The open access movement has gained increasing traction within universities, leading to the creation of numerous courseware repositories of open educational resources (OER) worldwide. However, use of OER as a tool for expanding access to formal education is currently limited by a lack of examples of accreditation of learning obtained through them, thus significantly reducing their transformative potential. We explore work carried out in five European universities (United Nations University, Open University of Catalonia, Universities of Bologna, Edinburgh, Granada) aimed at taking use of OER a significant step forward by working towards the assessment and accreditation of OER-based learning outcomes. These universities evaluated , in the light of their current practices in traditional education, both opportunities and internal and external barriers for them in recognising learning based solely on OERs. Through consultation with a multi-disciplinary, cross-institutional, team of experts in quality assurance, academic development, curriculum development, administration and financing, a shared process model was developed. The feasibility of the model was investigated from administrative, legal and financial perspectives, as well as from the view point of institutional positioning and strategy. We will present a set of scenarios for assessing OER-based learning outcomes, each with different degrees of ‘unbundling’ of course design, provision and assessment between different institutions, mapped onto traditional QA and accreditation processes. The results of our feasibility testing of institutional accreditation of OER-based learning will be discussed.

1. Giving Credit for OER-based Learning
Anthony Camilleri, EFQUEL, Belgium
Jeff Haywood, University of Edinburgh, UK
Chahira Nouira, UN University, Germany
www.oer-europe.net
Giving Credit for OER-based Learning
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2. Partnership:
•EFQUEL
•University of Bologna
•University of Duisburg-Essen
•University of Edinburgh
•University of Granada
•UN University
•SCIENTER
With the support of the
Lifelong Learning Programme
of the European Union
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3. Our objective
To evaluate the feasibility of assessment and certification of
learning based solely on OER/OCW by traditional universities,
using their normal academic and quality processes
Why did we do this?
OER & OCW are very useful supplementary materials for existing
students and informal learners
but
don’t address the needs of those wishing to have formal, quality-
controlled, transferable recognition of their knowledge & skills,
for use within formal HE settings or with employers
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4. How does our work address UNESCO global priorities?
2.By helping traditional universities to see how to go beyond OER/OCW
and offer online, reasonable cost, worldwide credits to learners
3.By reducing barriers of gender, location, religion etc by being open to
all
4.By enabling access to more credit-bearing courses than a single
university, can offer, especially those with limited resources
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5. OER
OCW
MOOCs
OERtest
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6. What did we do?
◦Carried out background research to inform our study
◦Defined OER-based learning ‘essentials’ to support unbundled
assessment & accreditation
◦Specified a Learning Passport, a European Diploma Supplement
-compliant ‘transcript’ that documents the learner’s achievements
against Learning Outcomes’s
◦Created realistic assessment & certification scenarios that map onto
current traditional higher education processes
◦Gathered feasibility data from senior key informants in our universities
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7. Defining OER/OCW ‘essentials’
These are needed for
•a learner to be able to study - alone or with peer support
•a university to be able to assess – with realistic effort at scale
◦open curricula with defined learning outcomes, open study materials,
defined tasks (solo or group), defined activities (solo or group),
appropriate formative assessments for the learner
◦guidance as to how to present work completed (eg portfolio)
◦proposed (but not mandatory) summative assessments for universities
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8. Creating assessment & certification scenarios
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9. Summary of our findings
2.University senior staff were generally open & positive to the concept,
being aware of the current value of OER/OCW
3.Different universities preferred different scenarios, depending on their
charging models, legislative restraints, prior collaborative arrangements,
flexibility in current assessment procedures
4.Collaborative agreements between universities was likely to be the
most productive approach (ie trust relationships as in Erasmus)
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10. Contact us at:
anthony@camilleri.com
jeff.haywood@ed.acuk
nouira@vie.unu.edu
Presentation available from:
http://www.oer-europe.net
Feedback is welcome!
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11. Announcing a European Task-Force
A voluntary group of OER Initiatives and related policy groups which will
take work forward by:
•Trialling the assessment of OER-based learning outcomes
•Trialling awarding credit for OER-based learning outcomes
•Disseminating experiences of the above activities
Express your Interest at
http://taskforce.oer-europe.net
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