The future integration and successful use of Open Educational Resources (OER) are linked to four key elements in their development and adoption: building commitment, assuring quality, unbundling and language diversity. With these in place, OER can reach its potential for students, faculty/instructors, and colleges and universities.
Building Commitment
A commitment to using OER requires faculty members and instructors, since they are the major decision makers, to understand and become committed to the principles of openness for learners. What is at stake here is equity of access and opportunity for success in higher education. As costs of tuition, textbooks, technology, travel and accommodation rise, anything that lowers these costs is welcome.
Open sourced textbooks, open courses (free) and peer network support for learning are all gaining traction as key components of an approach to effective, quality learning. While some are pressing to go further – entire programs offered free online, with students attending college or university for coaching and tuition and for proctored assessments – the key first step is to adopt and adapt open texts, open courseware and other resources to aid learning.
Assuring Quality and Efficacy
For more faculty members to embrace OER, much more needs to be done to quality assure OER resources. What is needed is an edit / design network – similar to the thousands who edit the pages of Wikipedia on a voluntary basis – to review OER resources (existing and new) and assess quality, as well as evidence for effectiveness and to indicate components of the material, which may need attention – cultural context, language, gender mainstreaming, case examples, and so on. Until there are evidence-based approaches to OER, adoption will be low. Very few OER resources can be just taken off the shelf and used – adaptation or additions are needed.
There are systematic approaches being taken to quality for OER and a much more substantial investment in instructional design for OER materials. Key organizations – OERu, United Kingdom Open University, the Commonwealth of Learning – are investing in quality assured OER. These organizations are helping to shape the future of OER for all levels of education.
This may lead to a “cull” of poor OER resources. There are numerous stale dated and redundant resources. The OER “cupboard” needs a spring clean.
Unbundling
The third key development emerging, and one which will grow over time, is the separation of the components of learning and credit granting. The elements of this are:
- Student learning materials are used by students to develop knowledge, understanding, skills and competencies. This can be through MOOCs or through self-study of OER courses made freely available online.
- Peer networks, either subject-based or geographically-based, support learners in their self-study – advice, problem solving and coaching by more experienced and knowledgeable learners.
- Expert tutoring, coaching, guiding and mentoring is available on a fee for service basis from colleges or universities for these independent learners.
- When learners are ready, they ask a local college or university to provide an opportunity for assessment under secure and supervised conditions. This proctored assessment is a paid for service.
- The successful completion of the assessment leads to credit recognition. Such credits should be transferable, as well as deposited in the learner’s e-portfolio, counting towards degrees, certificates and diplomas.
Through this process, the costs of higher education is lowered, quality is assured through assessment and students work at their own pace.
There are a great many barriers to this unbundling of higher education. Three in particular are important: (a) the lack of recognition of OER courses for credit through exams; (b) the extent of transferability within and between institutions is limited, but grows gradually – there would be a need for accelerated development of transnational qualifications frameworks and transfer credit agreements so credit transfer becomes easier and more transparent; and (c) many institutions have “residency” requirements (number of credits which must be completed at that institution whether in class, online or other means), which act as barriers to the award of credentials for many students – these need to be reduced or removed. Creative approaches to assessment and prior learning assessment would also be needed to enable unbundling to occur.
But it is beginning to happen. Malaysian public universities are unbundling the first year of study for a degree through the use of MOOCs; the American Council on Education approved some MOOCs for credit in the United States; and the University of Maryland University College is offering proctored challenge examinations or prior learning assessment for MOOCs. The process of change is slow and difficult.
Language Diversity
Most OER materials are in English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Hindi and Gujarati. Less spoken languages are significantly under-represented in the catalogues of OER resources and courses. This is of concern to many, including the European Union (EU) and the International Council on Open and Distance Education (ICDE), as this 2014 “state of the art” report makes clear. Given the movement of peoples and the need to encourage and enable learner mobility – a key strategy within the EU, for example – developing substantial OER courseware in less used languages would also aid equity in higher education and support the strategy for lifelong learning and open education.
The Promise
The real importance of OER is the potential:
But potential is subject to the “hype curve” and to disappointment. This potential will be realized in different ways in different places – it may be more readily realized in fast growing and emerging systems than in mature and highly developed systems like those in North America. Nonetheless, the potential of OER is considerable. It will be realized through the individual actions of faculty members and instructors, supported by appropriate institutional and governmental policies.
The OER movement is becoming focused and organized. It is time for faculty members to take a look at OER resources available to them, but also to decide what they might contribute to the available pool of free to use resources.
- To enable learners to engage in self-managed, affordable and flexible learning.
- To change the way instructors think about and design learning resources.
- To facilitate rapid course development and prototyping.
- To transform higher education as a significant component of the gradually unfolding unbundling of higher education systems.
But potential is subject to the “hype curve” and to disappointment. This potential will be realized in different ways in different places – it may be more readily realized in fast growing and emerging systems than in mature and highly developed systems like those in North America. Nonetheless, the potential of OER is considerable. It will be realized through the individual actions of faculty members and instructors, supported by appropriate institutional and governmental policies.
The OER movement is becoming focused and organized. It is time for faculty members to take a look at OER resources available to them, but also to decide what they might contribute to the available pool of free to use resources.
