Dr Merilyn Childs A/Prof of Higher Education, Acting Director of the Flexible Learning Institute, Charles Sturt University, talks about recognition in HE in the digital age, at Digital Futures In HE: Aligning institutional strategy with pedagogical innovation 13th & 14th November 2012, Citigate Central, Sydney http://www.iru.edu.au/media/35693/111312digital%20futures%20in%20higher%20ed_iru.pdf. (Note speech bubbles have been added as the slides themselves do not convey the argument.)

1. Not business as usual?: MOOCs, Badges,
OERs & global personal learning activism
Dr Merilyn Childs, Associate Professor of Higher Education, Acting Director of
the Flexible Learning Institute, Charles Sturt University. Presentation at the
Digital Futures in Higher Education, Aligning institutional strategy with
pedagogical innovation, 13 & 14 November 2012, Citigate Central, Sydney.
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2. Not business as usual?
Overview Assumed knowledge – your
badges
•The business of institutional learning
•A snapshot – what we know about the
Australian University Sector’s
relationship to learning outside the
academy
•The false promise of open learning
•The “oranges and oranges” problem
•The “not manufactured here”
phenomenon
•Evidence
•Global activism and re-activism
•Are we in a pickle?
•The promise of open learning
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenljohnson/6172125839/sizes/s/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenljohnson/6221135187/sizes/o/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisinplymouth/5285748314/sizes/z/in/photostream/ DIVISION OR SCHOOL

3. On this slide I was
indicating that I wasn’t
offering anyone the “sky is
falling” badge.
Permission pending
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4. Have you seen a MOOC? This
is what one looks like, although
this view does not show the
connectivism that underpins the
MOOC. My presentation is not
about MOOCs as such, but
about global activism in
relationship to demands for HE
to recognise open learning –
and the difficulty this poses for
Australian
HE institutions because of the
poor history of RPL in Australia
http://change.mooc.ca/
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5. The business of institutional learning
On the next few slides I
shared my thinking about
the business of institutional
learning, drawing from my
time at the University of
Newcastle., although I have
never owned a handbag
like the one shown.
The Auchmuty Library, University of Newcastle, NSW late 1960s, Used with permission.
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6. The business of institutional learning
Inside the Auchmuty Library Foyer, the University of Newcastle, Australia - 1980s, Used with permission
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uon/3006988374/ DIVISION OR SCHOOL

7. Learning outside the institution did not count.
We know from research
that the history of the
business of institutional
learning in Australian HE
has been characterised by
resistance to the inclusion
of learning achieved
outside the institution.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suburbanbloke/3237017705/sizes/z/in/photostream/
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8. A snapshot – what we know about the Australian
University Sector’s relationship to ‘learning outside’
•Poor models and processes exist to conduct RPL in
faculties of Education (Taylor & Clemans 2000)
•Online information provided to potential students
about credit or RPL in universities is poor (Childs et al
2002)
•RPL should be seen as a learning process as well as
a credentialing process. A national framework is
needed. Funding disincentives are substantial, overly-
beaurocratic processes are in place (Wheelahan et al
2002)
•“Why is it so difficult to accredit learning that has
occurred outside the academy towards the award of a
On this slide and the next I
qualification?” (Wheelahan, Miller & Newton 2003) summarised the research
that has been done that
•RPL fails
to act as a mechanism for social inclusion indicates the slow change
in Australia in terms of
(Cameron & Miller 2004, Cameron 2006) forming institutional
relationships to learning
outside.
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9. A snapshot – what we know about the Australian
University Sector’s relationship to ‘learning outside’
(continued)
•Australian universities need to establish RPL practices
that are transparent and consistent (Fox 2009)
•Universities have ‘erected barriers to limit the
development of RPL’ and the incorporation of lifelong
learning into university study remains ‘patchy at best’
(Pitman, 2009, Pittman & Broomhall 2009)
•Inthe vocational sector, unease about RPL means it is
used conservatively (Smith, 2011)
•Cameron (2012) advocates RPL in the context of ePs
The research has
and WPL consistently show that
Australian HE has
struggled to value
•Universities tend to see RPL as a quality discourse rather learning outside the
institution. I remain
than a social inclusion one & no common consensus or unconvinced that
approach exists (Pitman & Vidovic 2012) implementation via the
revised AQF will make a
difference to this history.
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10. The false promise
of open learning
Changes in HE need to do
substantially more than
introducing ICT-enabled
learning inside the
institution, without changing
the institution's way of
thinking about learning
outside.
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11. The oranges and oranges problem
Grown outside Grown inside
The distinctions that
have been used to
differentiate learning
developed “inside” or
“outside” the
institution can no
longer be relied upon
as the point of
difference.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/giveawayboy/2145248676/sizes/z/in/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_ewan/3958779607/size
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12. The “not manufactured here” phenomenon
The belief remains that
learning “manufactured”
within the institution is
automatically better, more
critical, or evidence-based
than learning “outside” by
citizen’s in their own
learning journey.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chriscgray/3872678333/sizes/z/in/photostream/
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13. Evidence 1
Inside, manufactured here Lifewide, not manufactured here
UNSW graduates are Global Citizens
who are:
•capable of applying their discipline in
local, national and international contexts
•culturallyaware and capable of
respecting diversity and acting in
socially just/responsible ways
•capable of environmental responsibility
HE institutions talk about
graduate attributes – but we
need fresh eyes to be able to
https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/atoz/GraduateAttributes.html value and interpret the ways in
which citizen’s participate in
the world, and sometimes
become enrolled students –
and to recognise and value a
citizen’s graduate attributes.,
or at the very least, learning
Protest rally, December 14th 2009, Copenhagen Used with permission
https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/atoz/GraduateAttributes.html outcomes
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kk/4188139906/
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14. Evidence 2
Inside, manufactured here Lifewide, not manufactured here
UNSW Graduate Attributes
UNSW graduates are Global
Citizens who are:
Professionals who are:
•capable of independent, self-
directed practice
•capable of lifelong learning
•capable of operating within an
agreed Code of Practice
This slide
continues the
discussion from the
Used with permission http://flic.kr/p/6KUfM8
previous slide.
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15. Evidence
Back Me Up website Vimeo creativity Network
campaign
Back Me Up Video
What if a citizen produced
these artefacts? Then enrol
in a related formal program
of study. How can we justify
asking them to re-study
what they have clearly
demonstrated “outside”?
Research indicates this
often happens.
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16. Global activism – cynicism & loans
We need to consider (i) the
global push-back against
expensive HE study, and
(ii) global activism to
attempt to make HE
institutions more permeable
to learning “outside”
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-06/student-loans-debt-for-life
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17. http://thefreeuniversityofliverpool.wordpress.com/
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18. Global activism
Mission Statement
THIS IS A PROTEST!
Higher Education is a right for all not a privilege for the few. It is on this
basis the Free University of Liverpool is committed to FREE education
for any student who wants to study with us. At the Free University of
Liverpool we believe that critical thought and action are at the heart of
changing the world we live in. With this in mind we support, teach about
and practice cultural activism.
http://thefreeuniversityofliverpool.wordpress.com/
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19. Global activism
http://universityofthepeople.wordpress.com/
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20. Global activism- Mozilla’s
Open Badges
...in the current formal education
and accreditation systems, much of
this learning is ignored or missed
entirely. Institutions still decide what
types of learning 'count', with little
room for innovation, as well as who
gets to have access to that
learning. Their end products, the
grade or degree, are the only way
that learning is currently
communicated and recognized
within the system, as well as the The Mozilla Open Badges project is not
larger society. just about curriculum, nor learning –
they are about an explicit approach to
claim from HE their control on
credentials. We already have the
policy environment to meet this
challenge- but our challenge is to
https://wiki.mozilla.org/images/5/59/OpenBadges-Working- confront the “oranges and oranges”
Paper_012312.pdf problem, the “not manufactured here”
phenomenon, and be creative about
our business, and models of design.
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21. http://wikieducator.org/OER_university/Home
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22. http://oer.kmi.open.ac.uk/?page_id=1254 http://kmi.open.ac.uk/
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23. Global re-activism?
MOOCS do not solve the
issue of the relationship
between a citizen’s
learning and learning as
an enrolled student.
Pressure to resolve this
relational failure is already
emerging.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/08/02/conventional- http://eductechalogy.org/index/archives/323
online-universities-consider-strategic-response-moocs DIVISION OR SCHOOL

24. Are we in a pickle?
I hope so.
But not of the chicken little
kind.
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25. The promise of open learning
Lies in
•Seeing enrolled learning as a
•Re-valuing situated knowing and
relational package deal in citizen’s
doing
lives (they will, even if we don’t)
•Learning how to be engaged
•Carefully challenging the
translators rather than one-way
‘oranges and oranges’ problem,
transmitters
and the ‘not manufactured here’
•Critique of industrial organization phenomenon (because neither
in HE (disaggregation, hierarchies make sense in a digital age).
of knowledge)
•Creativity
•Co-learning
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26. The business of institutional learning
Aligning institutional strategy with
open learning in
a digital age means grappling with the question:
How do we find new ways to
 think about, positively respond to, creatively
interpret
 a citizen’s lifelong and lifewide learning journey
as an integral part of enrolled learning – and vice
versa?
The business of institutional learning over many decades has
relied on distinctions such as critical thought, reflection,
discipline knowledge, research etc , distinctions “shored up” via
power over the credential. This distinction no longer holds true.
Learning is a package deal developed by citizens who
sometimes become enrolled students . The greatest challenge
we face in the digital age is not MOOCS, despite Chicken Little.
It’s our need to form new relationships between learning inside
and outside the institution. Research has consistently shown
that HE in Australia has resisted this change – and as a result
the Sector has been thrown off guard. The rush to MOOCS
won’t resolve the underlying challenge – we need to value
lifelong learning, not just talk about it. Words like connectivism,
seamlessness, authentic learning, student-centre learning are
robbed of meaning if we don’t engage with and create new ways
of engaging with learning outside the institution.
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27. References
Cameron, R. 2006, 'RPL and the disengaged learner: the need for new starting points', in P Anderson & J Harris (eds), Re-
theorising the recognition of prior learning, National Institute of Adult and Community Education (NIACE), England and Wales.
Childs,M., Ingham V., and Wagner R. 2002, Recognition of prior learning on the web - a case of Australian universities, Australian
Journal of Adult Learning, Volume 42, Number 1, April 2002, pp.39-56.
Cameron, R. 2012, "Recognising workplace learning: the emerging practices of e-RPL and e-PR", Journal of Workplace Learning,
Vol. 24 Iss: 2, pp.85 - 104
Fox, T.A., 2005, Adult learning and recognition of prior learning: The 'white elephant' in Australian universities. Australian
Journal of Adult Learning, 54(3), pp. 352-370.
Misko, J, Beddie, F & Smith, L 2007, The recognition of non-formal and informal learning in Australia: country background
report prepared for the OECD activity on Recognition of Non-formal and Informal Learning, DEST, Canberra.
Pitman T. & Vidovich L., 2012, Recognition of prior learning (RPL) policy in Australian higher education: the dynamics of
position-taking, Journal of Education Policy , Vol. 27(6)
Pitman T, & Susan Broomhall S, 2009, Australian universities, generic skills and lifelong learning, International Journal of
Lifelong Education , Vol. 28 (4).
Pitman,T. 2009. Recognition of prior learning: the accelerated rate of change in Australian universities, Higher Education
Research & Development Vol 28(2), pp.227-240
Smith, E., 2010, A review of twenty years of competency-based training in the Australian vocational education and training system.
International Journal of Training and Development, 14: 54–64. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2419.2009.00340.x
Taylor T., & Clemans A., 2000, Avoiding the Hoops: A study of recognition of prior learning processes in Australian faculties of
education, Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education , vol. 28 (6). 2000
The Mozilla Foundation and Peer 2 Peer University in collaboration with The MacArthur Foundation (2012) Open Badges for
Lifelong Learning: Exploring an open badge ecosystem to support skill development and lifelong learning for real results such
as jobs and advancement, pp.1-14. https://wiki.mozilla.org/images/5/59/OpenBadges Working-Paper_012312.pdf retrieved
12/11/2012
Wheelahan, L, Miller, P., Newton, D, Dennis, N, Firth, J., Pascoe, S & Veenker, P 2003, Recognition of Prior Learning:
policy and practice in Australia, report to Australian Qualifications Framework Advisory Board.
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28. Not business as usual?: MOOCs, Badges, OERs & global personal learning
activism
Dr Merilyn Childs, Associate Professor of Higher Education, Acting Director of
the Flexible Learning Institute, Charles Sturt University. Presentation at the
Digital Futures in Higher Education, Aligning institutional strategy with
pedagogical innovation, 13 & 14 November 2012, Citigate Central, Sydney.
Contact: Merilyn Childs
mchilds@csu.edu.au
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