Presentation May 2013 to Congres International - University Teaching and Innovation Autonomous University of Barcelona

1. Prior Learning Recognition and
Assessment and Credit Transfer:
A Canadian Experience
Terry Anderson
PhD and Professor
Centre for Distance Education
CIDUI Symposium
International Conference on University
Teaching and Innovation
29 May 2013
Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)

2. Athabasca University,
Alberta, Canada
* Athabasca University
34,000 students, 700 courses
100% distance education
Graduate and
Undergraduate programs
Master & Doctorate
Distance Education
Only USA Regionally
Accredited University
in Canada
*Athabasca
University

3. A business or industry, as a living
organism, often must evolve
(i.e., to overcome or even
leverage changes) in order to
seek higher efficiencies and
ensure itslong-term sustainability
(Kim, 2010).

4. Drivers for Change
• Need for constant, lifelong learning
• Access to multiple resources
– Informal – OERs, learning networks, MOOCs
– Formal – multiple institutions, professional
accreditation
• Lower costs for content, improving machine
testing
• Increased human mobility
• More demand for evidence of competence and
qualifications

5. • Learning is normal, valuable
and happens all the time.
• Why does it not lead to
academic credit?

6. New Affordances
• Open Educational resources
• Learning communities and networks
• MOOCs
• Knowledge wikipedia, Answers.com

7. If you want to learn how to fix a pipe, solve a
partial differential equation, write
software, you are seconds away from know-
how via YouTube, Wikipedia and search
engines. Access to technology and access to
knowledge, however, isn’t enough. Learning is
a social, active, and ongoing process.
What does a motivated group of self-learners
need to know to agree on a subject or skill, find
and qualify the best learning resources about that
topic, select and use appropriate communication
media to co-learn it?
http://peeragogy.org/

8. Massive (But Not Open) Master’s
• “The Georgia Institute of Technology plans to
offer a $7,000 online master’s degree to
10,000 new students over the next three years
without hiring much more than a handful (8)
of new instructors.”
• Regular fee $40,000 /year
• Inside Higher Ed
– May 15 2013

9. • Student-teacher Interaction recorded
• Student- Content Interaction
Enhanced, abundant, multi-media
• Student-Student Interaction Online, web
2.0, collaborative projects
Miyazoe, T., & Anderson, T. (2010). The interaction equivalency theorem. Journal
of Interactive Online Learning, 9(2).
http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/pdf/9.2.1.pdf.

10. Prior Learning Assessment and
Recognition:
• "The formal acknowledgement of
skills, knowledge, and competencies that are
gained through work experience, informal
training, and life experience" (UNESCO :
Vlãsceanu, et al., 2004).

11. Flexible paths to assessment for OER
learners: A comparative study
• Conrad &McGreal, (2012)
• Purposively selected 31
institutions from 10
countries, known to be interested
in open or alternative education

13. • “resistance within institutions to RPL practice”
• Almost all charged fees for RPL
• “Usher, Bryant, and Johnston (1997) point out, "it
offers a contestable and ambiguous terrain where
different socio-economic and cultural
assumptions and strategies can be differentially
articulated. [However], as a field of tension, it can
be exploited by different groups, each
emphasizing certain dimensions over others"
(p105).

14. • http://www.oer-europe.net/
Briefing Papers
In order to develop a framework of learning based on study using
OERs, that is shared among several universities, OERtest will stimulate
exchange between Higher Education experts in quality
assurance, recognition of prior learning, credit transfers and
institutional issues such as strategy development and HEI financing
from our partner universities as well as researchers/practitioners of
open educational practice. These activities will firstly result in four
briefing papers on
• Assessment methods
• Requirements and standards of resources
•Credentilization, certification and recognition (institutional)
• Inter-institutional collaboration

15. Credit Transfer
• Over 50% of Athabasca undergraduate
students are taking courses, that they will
transfer into other institutions.
• Athabasca acts as a service provider for
students and institutions across Canada

16. Credit Transfer
• Relies on Trust
• Europe has a long history from medieval days of
mobility
• Successful EU Programs?? –
Socrates, Eramsmus, Lifelong Learning Programme
– Coles, M., & Oates, T. (2005).
• Student mobility without credit transfer is neutered.
• Addresses high personal and social cost of non-
completion, allowing second chances and life-long
learning
• Especially important for high risk and disadvantaged
learners.

17. Credit transfer at Athabasca
• https://secure3.athabascau.ca/tcas/transfer.cgi

18. Athabasca Credit to other Schools

19. E-Portfolio Solution
• Maintaining an accurate record of formal and
informal learning is critical.

20. Badges
• No evidence such external motivators create
long term benefit or motivation. Kohn (1993) Punished
by Rewards
• But useful as evidence of accomplishment at
lower level of granularity than course or
degree.

21. Conclusions
• Credit transfer and prior learning assessment
and recognition are:
– Disruptive
– Necessary
– A critical component of a 21century University.
Terry Anderson terrya@athabascau.ca
Blog: terrya.edublogs.org