Research through the Generations: Reflecting on the Past, Present and Future
Conole thinktank
1. National
Teaching
Fellow 2012 EDEN fellow 2013 Ascilite fellow 2012
Accreditation of informal
and non-formal learning
Gráinne Conole, Project Evaluator
10th November 2014
National Think Tank
Sydney
2. • External evaluator
• Focus on:
– Vision
– Process
– Outputs
– Impact
– Dissemination
3. Outline
• Issues
• Projects
– The OPAL initiative
– POERUP
– VMPass
– OpenEd
• Mapping informal and formal
learning
4. • Emergence of OER and MOOCs challenging
formal education
• New business models emerging
• How to accredit informal and non-formal
learning
5. The OPAL metromap
Evaluation shows lack of uptake
by teachers and learners
Shift from development to
community building and
articulation of OER practice
http://www.oer-quality.org/
6. KA3 ICT
POERUP Achievements
• Inventory of more than 500 OER initiatives worldwide
• 33 country reports - most being updated
• 7 case studies including Wikiwijs, ALISON (Ireland), OER U (global) and
FutureLearn (UK mostly)
• 3 EU-level policy documents for universities, VET and schools
• 8 policy documents for UK (x3), Ireland, France, Netherlands, Poland –
and Canada
7. Themes for policy recommendations
• Communication and awareness raising
• Funding
• Copyright / licensing
• Reducing regulatory barriers
• Quality
• Teacher training and continuous professional development
• Certification and accreditation
• Infrastructure
• Further research
7
8. Many learners wish to have formal,
transferable recognition of their
knowledge & skills
Challenges:
•New players (private sector, non-profit)
in unbundled learning provision
•Open learning recognition is a recent
topic, lack of guidelines for interested
actors
9. Many learners wish to have formal,
transferable recognition of their
knowledge & skills!
Potential
•Recognition would
–create a link between traditional and open and
flexible learning
–Create trust in OER, MOOCs, OCW, Virtual
Mobility
•Assessment and recognition might
become a business model for OER,
MOOCs, OCW…
10. Information from
OER provider (HEI)
Information from
learner
Information from
assessing/certifying
institution
Learning Passport for accreditation
11. Information from
OER provider (HEI)
Information from
learner
Information from
assessing/certifying
institution
•Applied Quality Procedures
•Estimated Hours of Workload
•Learning Outcomes described (Knowledge, Skills, Competences)
•Learning activities required by the learner
•Certification options
12. •General personal information
•Period in which study occurred
•Information about the learning activities + evidence
source (e.g. PORTFOLIO)
Information from
OER provider (HEI)
Information from
learner
Information from
assessing/certifying
institution
13. Information from
OER provider (HEI)
Information from
learner
•Assessment Components (form)
•Which LO were verified?
•Quality Control Procedures for Assessment
•Equivalence of certification within institution
•Position of certification within qualification framework
•Grading scheme (pass/fail, numerical)
Information from
assessing/certifying
institution
14. Figure 1: OpenCred Assessment-Recogni on Matrix
4
3
2
1
0
0 1 2 3 4
Robustness of assessment
Formality of
recogni on
Tradi onal online MA moduleOsnabrück Data Structures
MOOC (Germany)
Universidade Aberta
MOOC (Portugal)
Tartu Chemical Analysis
MOOC (Estonia)
First Finance Ins tute
MOOC (France)
FUN MOOCs (France)
Lithuania RPL for OER
16. Formal/informal landscape
Formal
Individual Social
Informal
Blended courses
DL+ social media
Trad. campus courses
DL courses
OER
xMOOCs
OER + Social media
cMOOCs
APEL
ePortforlios
OERu
Badges
