OERu/Planning/Course approval and quality working group/2015 Annual report

Report of the Course Approval And Quality working group

The Course Approval And Quality working group aimed to refine and republish the Quality instruments produced and published in 2014, focusing on the Design Blueprint templates which supports design of new subjects. As the overall goal of the network was to put out many new courses, the aim was to pilot and refine the Blueprint with a number or subject development teams in 2015 as they designed their courses.

Due to the lack of subjects being actively developed by new partners/designers, and the increase of new members in the network and the Working Group, we have not been able to progress this aim and instead have focused on on-boarding new members and inducting them into the Design processes and the way in which the quality elements are 'designed in' to the templates.

Summary of main outputs of the working group

Inducting new members into the OERu philosophy, goals, technologies and Design processes and the way in which the quality elements are 'designed in' to the templates. Working with the Partner Engagement group to progress and refine the way we induct and train new members.

Performance against key performance indicators

• Review process and lessons learned from previous nomination calls. This has been done but still needs to be done with a larger pool of new partner/designers to test the quality instrument usefulness to guide new subject developments.

• Develop and publish streamlined process for course nominations and supporting design documentation. Not complete - we had so many courses already nominated and the priorty became to try and push some of them through into the development phase.

• Publish and adopt OERu quality guidelines. Done (as per the 2014 outcomes) but not reviewed due to the priority and circumstances noted earlier.

• Develop guidelines and recommendations for measuring OERu learner satisfaction. Not started.

Recommendations for 2016 and the future

If the October planning meetings can provide a focus on discovering which nominated courses each partner institution will commit personnel and/or resources to develop and deliver in each quarter of 2016, the Working Group will be able to follow these timelines and be in a better position to meet it's overall objectives.