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:
- 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.
- 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.