Wayne Mackintosh, Rory McGreal, J. Taylor

“ In this regard, the awarding of credentials by the university is an important determinant for credibility and quality because this function is dependant on the value, which a community of scholars actively engaged in research, can provide.
Universities should be actively engaged in designing appropriate futures for credible assessment in the OER world. Processes appropriate for the assessment of digital learning using OER hosted on the web need to be properly researched and implemented with the academic rigour required. ”

“ Presently, more than four billion people have reasonable access to the Internet. More than 1.3 billion do so using mobile devices like cell phones, tablets, ebooks and notebooks (Chapman, 2010; International Telecommunications Union, 2010) . Corresponding with increased access to the Internet, post-secondary institutions need to consider the impact of social media technologies. Social media encompasses a range of contemporary web-based technologies that facilitate scalable and interactive communication around the creation and exchange of usergenerated content. ”

“ There are thousands of courses, research journals and OER available under open access licensing provisions, which could be integrated into selected courses for academic credit. The burgeoning phenomenon of institutions providing access to free-tuition learning. A growing number of non-profit institutions and post-secondary providers are offering free-tuition courses utilising OER. However, robust and credible solutions for providing assessment and credentialisation services are lacking. ”

“ Problem statement and theory for action Individuals are free to learn from OER and other digital learning materials hosted on the Internet. The problem is that learners who access these digital learning materials on the web and acquire knowledge and skills either formally or informally, alone or in groups, cannot readily have their learning assessed and subsequently receive appropriate academic recognition for their efforts. ”

“ The logic model aims to be sufficiently robust to accommodate the requirements for credible certification within the formal education sector so learners and society will have confidence in the qualifications, but also be flexible enough to leverage the potential OER offers for re-use and re-purposing for local learning contexts. Conceptually, the key initiatives of the logic model are grouped into three main categories with distinctive strategies for achieving financial sustainability of the OER ecosystem. ”

“ It is plausible that history will repeat itself in the digital age. The traditions of rational and reflective practice of the academy will contribute to building sustainable futures for the university and the institution's rightful place in society as we move forward in the OER world. ”

“ Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand and the University of Southern Queensland, Australia have confirmed their participation to award credit for OER learners and Athabasca University in Canada has established formal PLAR and challenge examination processes. As an open project, all post-secondary institutions that care about sharing knowledge as a core value of education will be encouraged to contribute to the project as anchor partners in the planning and implementation of more sustainable education futures. ”

“ Research and experience from technology-mediated learning in higher education, most notably that derived from the provision of open distance learning, will enable institutions to design appropriate and scalable solutions for formative and summative assessment at a distance for OER learners. ”

“ Activities for each initiative Each of the initiatives will require a number of activities to achieve the envisaged outputs within the logic model. So for example, the Open design and development initiative will require staff, who have the capability and skills for the collaborative development of OER with knowledge of Creative Commons licensing. The Learning4Content project and the Open Content Licensing for Educators courses are examples of existing activities of the OER Foundation that will contribute to the achievement of the outputs of a particular initiative. ”

“ The OER Foundation, an independent non-profit entity that provides leadership, international networking and support for educators and educational institutions to achieve their objectives through open education hosted an open planning meeting to explore the concept of an OER university on 23 February 2011. ”

“ The nature of the academy requires the sharing of knowledge and building upon the ideas of others. An experienced researcher knows that a thorough literature review of existing knowledge is the natural starting point in resolving a research question. ”

“ Many public funded post-secondary institutions incorporate the mission of community service to serve the wider interests of the communities in which they operate by sharing expertise and scholarship for the benefit of society. ”

“ Daniel, J., Kanwar, A., and Uvalić-Trumbić, S (2007) – “Mass Tertiary Education in the Developing World: Distant Prospect or Distinct Possibility?” Retrieved from: http://www.col.org/colweb/site/pid/4605 . ”

“ Copyright and the development and re-use of OER. Does copyright restrict access to knowledge in developing countries? Taking OER beyond the OER community. UNESCO/COL online forum, 15 – 19 November 2010. Retrieved from: http://oerworkshop.weebly.com/uploads/4/1/3/4/4134458/a_wfhf_perspective.pdf .
Christensen, C. M., H. Baumann, R. Ruggles and T. M. Sadtler. 2006. Disruptive innovation for social change. Harvard Business Review December: 94-101.
CNN.com. 2000. Billionaire pledges $100 million for free Internet university. ”

“ Social networks/blogs now account for one in every four and a half minutes online. Retrieved from: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/global/social-media-accounts-for-22-percent-oftime-online/ .
Open University. Undated. OpenLearn. Retrieved from: http://www.open.ac.uk/openlearn/ .
Parry, M. 2010. Bigger Classes May Be Better Classes: Experimenters say diversity means richness. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from: http://chronicle.com/article/Open-Teaching-When-the-W/124170/ .
Tapscott, D. & Williams, A.D. 2010. Innovating the 21st-Century University: It’s Time! ”