developed by its faculty members on 12 January 2024. These courses were created 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 a wide array of subjects such as Survey Research Methods, Human Physiology, Information and Communication Technologies for Education and many others.

Each course incorporates a blend of media – including audio, video and textual content with graphics – and integrates online assessment and outcome measurement techniques for comprehensive learning experiences.

At the launch, Dr B. Shadrach, Director of CEMCA, commended the faculty members on the creation of these micro-credential courses and urged them to continuously refine the resources based on learners’ feedback. He encouraged the course creators to continue to develop new courses, emphasising their newfound membership in the open universities’ OER community, which offers numerous resource-sharing opportunities.

Professor K. Seetharama Rao, Vice Chancellor of BRAOU, presided over the event. He acknowledged the support of COL and CEMCA, emphasising their instrumental role in establishing a robust OER foundation at BRAOU. He also highlighted the significance of the Ahmedabad Declaration issued during the Indian Open Universities’ Forum in August 2023 advocating for the expansion of Open and Distance Learning and Open and Distance e-learning across India.

CEMCA’s support has also helped BRAOU in the development of an Institutional OER Policy – an Institutional Repository and an Institutional OER Repository.