OpenCourseWare: Impact and Usage of Faculty in the Developing Countries of the Middle East

Global learning spaces and information societies that are open to all are creating a paradigm shift in the world of education. One of the most rapidly growing projects promoting collaboration in the higher education sector and helping faculty teaching in universities in the developing world that tackle issues of sustainable human development is the OpenCourseWare (OCW) project. Currently there is a gap in the literature on the usage and impact of OCW in the developing world. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which science, mathematics, technology and engineering faculty in universities in developing countries of the Middle East access and use OCW, and to determine the satisfaction with and perceived impact of OCW on their professional practice.

This study found that OCW has made a positive impact on the professional practice of faculty teaching in developing countries of the Middle East. The participants were satisfied with quality of OCW materials and used them in way variety of ways in the classroom. According to this study, OCW is projected to continue helping science, mathematics, technology and engineering faculty in these countries to be more productive and effective at work, update their knowledge in their field of study, and improve the quality of their teaching.