{"id":128,"date":"2013-11-07T19:09:00","date_gmt":"2013-11-07T19:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/uncategorized\/assessment-and-accreditation-of-learners-using-oer\/"},"modified":"2013-11-07T19:09:00","modified_gmt":"2013-11-07T19:09:00","slug":"assessment-and-accreditation-of-learners-using-oer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/assessment-and-accreditation-of-learners-using-oer\/","title":{"rendered":"Assessment and Accreditation of Learners using OER"},"content":{"rendered":"<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/commons.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:AU1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:right;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photo of Athabasca University\" border=\"0\" class=\"zemanta-img-inserted\" height=\"225\" src=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/9\/93\/AU1.jpg\/300px-AU1.jpg\" style=\"border: none; font-size: 0.8em;\" width=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center; width: 300px;\">Photo of Athabasca University (Photo credit: <a href=\"http:\/\/commons.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:AU1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">Wikipedia<\/a>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Rory McGreal of <a href=\"http:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?ll=54.7223972222,-113.303386111&amp;spn=0.01,0.01&amp;q=54.7223972222,-113.303386111%20(Athabasca%20University)&amp;t=h\" rel=\"geolocation\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Athabasca University\">Athabasca University<\/a> presents on assessment of OER and OER University. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This paper examines existing and potential scalable approaches to formal  assessment and accreditation to digital learning, comparing and  contrasting such uses with more traditional approaches. Unbundling of  services, so that assessment &amp; accreditation are separate from  teaching and support, makes OER much easier to implement and build upon.  There is little requirement for physical space, so it can grow in a  similar fashion as that of many Internet platforms. This of course makes  OER much more scalable than physical institutions can compete with.  While international or even national accreditation &amp; assessment  services are not currently widespread or easily accessible, developing a  robust system that can service thousands or even hundreds of thousands  of students could change the dynamic of access to post-secondary  education. All of the technology is already available, such as payment  systems, content management systems, and exam taking. <\/p>\n<p> Lessons  learned so far from key initiatives in this area are discussed,  proposing tentative guidance for policy makers and various stakeholder  groups in this area.<br \/> Currently, the greatest potential and demand for OER:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> is in non-<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Organisation_for_Economic_Co-operation_and_Development\" rel=\"wikipedia\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development\">OECD countries<\/a>;<\/li>\n<li> at non-traditional institutions;<\/li>\n<li> at institutions with PLAR models in place.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Breaking down institutional silos is still a major issue before a  large-scale OER\/PLAR\/RPL system is in place. In terms of cost-effective  and sustainable approaches to student support, peer-to-peer learning  support models were considered to be the most effective, followed by  support from retired academics or other volunteers, and the design of  system to enable senior students or graduates to provide support for  junior students. <\/p>\n<p> As for the types of assessment methods that would  most likely be used in the future recognition of prior learning via  <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alternative_assessment\" rel=\"wikipedia\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Alternative assessment\">portfolio assessment<\/a> and course-based portfolios were both considered  appropriate, as well as automated online assessments. <\/p>\n<p> The  greatest barriers to participation in open assessment and accreditation  practices identified were the lack of availability of committed staff  members to support such activities, and the potential costs of  redeveloping courses as open educational resources. Lack of support for  OER-based courses from senior management was a significantly greater  concern for participants from traditional education institutions than  for those from institutions with open policies, and was perceived to be a  more significant barrier within public than private institutions. These  findings suggest that institutions that already have policies that  support open assessment and accreditation practices will be able to  easily align the implementation of collaborative OER courses with  existing policies and processes. <\/p>\n<p> The key institutional success  factors for the provision of open assessment and accreditation services  appear to be a strong support base within institutions ? both in terms  of leadership and resources, and an existing culture of openness,  including policies and practices around the creation and use of OERs, as  well as policies that enable either open access or recognition of prior  learning via credit transfer or PLAR. Institutions that are already  characterized by these features are likely to be best placed for the  implementation of assessment and accreditation of OER-based learning,  and could provide models for other organizations&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><i>Creating an OER University with 30 partnering colleges.&nbsp; <\/i><br \/><i><br \/><\/i><i>Coursera owns what is in your head &#8211; you cannot use what you learned in Coursera to get accreditation elsewhere. Up until Coursera, we always owned what was in our heads.<\/i><br \/><i><br \/><\/i><i>OERU will give recognition for prior learning and challenge for credit.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>They also do credit transfer. North America uses the three credit system. They use the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ehea.info\/\" rel=\"homepage\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Bologna Process\">bologna Process<\/a> in Europe. It is problematic in most jurisdictions. Standards are lacking and the process is labor intensive. <\/i><br \/><i><br \/><\/i><i>Barriers<\/i><br \/><i>Fear of change &#8211; the only ones not afraid of change are wet babies<\/i><br \/><i>Fear of losing students and therefore teaching jobs<\/i><br \/><i>Copyright issues<\/i><br \/><i>Concerns over work load&nbsp;<\/i><br \/><i>Conflicts with commercial publishers and SIGs<\/i><br \/><i>Lack of committed faculty <\/i><br \/><i><br \/><\/i><i>The Paris Declaration on OERs has helped in Canada. The US has been leading in open research.<\/i><br \/><i><br \/><\/i><i>There is too much duplication in the OER movement. Stop talking about developing courses, start talking about reusing and adapting.&nbsp;<\/i><br \/><i><br \/><\/i><i>Educators are afraid of the cost but the cost to continue as we are is more expensive.<\/i><br \/><i><br \/><\/i><i>OER Benefits<\/i><br \/><i>A culture of openness<\/i><br \/><i><br \/><\/i><i>We need to find ways to accredit OER learners and not leave it to the status quo.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>Athabasca University had to create a &#8220;bear and cougar awareness&#8221; class because they needed it.&nbsp; <\/i><\/p>\n<div style=\"clear: both; margin-top: 20px; overflow: hidden;\">\n<h4>Related articles<\/h4>\n<ul style=\"clear: left;\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/libraryeuroparl.wordpress.com\/2013\/10\/01\/open-education-oer-ocw-and-moocs\/\" target=\"_blank\">Open Education: OER, OCW and MOOCs<\/a> (libraryeuroparl.wordpress.com)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/mitopencourseware.wordpress.com\/2013\/11\/05\/report-on-the-assessment-and-accreditation-of-learners-using-oer\/\" target=\"_blank\">Report on the Assessment and Accreditation of Learners using OER<\/a> (mitopencourseware.wordpress.com)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/classroom-aid.com\/2013\/11\/04\/open-educational-resource-university-has-been-launched-worldwide\/\" target=\"_blank\">Open Educational Resource University Has been Launched Worldwide<\/a> (classroom-aid.com)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.downes.ca\/post\/61210\/rd\" target=\"_blank\">Report on the Assessment and Accreditation of Learners using OER<\/a> (downes.ca)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/learningwithtechs.wordpress.com\/2013\/10\/31\/oer-university-2\/\" target=\"_blank\">OER University<\/a> (learningwithtechs.wordpress.com)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.zemanta.com\/?px\" title=\"Enhanced by Zemanta\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Enhanced by Zemanta\" class=\"zemanta-pixie-img\" src=\"http:\/\/img.zemanta.com\/zemified_h.png?x-id=8194a084-044c-410e-99a5-9df634080129\" style=\"border: none; float: right;\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Photo of Athabasca University (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Rory McGreal of Athabasca University presents on assessment of OER and OER University. &#8220;This paper examines existing and potential scalable approaches to formal assessment and accreditation to digital learning, comparing and contrasting such &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/assessment-and-accreditation-of-learners-using-oer\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84,39,187],"tags":[195,173,196],"class_list":["post-128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mooc","category-oer","category-open-educational-resource","tag-oer-university","tag-opened13","tag-rory-mcgreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoffcain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}