Alternative archetypes of formal education provisionPaul Bacsich
This is the revised version of the earlier paper, updated in the light of input at EIF2012 during and after the workshop on the topic. Now awaiting further refinement at ALT-C
Quality in e-learning - a view for ENQAPaul Bacsich
A view from a benchmarking e-learning perspective of how to initiate a synthesis of approaches to quality in e-learning for use Europe-wide within the ENQA Standards and Guidelines
OCWC POERUP external evaluation of FutureLearn communityPaul Bacsich
FutureLearn is a private company wholly owned by the UK Open University. It has partnered with over 20 leading UK universities to form the FutureLearn consortium. Since October 2013 this has offered a range of MOOCs focussed at informal learning on subjects typically taught at university level. FutureLearn has partnered also with three UK institutions with archives of cultural and educational material - the British Council, the British Library, and the British Museum - and with a few non-UK universities, so far the University of Auckland, Monash University and Trinity College Dublin.
This paper is a case study of FutureLearn. Unlike many case studies of such MOOC-based and OER initiatives, it is not from a member of the consortium. Indeed the case study will not use any privileged information. In evaluation terms it is carried out from an “external observer” standpoint, not from a “participant-observer” standpoint.
The key research question for this case study is to establish the strength and functions of the FutureLearn community - the community of staff at institutions who are engaged, increasingly collaboratively, in creating the FutureLearn courses, supporting the students, and co-developing the FutureLearn software systems and procedures.
The reason for this case study is to test one of the fundamental hypotheses of the POERUP project. POERUP, Policies for OER Uptake, is a study project funded by the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission, running from late 2011 until June 2014. Among the core tasks of POERUP are to produce seven in-depth case studies of OER and MOOC communities. In addition to FutureLearn these include OER university (global), Wikiwijs (Netherlands) and ALISON (Ireland).
The research methodology involves so far:
1. documentary analysis of the FutureLearn project, involving what it says about itself and what others say about it, and a preliminary set of informal discussions with stakeholders.
2. in-depth interviews, using an interview template, with key staff at FutureLearn partners.
There will be a final phase of documentary analysis in the May-June 2014, before the end of the POERUP project.
The communities in the POERUP case studies are being analysed using Social Network Analysis, to varying degrees of depth depending on the activity within the communities. Bieke Schreurs the co-author of the presentation is responsible for this aspect of the research (Schreurs et al 2013).
The evidence we have gathered in the POERUP project indicates that at least within the European Union the era of large state-funded OER content initiatives is almost over. Our hypothesis is that a development such as FutureLearn is much more the kind of partnership - public and private, ambitious but not unrealistically so, nationally based yet not nationally bounded - that will succeed - and we want to understand and document why this is so in order that others can learn from it.
Alternative archetypes of formal education provisionPaul Bacsich
This is the revised version of the earlier paper, updated in the light of input at EIF2012 during and after the workshop on the topic. Now awaiting further refinement at ALT-C
Quality in e-learning - a view for ENQAPaul Bacsich
A view from a benchmarking e-learning perspective of how to initiate a synthesis of approaches to quality in e-learning for use Europe-wide within the ENQA Standards and Guidelines
OCWC POERUP external evaluation of FutureLearn communityPaul Bacsich
FutureLearn is a private company wholly owned by the UK Open University. It has partnered with over 20 leading UK universities to form the FutureLearn consortium. Since October 2013 this has offered a range of MOOCs focussed at informal learning on subjects typically taught at university level. FutureLearn has partnered also with three UK institutions with archives of cultural and educational material - the British Council, the British Library, and the British Museum - and with a few non-UK universities, so far the University of Auckland, Monash University and Trinity College Dublin.
This paper is a case study of FutureLearn. Unlike many case studies of such MOOC-based and OER initiatives, it is not from a member of the consortium. Indeed the case study will not use any privileged information. In evaluation terms it is carried out from an “external observer” standpoint, not from a “participant-observer” standpoint.
The key research question for this case study is to establish the strength and functions of the FutureLearn community - the community of staff at institutions who are engaged, increasingly collaboratively, in creating the FutureLearn courses, supporting the students, and co-developing the FutureLearn software systems and procedures.
The reason for this case study is to test one of the fundamental hypotheses of the POERUP project. POERUP, Policies for OER Uptake, is a study project funded by the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission, running from late 2011 until June 2014. Among the core tasks of POERUP are to produce seven in-depth case studies of OER and MOOC communities. In addition to FutureLearn these include OER university (global), Wikiwijs (Netherlands) and ALISON (Ireland).
The research methodology involves so far:
1. documentary analysis of the FutureLearn project, involving what it says about itself and what others say about it, and a preliminary set of informal discussions with stakeholders.
2. in-depth interviews, using an interview template, with key staff at FutureLearn partners.
There will be a final phase of documentary analysis in the May-June 2014, before the end of the POERUP project.
The communities in the POERUP case studies are being analysed using Social Network Analysis, to varying degrees of depth depending on the activity within the communities. Bieke Schreurs the co-author of the presentation is responsible for this aspect of the research (Schreurs et al 2013).
The evidence we have gathered in the POERUP project indicates that at least within the European Union the era of large state-funded OER content initiatives is almost over. Our hypothesis is that a development such as FutureLearn is much more the kind of partnership - public and private, ambitious but not unrealistically so, nationally based yet not nationally bounded - that will succeed - and we want to understand and document why this is so in order that others can learn from it.
Using OER and MOOCs for education and training - leadersPaul Bacsich
This presentation provides a 12-slide snapshot in March 2016 of the D-TRANSFORM project funded under Erasmus+ to develop leadership training in e-learning (digital learning) for senior leaders (Rectors, Vice-Rectors, Board Directors) in universities and other higher education institutions across Europe. It was presented virtually to the workshop "Open Education - concepts, tools, resources, practices" in Timisoara, Romania, on 11 March 2016 - which was also streamed
Integrating MOOCs in Traditional Higher Education- eMOOCs15Diana Andone
Presentation at the eMOOCs 2015 Conference in Mons, Belgium 18-20 May 2015
Integrating MOOCs in Traditional Higher Education, by Dr. Diana Andone
Dr. Andrei Ternauciuc, Vlad Mihaescu, Prof.dr. Radu Vasiu
Politehnica University of Timisoara, Romania
This paper presents concepts and experiences on integrating MOOCS into traditional higher education in Romania. Three study cases on integrating MOOCs in courses at undergraduate and Master level present and discuss the opportunities in different pedagogical concepts as flipped classroom. These activities require the acquisition of new skills by students and teachers. Advantages and limitations on using this educational model from concepts to management and technology indicate the challenges that lay ahead of educators who are willing to include MOOCs in their everyday teaching activities.
Despite requirements for constant innovation in Higher Education, the application of
knowledge management constitutes a recent research field in this sector while a wide range of e-learning
tools - like open source learning management systems (LMS) - constitute a basic part of universities
infrastructures at present. As knowledge derived from direct experiences is one of the most important
sources for innovations, this paper presents two approaches for experiential knowledge production in the
Higher Education teaching-learning processes: (1) the managerial production approach and (2) the open
production approach. In accordance with these approaches, the paper also describes how Moodle and Sakai -
two of the most widely used open source LMS - support experiential knowledge production and concludes
that: (1) these LMS don’t have first class constructs to manage experiential knowledge production related
concepts; (2) experiential knowledge related constructs can be represented through existing artifacts included
in these LMS but this approach presents many limitations to support explicit connections between these
constructs and; (3) LMS can extend current capabilities of tags or similar artifacts to represent high level
meaning structures that link content from different LMS tools.
About the VISCED Poject:
The VISCED project carried out an inventory of innovative ICT-enhanced learning initiatives and major ‘e-mature’ secondary and post-secondary education providers for the 14-21 age group in Europe. This entailed a systematic review at international and national levels including a study into operational examples of fully virtual schools and colleges. The outputs of this work have been analysed and compared to identify relevant parameters and success factors for classifying and comparing these initiatives.
See http://www.virtualschoolsandcolleges.info/
EFQUEL Innovation Forum
26-28 September 2012,
Granada, Spain
The EFQUEL Innovation Forum 2012 provided an opportunity to discuss future and innovative practices, research and policy developments in the various sectors of education.
http://www.qualityfoundation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=275&Itemid=110&lang=en
To be written and added to web site
Presentation given by Paul Bacsich from Sero entitled “Results as we near the end” and provided a summary of the main outcomes of the VISCED work up to September 2012 including the policy recommendations and success factors.
At the intersection of open practice and institutional collaboration: eMundus...tbirdcymru
This presentation was shared at the OER15 Conference in Cardiff. It showcases the work of eMundus Project, an EU-funded project promoting open practice and institutional collaboration.
VIsion, Scenarios, Insights and Recommendations on how ICT may help making lifelong learning a reality for all (VISIR)
The aim of the VISIR network is to contribute to the full exploitation of the potential of ICT to transform and innovate European lifelong learning and to equip European citizens with digital competencies and other key transversal competencies for life and employability in Europe.The project will analyse the existing trends on ICT for learning in Europe and draft a long term vision on the contribution of ICT for transforming education and training systems and catalogue successful ICT-for-learning micro-innovation practices. It will facilitate exchange of ideas and concerns around these practices through the organisation of six transnational seminars connected to major conferences focusing on specific “sectors in change” of ICT-for-learning and through a web2.0 “online showcase”. The project also aims to facilitate the mainstreaming of these practices both towards E&T policy makers and towards learning communities and provide research-grounded recommendations for policy making and for innovative practices large scale scalability and transferability.
Lifelong Learning Programme - Key Activity 3 - ICT; Multilateral projects
By carrying out research to understand how governments can stimulate the uptake of OER by policy means (and not just funding), POERUP aims to contribute to the implementation of LLL. Simultaneously POERUP aims to foster the potential of new media for enhancing innovation by researching policies designed to foster a “lifelong learner” mindset in learners: leading to curiosity, creativity and a willingness to “consume” OER. To do so the project team will investigate the “end-user – producer communities” behind OER initiatives and what (or who) it is that actually provides the energy that make OER work or not.
After five years, the Dutch national program on OER Wikiwijs has finished. In this presentation we will present the main lessons learned in these five years.
Overview of open educational resources for university libraries, relating the vision and mission of OER to the Open Access movement in libraries worldwide. Presentation to the International Association of Scientific and Technological University Libraries by the OpenCourseWare Consortium.
Using OER and MOOCs for education and training - leadersPaul Bacsich
This presentation provides a 12-slide snapshot in March 2016 of the D-TRANSFORM project funded under Erasmus+ to develop leadership training in e-learning (digital learning) for senior leaders (Rectors, Vice-Rectors, Board Directors) in universities and other higher education institutions across Europe. It was presented virtually to the workshop "Open Education - concepts, tools, resources, practices" in Timisoara, Romania, on 11 March 2016 - which was also streamed
Integrating MOOCs in Traditional Higher Education- eMOOCs15Diana Andone
Presentation at the eMOOCs 2015 Conference in Mons, Belgium 18-20 May 2015
Integrating MOOCs in Traditional Higher Education, by Dr. Diana Andone
Dr. Andrei Ternauciuc, Vlad Mihaescu, Prof.dr. Radu Vasiu
Politehnica University of Timisoara, Romania
This paper presents concepts and experiences on integrating MOOCS into traditional higher education in Romania. Three study cases on integrating MOOCs in courses at undergraduate and Master level present and discuss the opportunities in different pedagogical concepts as flipped classroom. These activities require the acquisition of new skills by students and teachers. Advantages and limitations on using this educational model from concepts to management and technology indicate the challenges that lay ahead of educators who are willing to include MOOCs in their everyday teaching activities.
Despite requirements for constant innovation in Higher Education, the application of
knowledge management constitutes a recent research field in this sector while a wide range of e-learning
tools - like open source learning management systems (LMS) - constitute a basic part of universities
infrastructures at present. As knowledge derived from direct experiences is one of the most important
sources for innovations, this paper presents two approaches for experiential knowledge production in the
Higher Education teaching-learning processes: (1) the managerial production approach and (2) the open
production approach. In accordance with these approaches, the paper also describes how Moodle and Sakai -
two of the most widely used open source LMS - support experiential knowledge production and concludes
that: (1) these LMS don’t have first class constructs to manage experiential knowledge production related
concepts; (2) experiential knowledge related constructs can be represented through existing artifacts included
in these LMS but this approach presents many limitations to support explicit connections between these
constructs and; (3) LMS can extend current capabilities of tags or similar artifacts to represent high level
meaning structures that link content from different LMS tools.
About the VISCED Poject:
The VISCED project carried out an inventory of innovative ICT-enhanced learning initiatives and major ‘e-mature’ secondary and post-secondary education providers for the 14-21 age group in Europe. This entailed a systematic review at international and national levels including a study into operational examples of fully virtual schools and colleges. The outputs of this work have been analysed and compared to identify relevant parameters and success factors for classifying and comparing these initiatives.
See http://www.virtualschoolsandcolleges.info/
EFQUEL Innovation Forum
26-28 September 2012,
Granada, Spain
The EFQUEL Innovation Forum 2012 provided an opportunity to discuss future and innovative practices, research and policy developments in the various sectors of education.
http://www.qualityfoundation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=275&Itemid=110&lang=en
To be written and added to web site
Presentation given by Paul Bacsich from Sero entitled “Results as we near the end” and provided a summary of the main outcomes of the VISCED work up to September 2012 including the policy recommendations and success factors.
At the intersection of open practice and institutional collaboration: eMundus...tbirdcymru
This presentation was shared at the OER15 Conference in Cardiff. It showcases the work of eMundus Project, an EU-funded project promoting open practice and institutional collaboration.
VIsion, Scenarios, Insights and Recommendations on how ICT may help making lifelong learning a reality for all (VISIR)
The aim of the VISIR network is to contribute to the full exploitation of the potential of ICT to transform and innovate European lifelong learning and to equip European citizens with digital competencies and other key transversal competencies for life and employability in Europe.The project will analyse the existing trends on ICT for learning in Europe and draft a long term vision on the contribution of ICT for transforming education and training systems and catalogue successful ICT-for-learning micro-innovation practices. It will facilitate exchange of ideas and concerns around these practices through the organisation of six transnational seminars connected to major conferences focusing on specific “sectors in change” of ICT-for-learning and through a web2.0 “online showcase”. The project also aims to facilitate the mainstreaming of these practices both towards E&T policy makers and towards learning communities and provide research-grounded recommendations for policy making and for innovative practices large scale scalability and transferability.
Lifelong Learning Programme - Key Activity 3 - ICT; Multilateral projects
By carrying out research to understand how governments can stimulate the uptake of OER by policy means (and not just funding), POERUP aims to contribute to the implementation of LLL. Simultaneously POERUP aims to foster the potential of new media for enhancing innovation by researching policies designed to foster a “lifelong learner” mindset in learners: leading to curiosity, creativity and a willingness to “consume” OER. To do so the project team will investigate the “end-user – producer communities” behind OER initiatives and what (or who) it is that actually provides the energy that make OER work or not.
After five years, the Dutch national program on OER Wikiwijs has finished. In this presentation we will present the main lessons learned in these five years.
Overview of open educational resources for university libraries, relating the vision and mission of OER to the Open Access movement in libraries worldwide. Presentation to the International Association of Scientific and Technological University Libraries by the OpenCourseWare Consortium.
Intro to and overview of Open Educaiton with an empnasis on the Why, from philosophical to economic arguments. Practicing what we preach - this is a mash-up using openly licensed presentations from other open education advocates along with original ones (and lots of pics). All licenses (except screenshots) are attached to the relvant slides. Any questions, just contact us at feedback@oeconsortium.org.
Across Europe over 50 million users at more than 10,000 organisations within the research and education sector are interconnected through the pan-European Research and Education (R&E) Network GÉANT . Linking National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) at speed up to 500Gbps GÉANT provides the environment for a truly global exchange of ideas and knowledge.
Co-funded by the European Commission, GÉANT also reaches 65 countries beyond Europe, putting itself at the heart of the global research village.
Flexible Delivery of English & Mathematics with OpenLearn: Impact of Bringing...Robert Farrow
Paper presented at Open Education Global 2019. Until 2012 there was a nascent OER movement developing the UK, supported by government funding and agencies like JISC. This led to a network of OER projects at many higher education providers. With the withdrawal of funding under subsequent governments the OER movement in the UK became restricted to individual efforts alongside hubs of activity (OER World Map, 2019; JISC, 2013). While there is still little governmental support for OER - open access is generally a more consistent focus - there is an increasing interest at policy level in flexible and digital forms of delivery (Orr et al., 2018).
This presentation reports on two projects. Bringing Learning to Life is funded by the UK Department for Education under the Flexible Learning Fund. Flexible Essential Skills is funded by The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW). Both projects involve making foundational English and Mathematics courses available to a wide range of learners through the OpenLearn repository and LMS (Law & Perryman, 2017). The content is made available as OER for use by a range of learners, including formal students in further education colleges (face-to-face, blended) and non-formal learning scenarios. Both projects are led by The Open University (UK) who provide programme management, content development, platform delivery and evaluation.
Evaluation methodologies are being harmonised in the interests of establishing a basis for comparison between the two datasets. Evaluation results based on original data will be presented. These will include a detailed description of the learners targeted and their needs; perceptions of the key challenges faced; attitudes towards technology and digital skills in adult learners; an exploration of learner motivation, strategy and outcomes; and an examination of the perceptions and views of staff. The impact evaluations combine survey and interview data with OpenLearn analytics and case studies for individual colleges.
MOOCs for Opening Up Education
The role of Quality and Openness
Used at Masterclass MESI - 24 September 2014
Some slides used at ICDE-MESI Conference – panel 27 September 2014
OER and MOOCs need competency-based higher educationPaul Bacsich
This presentation argues that a number of innovative technical developments, including OER and MOOCs but also microlearning and innovative forms of assessment, require a new approach to Bologna based primarily on competences
Presentation of Paul Bacsich, EDEN Fellow, Matic Media Ltd and Sero Consulting Ltd, for the Open Education Week's first day webinar on "Education 2030 – Open knowledge, skills, attitudes and values in Europe and the world" - 4 March 2019
Recordings of the discussion are available: https://eden-online.adobeconnect.com/pdu1u75yqba1/
Ocwc2014 policies-bacsich final and refsPaul Bacsich
This presentation responds to the challenge of developing policies for OER uptake in the higher education sector of a given country, with particular reference to the smaller countries of the European Union (countries with no more than around 10 million people). It takes a case study approach, reviewing how the POERUP project (Policies for OER Uptake, part-funded by the Lifelong Learning Programme of the EU) is developing policies for three smaller countries: Ireland (an EU member state) and Wales and Scotland (two semi-autonomous regions of the United Kingdom, fully autonomous in educational terms). The inclusion of Wales and Scotland also throws light on the challenge of developing policies for federal countries where higher education is developed to the province/state level.
Factors that seem to be of particular relevance to smaller states include:
1. less money for extensive research and policy analysis
2. more influence of regional and isolated areas
3. easier decision-making, at least in theory
4. issues of lack of economies of scale, in particular if the national language is state-specific
5. greater interest in collaboration with some nearby states on educational issues
6. a smaller set of institutions, causing issues with generating or maintaining institutional diversity of mission unless the process is managed
7. potentially greater danger of dominance by private sector interests
8. potentially large edge effects of student flows from nearby states, potentially made worse if funding and regulatory regimes are attractive to incomers.
The analysis includes studying the interplay between the recommendations produced by international policy work relating to OER and the national policy context (which in some cases makes no mention of OER, in others makes considerable mention but not always correlated with or aware of international issues).
The starting point within POERUP is the document "Policy advice for universities" of which release 1 is currently available, but which is being updated in the light of comments and incoming data. This reviews recent international policy (e.g. COL, UNESCO); EU policies (including Bologna, Europe 2020, Recognition and validation of non-formal and informal learning, European higher education in the world, and most recently, Opening Up Education), relevant to OER and consolidated evidence from a variety of national contexts, to make a set of (currently) 18 recommendations designed not only to foster OER but also the changes in higher education that OER is foreseen as helping to foster - such as more flexible accreditation, encouragement of a wider community to take part in higher education, and a vision of higher education focussed more on competences and skills gained and less on duration of study. See Policies at EU-level for OER uptake in universities - http://www.scribd.com/doc/169430544/Policies-at-EU-level-for-OER-uptake-in-universities
GUIDE Association 2013: Competency-Based Education - Leveraging educational t...Margaret Korosec
Competency-based education is gaining momentum in the United States. In Europe, however, the Bologna Accord with time-based / seat-time mandates restricts the growth and acceptance of new models of education that may help address economic needs. This presentation shares existing models of higher education that are addressing the needs of the markets they are in and provides ideas for how new models could fit within the European context.
he project ‘From campus students to professional learners: Flexible learning paths in Responsible Innovation' is one of the projects funded by the Ministry of OC&W in order to promote online education.This presentation gives and update on the progress.
Starting where we are, moving through changes open education is bringing at institutional, national, regional and international levels, and how we can continue to strengthen open education and its positive impacts
Collaborating across borders: OER use and open educational practices within the Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (OE Global 2015)
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
The Indian economy is classified into different sectors to simplify the analysis and understanding of economic activities. For Class 10, it's essential to grasp the sectors of the Indian economy, understand their characteristics, and recognize their importance. This guide will provide detailed notes on the Sectors of the Indian Economy Class 10, using specific long-tail keywords to enhance comprehension.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
1. The POERUP External Evaluation
of the FutureLearn community
Paul Bacsich, POERUP Project Manager
Bieke Schreurs, OU Netherlands
2. FutureLearn
https://www.futurelearn.com
• To bring together a range of free, open, online courses
from leading UK universities, that will be clear, simple
to use and accessible
• To draw on the UK Open University’s expertise in
delivering distance learning and pioneering open
education resources to underpin a unified, coherent
offer from all of its partners
• To increase accessibility to higher education (HE) for
students across the UK and in the rest of the world
3. FutureLearn – disclaimer/ethics
• This is an external evaluation of FutureLearn done for
the POERUP project, part-funded by the Lifelong
Learning Programme of the EU, with a focus on the
community-building aspects in respect of staff.
• It is based on desk research and interviews of
stakeholders in the FutureLearn community.
• No views are specifically attributed.
• No confidential information was made specifically
available, none has been knowingly used.
4. Overview
• The evaluation process
• Overview of FutureLearn
• The FutureLearn Community
• Sustainability, Success Factors, and
Replicability to other EU countries
6. Evaluation process
1. Selection of FutureLearn (spring 2013)
2. Initial desk research (spring 2013)
3. Preliminary interviews and discussions (summer
2013 – decided a case study was premature)
4. Stakeholder interviews (March 2014)
5. Report ready April 2014 – paper to IRRODL
8. FutureLearn Overview #1
• A private company wholly owned by UK Open University
• Launched in December 2012 with 12 HE partners
• New MOOC platform has been developed
• First MOOCs available from October 2013
• 26 university partners including Open University
• 1 from Eire, 1 from New Zealand, 1 from Australia
• A few more “expected”
• Also British Library, British Museum, British Council
9. FutureLearn Overview #2
• Initial HE partners were arguably less experienced in OER
and e-learning than was typical of UK research-led
institutions
• But with over 20 UK HEIs now involved the majority of
Russell Group and some other high-level English universities
are in FutureLearn – some with significant e-learning
experience beyond FutureLearn including in MIT and
Coursera and many online DL MSc programmes
• Though there are some surprising holdouts
10. FutureLearn Overview #3
• Content owned by partner HEIs
• Platform is owned by Open University
• Partner institutions have control over how and when courses are provided
• FutureLearn supports the Creative Commons license but partner HEIs can
decide themselves about the appropriate licensing for the course content.
• HEI partners might offer additional optional resources that require payment
by learners, or offer additional services of interest to learners that come
with a price attached
• FutureLearn is likely to offer additional paid services in the future in order to
make the service sustainable but the core remains open and free
• All learner content is published under a Creative Commons NC BY ND licence
12. FutureLearn Community
• (focus is currently on staff aspects)
• At this stage the community is similar to many consortial models in the last
10 years but more isolated than the typical “joint Masters” consortium
funded by EU etc
• A team at each HEI develops each of its own offerings, with support from
the centre
• The offerings do not form part of some larger whole (e.g. full MSc
programme)
• There is as yet little cross-linking of HEI teams but there is some informal
linking in some subjects, and on technical issues, and this is likely to grow
• The community did not grow from the earlier OER community round the
JISC OER Programme, it had more to do with professional links of managers
through e.g. HELF and professionals through associations such as ALT
14. Maintaining the community
• There are regular face-to-face meetings which are
“very valuable” (for UK members…)
• No sophisticated collaboration tools are used
• Joint working occurs e.g. when prioritising bug
fixes and discussing work-arounds
• It will require more time to develop deeper
learning and knowledge sharing within the
community
15. Other findings
• HEI manager of FL does 0.25 on FL tasks
• “we’ve learned a lot on copyright” [good
training]
• “we used JISCLegal but non-UK aspects of that
are weak”
• “we’re thinking of embedded MOOCs”
17. Sustainability
• Training workshops around the use of copyright issues have helped
partner HEIs to become aware of possibilities of new licensing
possibilities
• Partner HEIs see the added value of generating expertise in online
education in general (particularly relevant to those with less
experience in online)
• Partner Institutions use the FutureLearn platform as a marketing
mechanism and to reach a wider audience
• Partner institutions and FutureLearn will have the opportunity to
offer additional (paid) services on the platform
18. Not Critical Success Factors
1. Government funding. Very little if any
government funding has gone into FutureLearn.
The former massive funding of OER by JISC has all
finished and the Online Learning Innovation Fund
fell with the last government.
2. The national role of the OU. The “national role”
of the OU ebbs and flows over the years and the
last period of a formal national role for the OU
was under the last UK government.
19. Critical Success Factors
1. The strong support by David Willetts, Minister for
Universities (in England) and Science (in UK),
expressed by him to university rectors
2. The personal qualities, networking abilities and
charisma of Martin Bean, the Vice-Chancellor of the
Open University
3. The relatively comfortable financial position of leading
English universities after the new fee settlement
20. Other success factors
1. The recognised abilities and reputation of many OU staff in e-learning
and distance learning in particular
2. The long track record of the OU in OER, achieved largely with US
Foundation funding not UK government funding
3. The hegemonic position of the OU in undergraduate distance
learning and an oligopolistic player in postgraduate distance learning
4. The massive knowledge base of the OU in terms of market research
globally in distance learning, eclipsing such other agencies as there
were, most of whom have (relatively) shrunk in influence
5. The potential link of MOOCs to global marketing of high-cost masters
programmes in English, an unregulated market with uncapped
student numbers – even a low conversion ratio from MOOCs is useful
21. FutureLearn platform
• “Clean and simple”, mobile-friendly, adaptable to
many devices
• Limited functionality, “clunky” for developers, not
necessarily a criticism – compare OU use of
FirstClass for nearly 20 years
• “platform support can be a bit stretched at times”
• Will it be found in non-MOOC courses?
23. England HE marketplace – full-time
UK/EU Overseas
Under-
grad
Quotas (still) but no
cap on ABB+ students
Fee cap of €10 000/yr
No quotas
No fee cap:
market forces
Fees >> €10k/yr
Post-
grad
No quotas
No fee cap: market
forces
Fees usually > €10k
No quotas
No fee cap:
market forces
Fees >> €10k
24. Simple economics
• Additional HEI staff cost for 1 year FutureLearn
with 1 MOOC: €50k
• Additional income: one EU u/g student: €30k
(note quotas but also ABB+ and future easing)
• Additional income: one o’seas p/g student: €15k
• So how many new students do you need to get?
25. Final comments
• “we can get to lots of people”
• “it’s a stepping stone”
• “a window to the international scene”
• “CPD might be a market”
• “good research is coming out” (but issue with
NDAs in terms of wider links from FL research
network e.g. to ALT)
26. Thanks for listening
Paul Bacsich, POERUP
http://www.poerup.info
paul.bacsich@sero.co.uk
Questions and comments on
relevance to other countries?