What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

Re: What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

by Christine Horgan -
Number of replies: 17

Wayne:

one of the most flexible credentials is a general studies degree...many institutions offer something of this sort, very flexible, lends itself well to prior learning.... but not everyone wants a degree...what about options around a general studies certificate, diploma (associate degree), undergrad degree?

Chris

In reply to Christine Horgan

Re: What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

by Dr. Nellie Deutsch -
I find that the educators who take online professional development workshops at Integrating Technology (IT4ALL) are not interested in degrees, but they are interested in taking courses that can be used for promotion and increase in salary. The workshops I provide are not accredited by a university. How will the accreditation work for workshops provided by educators such as myself?
In reply to Dr. Nellie Deutsch

Re: What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

by Christine Wihak -
We have a form of PLAR that we call "credit bank" in which we pre-evaluate training ( http://www.tru.ca/distance/services/plar-ol/creditbank.html ). Usually, we work with large organizations providing PD opportunities, because there is a significant expense in doing the evaluation. A lot of PD lacks the assessment component that is de rigeur in getting credit recognition. For individual students, they may be able to use their learning from such PD situations to challenge exams, do a competency-based or course-based portfolio, etc. to provide the missing "assessment" component. Our university actually has the capacity to issue transcripts showing credits earned this way to students who are not admitted to a program.
In reply to Christine Wihak

Re: What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

by Stephen Downes -
What I wonder is whether it is possible to get a full degree or other credential via PLAR - most systems I've seen limit the number of credits you can get through assessment rather than instruction, so PLAR is a bit like a loss leader to (still expensive) course enrolment.
In reply to Stephen Downes

Re: What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

by Wayne Mackintosh -
Hi Stephen,

I see Christine Wihak from Thompson Rivers University (TRU) has confirmed that it is possible to obtain some degrees 100% via PLAR at their university. TRU have one of the most progressive and robust PLAR models I have seen -- Canada leading on this front again ;-).

TRU is a founding anchor partner of the OERu concept -therefore OERu learners would in theory be able gain selected credentials 100% through PLAR. Another example demonstrating how global networking can be more effective than institution-based approaches.

I share your reservations regarding the cost of PLAR (still too expensive) and I'm not sure that existing methods will scale very well for large numbers of learners.

However -- the BIG positive is that policy protocols for recognising alternate learning pathways outside the normal classroom do exist in our partner institutions which therefore makes it easier for policy recognition for OER learning. So not too much innovation needed on this front. We can move forward :-D.

We haven't planned the detail yet -- so this will need to be an agenda item for the planning meeting in November -- but I suspect it is conceivable that we could design e-portfolio like assessments to accompany OER courses offered through the OERu network. Should an OER learner decide to pursue formal accreditation at one of the OERu partners at some point in the future -- the "pre-design" of the portfolios within the OER courses mapped against the agreed competencies among OERu partners would be cheaper and more scalable than what we have at the moment.

Another possibility for the OERu model is how learners might be able to mix and match different methods of formal assessment for credentialing purposes. An OERu learner should be able to combine OER coursework, work-based learning, prior learning assessment, credit transfers from other institutions etc as options for earning a degree. We'll also need to think about these alternatives in our planning.
In reply to Wayne Mackintosh

Re: What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

by Christine Wihak -
At our institution, the expensive part of PLAR is assessor compensation. We did our Myanmar (Burma) project with retirees (trained assessors) who volunteered their time. Given the age of the professoriate in North America, there may be many generous-spirited individuals who might contribute in this way. We also kept costs down by using a coach paid at local wage rates.
In reply to Christine Wihak

Re: What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

by Joyce McKnight -
We do not pay our assessors very much and those of us who are full time faculty do quite a few for free especially if we enjoy it (I do) but I think some pay would be better than none and I think some kind of title or professional recognition would be important too...even volunteers like to be able to tell people that they are doing something that has a "name"...many years of community organizing (my own other life) have taught me that it is somewhat risky to build large projects strictly on volunteers...although even a little compensation and some professional recognition can go a long way.
In reply to Wayne Mackintosh

Re: What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

by Joyce McKnight -
I know I am always bragging about Empire State, but we can recommend the award of credit for all the things Wayne mentions...and have for years...we do require that folks take at least 32 credits (of a 128 credit BA or BS degree) with us and at the present time we do not award our PLA credits for transfer to other institutions but as we have begun our anchor partnership with the OER-u I believe this may be on the table.

I am curious about Thompson Rivers University...if you give complete degrees with PLA-R...do you have any fees? If so how does that work? Right now our PLA is very reasonable at least by western standards, but I can't imagine anyone here giving degrees free...especially since we are under a seemingly constant budget pinch from the state government...
In reply to Stephen Downes

Re: What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

by Steve Foerster -
It's possible (although probably pretty impractical) to complete all of one's degree through PLA at Charter Oak State College in Connecticut. It may also be possible through Excelsior College in New York and Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey.

-=Steve=-
In reply to Christine Wihak

Re: What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

by Wayne Mackintosh -
HI Christine,

As I indicated in an earlier post - TRU has one of the most progressive PLAR systems I have seen. I suspect TRU will have "competitive" advantage on this dimension within the OERu network at this time - -and that's good. It will drive innovation and continuous improvement across member institutions.

Do you have any thoughts and ideas on how we might be able to reduce costs while improving scalability of the assessment model within the context of the OERu collaboration. Looking forward to working with TRU on this one.

We're aiming to serve and additional 98 million learners of the next 15 years without breaking the systems ;-)


In reply to Wayne Mackintosh

Re: What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

by Joyce McKnight -
I too feel the burden of the many learners who need access (98 million) but I am also concerned about quality...for me prior learning assessment has to have a reflective component that allows the student to turn tacit learning ("stuff" they have learned from a variety of sources) into explicit learning that they can transfer and use. I will be very disappointed if in our push to grow we leave out this qualitative aspect. Dr. Joyce McKnight, Associate Professor in (among other things...adult education) SUNY/Empire State College
In reply to Dr. Nellie Deutsch

Re: What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

by Wayne Mackintosh -
For educators working in the formal sector, I think you're right -- they are not looking for degrees or diplomas in this short course professional development scenario. Very often faculty participating in professional development already have graduate degree(s) and are not looking for more qualifications.

Based on my experience working as Professor and an administrator in the university sector in a previous life, referencing the professional development course and organisation has been enough for internal recognition for performance appraisal purposes. Some organisations provide certificates of attendance or completion which can help where the host organisation carries some level of status or recognition.

However, I don't think that the formal accreditation route is the best alternative for the kind of professional development recognition you are referring to. This is where I think more informal approaches are likely to be more effective as the OER ecosystem matures.

A leading initiative in this space is the Badge System being pioneered and tested by P2PU and the Mozilla Foundation. IT4ALL could become a badge issuers within the network -- you should check it out, its an impressive concept.



In reply to Wayne Mackintosh

Re: What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

by Dr. Nellie Deutsch -
Thank you, Wayne. I will check out the badge system. My main concern is not participants since we have so many educators joining the free online workshops at IT4ALL, but the lack of funding for the sever, volunteers and tech support.
In reply to Wayne Mackintosh

Re: What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

by Paul West -
Wayne and Colleagues

The way some QA agencies have been moving, the idea is that the qualification is vetted and registered of the national qualifications framework, the institution is registered with one or more bodies to give it the ability to operate, and then the institution must be accredited to offer each course that leads to a registered qualification. It is easy for a public institution (and therefore registered to operate as a provider of programmes) to offer a non-accredited qualification if it creates it itself, passes it through its own senate or academic board but does not register it on the national qualifications framework. It would also be breaking the rules if the (registered) institution offers a qualification for which it does not have permission to offer. And the learner is left with an 'unaccredited qualification'. The systems are being tightened up in the face of the campaign against ‘degree mills’ which now seems to include all institutions that have not secured the necessary sanction from their national government to operate AND offer each course which may need to be applied for separately by each institution.

Care needs to be taken to comply in each country and to be aware of the movements in QA circles. The concerns over institutions not registered with national governments and not having every course offered, agreed to by the national QA agency may be going to catch out some institutions. This may sound strange to some of you where there is total institutional autonomy. Your QA agency may have changes in mind for you too!

Are there any global QA agencies that could be approached in addition to the national QA agencies? Accreditation from both national bodies and international ones may be a good path to take.

Regards

Paul

---
Paul G. West
http://www.paulwest.org/
http://za.linkedin.com/in/pgwest

In reply to Paul West

Re: What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

by Wayne Mackintosh -

Paul West wrote,

Care needs to be taken to comply in each country and to be aware of the movements in QA circles.

Hi Paul, this is well founded advice on a number of important points and thanks for the contribution. Apology for the long response, but important issues we need to consider.

Judging by discussions from OERu anchor partners thus far - I think we are on track to ensuring that we will be able to comply to the QA requirements at national level. Our meeting of founding anchor partners in November will confirm these decisions. Sir John Daniel in his opening video at the inaugural open meeting advised the OERu that "students want credible credentials" and we aim to get this right. Quality assurance and institutional accreditation from duly registered and approved institutions is the foundation stone on which the OERu network is built.

With regards to the inaugural credential for piloting the OERu concept, we are erring on the conservative side and have established two baseline requirements at this time:
  1. The qualification must be on the books of the anchor partner organisation and in countries where there is a National Qualifications Framework (NQF), like New Zealand, that the inaugural OERu qualification must be registered with the respective NQF.
  2. The OER Tertiary Education network leading the implementation of the OERu will only accept organisations who are duly registered and legally entitled to operate within their national jurisdictions.
We're definitely not going to be breaking any rules here -- the future success of OERu is too important for the learners we will serve. I believe that we have the necessary checks and balances in place.

The work which you initiated at the Commonwealth of Learning to develop a Transnational Qualifications Framework for the Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth will be a valuable resource for planning cross-border recognition and course articulation among OERu anchor partners. So we have a good starting point here with thanks to your leadership on this front.

Paul West wrote,

Are there any global QA agencies that could be approached in addition to the national QA agencies? Accreditation from both national bodies and international ones may be a good path to take.

That's a good question -- to the best of my knowledge, I am not aware of a global Qualifications Authority as such. Prof Jim Taylor AM during his opening keynote introducing the OERu logic model suggested that we could approach the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) for advice and direction here. Speaking personally, I think that Unesco is best positioned to play a leadership role in finding appropriate solutions for a global "OER Qualifications Authority" - there is a definite need here. I have been in communication with Unesco on this topic. As you know, quality is high on Unesco's agenda and the OER model provides significant opportunities for raising quality of post-secondary education on a global scale. The OER Foundation has extended formal invitations to UNESCO to join the planning meeting in November and I hope that they will be able to attend. The OER Foundation has also invited the Commonwealth of Learning to join us during the November meeting. COL can provide valuable guidance from their experiences in distance education, VUSSC and OER around the Commonwealth.

We will need to see how the global OER QA scenario matures -- in the absence of international agencies being able to assume this role -- perhaps this is something which the OER Foundation will need to consider?

Quality is of paramount importance to the future success of the OERu network and the learners we aim to serve.

In reply to Dr. Nellie Deutsch

Re: What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

by Deleted user -
In some societies, degrees are widely regarded as the benchmark for promotion, salary increase and getting job. Certified copies of the degree comes at the fore front among job application documents and once this copy is missing, the application is rejected. This is quite different from North America and probably other societies where a CV comes first. Degrees is indeed the key motivating factor for learning in societies where it comes first in Job application documents.
In reply to Deleted user

Re: What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

by Wayne Mackintosh -

Bernard Nkuyubwatsi wrote,

In some societies, degrees are widely regarded as the benchmark for promotion, salary increase and getting job.

Hi Bernard - -I think that would be true in many societies in both the industrialised and developing economies of the world. When it comes to education, society and the economy is generally speaking quite conservative.

A post-secondary credential still carries considerable token value in the market place. Until we find a suitable replacement for post-secondary credentials -- we will need to work with this model.

I would not be able to do the work I do and get paid for my job in the absence of the pieces of paper I have. That's not to say that all I have learned was gained through formal education -- but I must concede that in my case, my formal education has prepared me well to engage productively in non-formal and informal learning contexts.

The saving grace of education is that we can learn in spite of teaching ;-).


In reply to Christine Horgan

Re: What inaugural credential would you recommend for OERu?

by Wayne Mackintosh -

Christine Horgan wrote,

one of the most flexible credentials is a general studies degree...many institutions offer something of this sort, very flexible, lends itself well to prior learning

Snap -- this is well aligned with talk among anchor partners so far. I post a separate thread on what we think might be a good starting point for the prototype -- a credential covering the first year of an arts degree. This would also match will with your point about other credentials or exit points within a degree programme.

mmm - -very interesting. I think we're onto the right track here.