OERu/Open business models

Issues, questions and suggestions

• Internal (Financial constraints - -books must balance) -- external (Funding model . Think about disaggregating grant / funding category for assessment / credentials. What part is for tuition?. -- Earmarked funding to support OER - take a look at the BC government model in Canada)
• Potential for reducing student debt.
• Think about developing a funding model for assessment
• NZ ITP funding model assumes it is only "valid" to fund the tuition as a package.
• Model must think about how it facilitates course articulation & pathways for learning
• Need to cost . investigate direct costs of "assessment and credentialisation"
• Incentives for clearly defined pilots linked to real needs and defined performance outcomes.
• Funding model will need to mature and develop in parallel with sector maturation with OER
• Shared model for marketing. Otago Polytechnic's initial work with regard to marketing
• Completion recognition component & OER

Input from SCoPE Seminar

The following notes are summarized by Paul Stacey, Director of Development for BCcampus, from SCoPE OERu online discussions and an OERu drop-in think tank web conference session held over the period 4-21-Feb-2011. The summary has been distilled from contributions made by participants from Israel, United States, New Zealand, India, Canada, Netherlands, Australia, United Kingdom, Pakistan, Portugal, and Brazil.

• is a consortium of partner universities - a university of universities. Participating colleges/universities are given an OERu logo to post on their web-sites designating them as participants.
• un-bundles the package of services traditional universities provide: recommending (and selling) learning materials, forming learning groups, arranging learning experiences, supplying teachers, certifying
• provides a search service for OER materials and maintains a repository of credit based OER approved by the consortium
• brings together currently separate OER initiatives to generate collaboration between them for development and assemblage of OER into mutually credentialed outcomes.
• creates a framework within which existing OER can be assembled and new OER development positioned.
• establishes a world OER credit bank and trans-national qualifications framework. Institutions developing OER can register their OER with the credit bank specifying what credit they are willing to accord those who successfully complete the learning outcomes associated with it. OERu assembles or creates the transfer/articulation aspects of assembling OER into a credential. Each OERu university partner can link existing OER courses of other partner universities to its OER degree programmes
• facilitates creation of an OER learning path, learning plan, and/or PLAR documentation template for students ideally through consultation with advisor or mentor
• helps learners systematically pursue learning plan and create a portfolio that can be assessed
• provides student support resources to help students navigate their learning paths and compile portfolios. Partners with institutions who provide options for student support possibly on a fee for service basis. A 24x7 call center for assisting students.
• creates a social learning context for OER reinserting or applying pedagogy to OER. Utilizes mass collaboration approaches combined with social networking to establish peer-to-peer and tutor-student support potentially with senior students receiving credit for tutoring juniour students. Provides a brokering/marketplace where those who want to facilitate learning can meet those who want to learn. Emphasizes peer-to-peer social learning over teacher/student traditional learning. Students as teachers solidifies learning.
• prioritizes low-cost / low-bandwidth solutions for learner support and uses mobile technologies for these interactive components
• provides continuous entry points throughout the year with entry by exams rather than prerequisite courses or degrees. A 365 days online registration and evaluation process.
• supports individual pace of learning, multiple exit points, including instant certification by testing
• removes affiliation requirements, residency or citizenship requirements, age restrictions (make OERu undergraduate and graduate programs open to children)
• provides certification or links to colleges and universities who do a PLAR like assessment of the portfolio
• ­awards the degree with logos of universities who participated in the validation process displayed on the certificate or alternatively the universities themselves confer the credentials
• maintains a registry of graduates

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