Context and caveats

OER Foundation

2012 - The year of the MOOC

"In 50 years, there will be only 10 institutions in the world delivering higher education and Udacity has a shot at being one of them"

~ Sebastien Thrun

David Kernohan, DS106 "Day of the MOOC" poster

A few caveats

• Open education lens for our micro-credentialing journey

• OER Foundation's holding pattern status

... caveats do not obfuscate our experiences

How does OERu work?

Gears by Pexels dedicated to the Public Domain under Creative Commons CC0​ 

Unsatisfied demand for HE

Crowd by James Cridland licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

BIG vision for a small charity

But what if ...

Institutions assembled only 2 courses from OER

Agreed to provide assessment services for formal credit?

Small and big by Jimmy Flink licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Alike 2.0 Generic

OERu concept

Disaggregated service provision model

Traditional university

package

OERu unbundled

package

Free learning & certification

Graduation by paseidon dedicated to the public domain under Creative Commons CC0

OERu's 1st year of study

Timeline

Tape measure by Blickpixel dedicated to the public domain under Creative Commons CC0

2012 - OER for assessment & credit for students project

2013 - Baseline study

          - OERu launches - recommend micro-courses

2014 - OERu's 1st graduate

2015 - OERu 1st year of study proposed as MVP

2018 - OERu micro-credential credit transfer

            agreements

Inaugural qualification - Arts

Certificate of General Studies (30 credits)

Introduction to entrepreneurship

Regional relations in Asia and the Pacific

Corporate communciation

Principles of Management

World history in the modern era

Introduction to psychology 1

Introduction to research methods in psychology

Art appreciation and techniques

Introduction to critical reasoning

Residency requirement (6 credits)

Transfer credit (24 credits)

33 credits

Available

Critical reasoning

Learning in a digital age

Principles of Marketing

Indigenous Australia

Microeconomics

Macroeconomics

Inaugural qualification -Business

Certificate of Higher Education in Business (OERu)

Learning in a digital age

Principles of management

Introduction to entrepreneurship

Principles of marketing

Introduction to business

Introduction to project management

Principles of microeconomics

Principles of macroeconomics

Introduction to customer centred business

Introduction to operations management

Core courses (60 credits)

Optional courses (60 credits required)

94 credits

available

Corporate communication

Micro-courses

Course sizes differ

Tape measure by Blickpixel dedicated to the public domain under Creative Commons CC0

OERu has adopted micro-courses (40 learning hours each) as standard "currency" for transfer

OERu micro-courses

2019 Commonwealth of Learning Award for Excellence in Distance Education Materials

Micro-courses for credit

Role of the project manager

Initiating a project

Planning a project

Executing and closing a project

Introduction to project management

Qualification

Transcript credit

Green paint by JTPatriot dedicated to the public domain under Creative Commons CC0

Digital badges for micro-courses

Free

Free

Fee for service

Formal credit

OERu qualifications

New participant survey (n=2079)

Do you intend to aqcuire a micro-credential for this course?

Yes - 46%

Possibly - 34%

Considerations for WAM's future

Yellow ballon by harxtec dedicated to the public domain under Creative Commons CC0

Structural persistence

Universities play an enduring role in validating knowledge. Despite technological advancements, institutions like universities persist because they provide essential frameworks for learning and credentialing.

~ Brown, J.S, and Duguid, P. (2000) Social Life of Information

Seagull sky flight by maleifl dedicated to the public domain under Creative Commons CC0

Structural persistence refers to how an organisation's hierarchy, roles and procedures remain stable over time and highlights how organisations resist change to maintain continuity through institutionalised practices and deeply embedded structures.  

Successful futures for WAM

Seagull sky flight by maleifl dedicated to the public domain under Creative Commons CC0

An independent organization that can harness the power of networking & cooperation

Second-mover advantage

Leverage geographical diversity as an international organisation

Agility as a small organisation

Considerations to fuel WAM's success

Pilot projects - Start small and scale gradually

Build parallel universes that augment and compliment