Building on Open Educational Resources – What’s Next? | teachonline.ca

"We can see three particular developments to shape the future of OER.

1. Replicable Models

   The next development will focus on model building – developing replicable, scalable models for institutions and faculty members to adopt. For example, sharing the framework and procedures used for work-based learning degrees, sharing protocols used for the creation of artificial intelligence driven student support services, offering models and frameworks for the development of AI driven anywhere/anytime assessment, and sharing the model of the flexible degree program offered by several universities in the US.

   These models go further than open educational practices, which are usually focused on components of systems or parts of an innovation. Models are wholesale system transformations, producing significantly improved outcomes and higher levels of student engagement while lowering costs or securing significant efficiencies. Replicable, transferable models which can be adopted wholesale by another jurisdiction, institution or team are highly attractive propositions.

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1. Adopting and Adapting New Approaches to Assessment and Flexible Degrees

   As more colleges and universities offer “no courses, no time in class, no grades, no instructors” for competency-based degrees(link is external), we can expect to see some sharing of competency assessment rubrics, frameworks and processes. Some examples of educational institutions that do this already are Western Governors University, University of Wisconsin, University of Michigan, Purdue University, Southern New Hampshire University, Capella University, Kaplan University, Walden University, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, College of America and Bellevue College and others.

   In part this will occur since employers want to know that someone “signed off” as competent with respect to a body of knowledge and related capabilities from, say, Excelsior College, is as competent as someone with the same degree from Purdue. Professional organizations will also insist on comparable competency assessments. Sharing rubrics and resources is one way to ensure that this occurs. There are a variety of developments taking place here, notably new work by UNESCO and the X-Prize Foundation(link is external) and by the IMS Global Learning Consortium(link is external).

   Canada provides an interesting case study. Some trades have national competency frameworks which are established under the Red Seal program(link is external). Those trades and para-professional occupations not covered by Red Seal are provincially established, leading to significant differences between the competency frameworks between provinces. Recently it was suggested(link is external) there is a need for a national framework for competencies, similar to that found for nursing, medicine and other professions. This enables colleges and universities to offer programs which are equivalent, enables learner mobility, and could lead to greater sharing of practices, materials and resources.

2. Sharing The Tools for Generating Simulations and Games

   A number of disciplines – health sciences, engineering, science and mathematics are good examples – are developing games and simulations to strengthen student engagement and enrich learning. Simulations provide opportunities to work with students on complex experiments which many science departments could not make available on an “anytime” basis, never mind “anywhere”.

   But simulations require building blocks and tools to make them work. There are a growing number of simulation modeling and gaming tools available as open source resources – such as OpenModelica(link is external), JaamSIm(link is external) and OpenSim(link is external). These provide a basis for creating simulations, not just sharing existing simulations, as is the case with sites like Simscale(link is external). With these tools, smart technology staff, students with coding skills and faculty m