Talk at a workshop for Kiron Higher Education Organisation's university partners in Berlin, 10 April 2017

1. Recognition of open learning:
the big picture
Address for Kiron Workshop
Gabi Witthaus, Berlin, 10 April 2017
KIRON

2. Overview of presentation
1. Background and definitions
2. Snapshot from the recent literature
3. Policy for recognition of open learning
4. Assessment and credentialisation in MOOCs
5. The OpenCred Traffic Light Model
6. Recognition of open learning - examples
7. Community of open education practice
8. The future
KIRON

3. 1. BACKGROUND AND DEFINITIONS

4. Open Education
Inamorato Dos Santos, Punie & Muñoz (2016)
KIRON

5. Open Educational Resources (OERs): the 5 Rs
• Make and own copiesRetain
• Use in a wide range of waysReuse
• Adapt, modify, and improveRevise
• Combine two or moreRemix
• Share with othersRedistribute
Adapted (color change) from Open Education: A “Simple” Introduction by David Wiley released under CC-BY license

6. MOOCs 2009-2016
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-12-29-monetization-over-massiveness-breaking-down-moocs-by-the-numbers-in-2016

7. MOOCs: the numbers
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-12-29-monetization-over-massiveness-breaking-down-moocs-by-the-numbers-in-2016

8. Credentialisation vs
recognition/ validation/ accreditation
Witthaus, G., Inamorato dos Santos. A., Childs, M., Tannhäuser, A., Conole, G., Nkuyubwatsi, B., Punie, Y. (2016)

9. 2. SNAPSHOT FROM THE LITERATURE

10. OpenCred Study (2014-16)
Witthaus, G., Inamorato dos Santos. A., Childs, M., Tannhäuser, A., Conole, G., Nkuyubwatsi, B., Punie, Y. (2016)

11. Themes from the literature
• Is Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) enough?
• Policy – needed or not? (e.g. NVAO, 2014)
• How to measure the quality of online, open
education
• The role of learning analytics in recognition
• Do we need a common learning platform to
enable recognition?
• Disaggregation/ unbundling of higher
education

12. Further themes from the literature
• Assessment is key (e.g. Open Education
Special Interest Group, 2014)
• The cost of assessment and recognition
• Is peer assessment reliable?
• After all that… will higher education
institutions recognise open learning? (Reushle
et al, 2016)

13. 3. POLICY STATEMENTS
Image by Jennifer Jordan on Flickr

14. Member States should…
• have in place, no later than 2018, in
accordance with national circumstances and
specificities, and as they deem appropriate,
arrangements for the validation of non-
formal and informal learning…
Council of Europe recommendation
(Council of the European Union, 2012)

15. NVAO recommends that a MOOC certificate:
• (a) formally and clearly states on whose authority it
was issued, provides information on the content, level
and study load, states that the holder has achieved the
desired learning objectives, provides information on
the testing methods employed and lists the credits
obtained, according to a standard international system
or in some other acceptable format.
• (b) is demonstrably based on authentication;
• (c) states that the examinations have been
administered under supervision and specifies the
nature of this supervision.
Example: Netherlands
(NVAO (Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders), 2014)

16. 4. ASSESSMENT AND
CREDENTIALISATION IN MOOCS
Coursera Exam by Mace Ojala on Flickr

17. Relationship between assessment and
credentialisation in MOOCs
Witthaus, G., Inamorato dos Santos. A., Childs, M., Tannhäuser, A., Conole, G., Nkuyubwatsi, B., Punie, Y. (2016)
KIRON

18. 5. OPENCRED TRAFFIC LIGHT MODEL
Image by Guzmán Lozano on Flickr

19. A framework for MOOC providers
Witthaus, G., Inamorato dos Santos. A., Childs, M., Tannhäuser, A., Conole, G., Nkuyubwatsi, B., Punie, Y. (2016)

20. None
None
Quality Assurance
Suitable supervised
assessment
Informative
certificates/badge
s
acknowledging
learning
Identity verification
of the learner
Award of credit points
Partnership &
collaboration
Approval by
faculty commission
During on-site exam
Graded“Certificates of
Accomplishment”: short
description of course
content &
“Certificate Supplement”:
detailed course content
and structure, learning
objectives, grading scheme
Programming exercises
automated syntax check
& peer assessment;
On-site exam iversity
testing centre, scored by
instructor None
6 ECTS credits
Witthaus, G., Inamorato dos Santos. A., Childs, M., Tannhäuser, A., Conole, G., Nkuyubwatsi, B., Punie, Y. (2016)
University of Osnabrück MOOC,
“Data Structures and Algorithms”

21. Kiron’s “MOOKlets”
KIRON

22. 6. RECOGNITION OF OPEN
LEARNING IN PRACTICE
Image by Håkan Dahlström on Flickr

23. Credit transfer (1): HEIs recognising
their own MOOC credentials
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-12-29-monetization-over-massiveness-breaking-down-moocs-by-the-numbers-in-2016

24. Credit transfer (2): HEIs recognising
MOOC credentials from other HEIs
• Open University Netherlands - flexibly
structured Bachelor and Master programmes
with “free” credits
• Technical University Munich: “Guided English
Self-Study” – 2 ECTS credits
• UNED (Spanish Open University) grants credit
for selected MOOCs
• Open Educational Resources university (OERu)

25. “Challenge-for-credit”
• Athabasca University, Thompson Rivers
University, Excelsior College & Thomas Edison
State College in Canada offer challenge exams
(Conrad et al, 2013)
• Assessing outcomes/ competencies,
regardless of how the learning was acquired

26. Recognition by portfolio
• “Learning Passport” proposed by VM-Pass
project – validation done by a central clearing-
house (Camilleri & Tannhauser, 2013)
• QUT, Brisbane – entrance to a Graduate
Certificate – RPL ePorfolio assesses skills,
professional experience and theoretical
understanding (Ruinard & McNamara, 2016)

27. http://reopen.eu/ www.oeru.org
https://kiron.ngo/
https://moonliteproject.eu/
7. COMMUNITY

28. Opening up education for refugees
Recognition of
open learning
Open courses
(MOOCs) ✔
MOOC assessment
& credentials ✔
Open content
(OERs) ✔

29. 8. WHAT SHAPE IS KIRON’S FUTURE?

30. Thank you!
Gabi Witthaus
Email: g.witthaus@lancaster.ac.uk
Blog: www.artofelearning.com
Twitter: @twitthaus
Art of E-learning banner image by George Sfougaras

31. Camilleri, A.F. and Tannhäuser, A.C., 2013. ‘Chapter 4: Assessment and Recognition of Open Learning’, in L. Squires and A. Meiszner (eds)
Openness and Education. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.85-118
Conrad, D., McGreal, R., Mackintosh, W., Murphy, Al & Witthaus, G., 2013. Report on the assessment and accreditation of learners using OER,
Vancouver. Available at: http://www.col.org/resources/publications/Pages/detail.aspx?PID=458.
Council of the European Union. 2012. Council Recommendations of 20 December 2012 on the validation of non-formal and informal learning.
(2012/C 398/01). Available at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32012H1222(01)
Inamorato Dos Santos, A., Punie, Y. & Muñoz, J.C., 2016. Opening up Education: a Support Framework for Higher Education Institutions,
Seville. Available at: http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC101436.
NVAO. 2014. MOOCs and Online HE: A Survey, The Hague: Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO), Available at
http://www.nvao.net/page/downloads/NVAO_MOOCs_and_online_HE_A_survey_June_2014.pdf
Open Education Special Interest Group. 2014. Open Education Trend Report, SURF, Netherlands. Available at:
https://www.surf.nl/en/knowledge-and- innovation/knowledge-base/2014/2014-open-education-trend-report.html
Reushle, S., Antonio, A. & Keppell, M. (Eds.) 2016. Open learning and formal credentialing in higher education: curriculum models and
institutional policies. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Ruinard, E. & McNamara, J., 2016. Conceptualising Recognition of Prior Learning Processes in the Age of Open Learning. In S. Reushle, A.
Antonio, & M. Keppell, eds. Open Learning and Formal Credentialing in Higher Education: Curriculum Models and Institutional Policies.
Hershey, PA: IGI Global, pp. 1–17.
Witthaus, G., Inamorato dos Santos. A., Childs, M., Tannhäuser, A., Conole, G.,Nkuyubwatsi, B., & Punie, Y. (2016). Validation of Non-formal
MOOC-based Learning: An Analysis of Assessment and Recognition Practices in Europe. Seville: EU JRC IPTS. Available at:
http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC96968/lfna27660enn.pdf
References

32. Recognition of open learning: the big picture, by Gabi
Witthaus, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be
available at
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