Abstract
This report shares the findings and lessons learned from an investigation into the economics of disaggregated models for assessing and accrediting informal learners undertaking post secondary education. It presents some key economic and governance challenges for universities to consider in implementing OER assessment and accreditation policies. It also includes discussion of findings from a small-scale survey conducted by two of the authors on perceptions, practices and policies relating to openness in assessment and accreditation in post secondary institutions, with a particular focus on the OER universitas (OERu) concept.
Highlights
The concept of “openness” is arguably the most persistent and controversial educational innovation of recent years, provoking the potential for important change in post secondary education, worldwide
It is based on a report that examines potential models to address the learner assessment, certification and accreditation issues for learners participating in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as well as in other formal and informal learning contexts using Open Educational Resources (OER) at the higher education level (Conrad, Mackintosh, McGreal, Murphy & Witthaus, 2013)
The MOOC phenomenon has opened up interest in the possibility of alternative assessment and many institutions around the world are considering these alternatives, breaking down institutional silos continues to present a major hurdle in the “cottage industry” of post secondary education, a hurdle that must be cleared before large-scale OER-based courses can be put in place
Summary
The concept of “openness” is arguably the most persistent and controversial educational innovation of recent years, provoking the potential for important change in post secondary education, worldwide. It is based on a report that examines potential models to address the learner assessment, certification and accreditation issues for learners participating in MOOCs as well as in other formal and informal learning contexts using OER at the higher education level (Conrad, Mackintosh, McGreal, Murphy & Witthaus, 2013).
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