OER university

From Researching Virtual Initiatives in Education

The OER university is a virtual collaboration of like-minded institutions committed to creating flexible pathways for OER learners to gain formal academic credit.

(sourced from http://wikieducator.org/OER_university/Home)

The OER university aims to provide free learning to all students worldwide using OER learning materials with pathways to gain credible qualifications from recognised education institutions. It is rooted in the community service and outreach mission to develop a parallel learning universe to augment and add value to traditional delivery systems in post-secondary education. Through the community service mission of participating institutions we will open pathways for OER learners to earn formal academic credit and pay reduced fees for assessment and credit.

Aims

Directed by the core principles of engagement the OER university collaboration will:

• design and implement a parallel learning universe to provide free learning opportunities for all students worldwide with pathways to earn credible post-secondary credentials
• offer courses and programmes based solely on OER and open textbooks
• design and implement scalable pedagogies appropriate for the "OER university" concept
• implement scalable systems of volunteer student support through community service learning approaches
• coordinate assessment and credentialising services on a cost recovery basis for participating education institutions to ensure credible qualifications and corresponding course articulation among anchor partners

Founding anchor partners

These are:

1. OER Foundation
2. Athabasca University - Alberta, Canada
3. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University (BAOU) - Gujarat, India
4. Empire State College (SUNY) - New York, US
5. Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology
6. NorthTec
7. Otago Polytechnic - New Zealand
8. Southern New Hampshire University, US
9. Thompson Rivers University - British Columbia, Canada
10. University of South Africa
11. University of Southern Queensland - Australia
12. University of Wollongong, Australia

Anchor partners

In alphabetical order:

1. Excelsior College, US
2. Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Canada
3. Open University of Catalonia, Catalonia and Spain
4. Thomas Edison State College, US
5. Unitec Institute of Technology, New Zealand
6. University of Glamorgan, Wales and United Kingdom - now part of University of South Wales
7. University of the South Pacific
8. Wintec, New Zealand

Sponsors

• Commonwealth of Learning
• UNESCO, Pacific States

> OER consortia
> New Zealand