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Not business as usual?: MOOCs, Badges,

OERs & global personal learning activism

Dr Merilyn Childs, Associate Professor of Higher Education, Acting Director of

the Flexible Learning Institute, Charles Sturt University. Presentation at the

Digital Futures in Higher Education, Aligning institutional strategy with

pedagogical innovation, 13 & 14 November 2012, Citigate Central, Sydney.

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Not business as usual?

Overview

•The business of institutional learning

•A snapshot – what we know about the Australian University Sector’s relationship to learning outside the academy

•The false promise of open learning

•The “oranges and oranges” problem

•The “not manufactured here” phenomenon

•Evidence

•Global activism and re-activism

•Are we in a pickle?

•The promise of open learning

Assumed knowledge – your badges

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenljohnson/6172125839/sizes/s/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenljohnson/6221135187/sizes/o/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisinplymouth/5285748314/sizes/z/in/photostream/

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Permission pending

On this slide I was

indicating that I wasn’t

offering anyone the “sky is

falling” badge.

DIVISION OR SCHOOL http://change.mooc.ca/

Have you seen a MOOC? This

is what one looks like, although

this view does not show the

connectivism that underpins the

MOOC. My presentation is not

about MOOCs as such, but

about global activism in

relationship to demands for HE

to recognise open learning –

and the difficulty this poses for

Australian

HE institutions because of the

poor history of RPL in Australia

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The business of institutional learning

The Auchmuty Library, University of Newcastle, NSW late 1960s, Used with permission.

On the next few slides I

shared my thinking about

the business of institutional

learning, drawing from my

time at the University of

Newcastle., although I have

never owned a handbag

like the one shown.

DIVISION OR SCHOOL Inside the Auchmuty Library Foyer, the University of Newcastle, Australia - 1980s, Used with permission

http://www.flickr.com/photos/uon/3006988374/

The business of institutional learning

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Learning outside the institution did not count.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suburbanbloke/3237017705/sizes/z/in/photostream/

We know from research

that the history of the

business of institutional

learning in Australian HE

has been characterised by

resistance to the inclusion

of learning achieved

outside the institution.

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A snapshot – what we know about the Australian

University Sector’s relationship to ‘learning outside’

•Poor models and processes exist to conduct RPL in

faculties of Education (Taylor & Clemans 2000)

•Online information provided to potential students

about credit or RPL in universities is poor (Childs et al

2002)

•RPL should be seen as a learning process as well as

a credentialing process. A national framework is

needed. Funding disincentives are substantial, overly-

beaurocratic processes are in place (Wheelahan et al

2002)

•“Why is it so difficult to accredit learning that has

occurred outside the academy towards the award of a

qualification?” (Wheelahan, Miller & Newton 2003)

•RPL fails to act as a mechanism for social inclusion

(Cameron & Miller 2004, Cameron 2006)

On this slide and the next I

summarised the research

that has been done that

indicates the slow change

in Australia in terms of

forming institutional

relationships to learning

outside.

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A snapshot – what we know about the Australian

University Sector’s relationship to ‘learning outside’

(continued)

•Australian universities need to establish RPL practices that are transparent and consistent (Fox 2009)

•Universities have ‘erected barriers to limit the development of RPL’ and the incorporation of lifelong learning into university study remains ‘patchy at best’ (Pitman, 2009, Pittman & Broomhall 2009)

•In the vocational sector, unease about RPL means it is used conservatively (Smith, 2011)

• Cameron (2012) advocates RPL in the context of ePs and WPL

•Universities tend to see RPL as a quality discourse rather than a social inclusion one & no common consensus or approach exists (Pitman & Vidovic 2012)

The research has

consistently show that

Australian HE has

struggled to value

learning outside the

institution. I remain

unconvinced that

implementation via the

revised AQF will make a

difference to this history.

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The false promise

of open learning

Changes in HE need to do

substantially more than

introducing ICT-enabled

learning inside the

institution, without changing

the institution's way of

thinking about learning

outside.

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The oranges and oranges problem

http://www.flickr.com/photos/giveawayboy/2145248676/sizes/z/in/

photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_ewan/3958779607/size

s/z/in/photostream/

Grown outside Grown inside

The distinctions that

have been used to

differentiate learning

developed “inside” or

“outside” the

institution can no

longer be relied upon

as the point of

difference.

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The “not manufactured here” phenomenon

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chriscgray/3872678333/sizes/z/in/photostream/

The belief remains that

learning “manufactured”

within the institution is

automatically better, more

critical, or evidence-based

than learning “outside” by

citizen’s in their own

learning journey.

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Evidence 1

UNSW graduates are Global Citizens

who are:

•capable of applying their discipline in

local, national and international contexts

•culturally aware and capable of

respecting diversity and acting in

socially just/responsible ways

•capable of environmental responsibility

https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/atoz/GraduateAttributes.html

Protest rally, December 14th 2009, Copenhagen Used with permission

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kk/4188139906/

Lifewide, not manufactured here Inside, manufactured here

https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/atoz/GraduateAttributes.html

HE institutions talk about

graduate attributes – but we

need fresh eyes to be able to

value and interpret the ways in

which citizen’s participate in

the world, and sometimes

become enrolled students –

and to recognise and value a

citizen’s graduate attributes.,

or at the very least, learning

outcomes

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Evidence 2

UNSW Graduate Attributes

UNSW graduates are Global Citizens who are:

Professionals who are:

•capable of independent, self-directed practice

•capable of lifelong learning

•capable of operating within an agreed Code of Practice

Used with permission http://flic.kr/p/6KUfM8

Lifewide, not manufactured here Inside, manufactured here

This slide

continues the

discussion from the

previous slide.

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Evidence

Back Me Up website

campaign

Back Me Up Video

Vimeo creativity Network

What if a citizen produced

these artefacts? Then enrol

in a related formal program

of study. How can we justify

asking them to re-study

what they have clearly

demonstrated “outside”?

Research indicates this

often happens.

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Global activism – cynicism & loans

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-06/student-loans-debt-for-life

We need to consider (i) the

global push-back against

expensive HE study, and

(ii) global activism to

attempt to make HE

institutions more permeable

to learning “outside”

DIVISION OR SCHOOL http://thefreeuniversityofliverpool.wordpress.com/

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Global activism

Mission Statement

THIS IS A PROTEST!

Higher Education is a right for all not a privilege for the few. It is on this

basis the Free University of Liverpool is committed to FREE education

for any student who wants to study with us. At the Free University of

Liverpool we believe that critical thought and action are at the heart of

changing the world we live in. With this in mind we support, teach about

and practice cultural activism.

http://thefreeuniversityofliverpool.wordpress.com/

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Global activism

http://universityofthepeople.wordpress.com/

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Global activism- Mozilla’s

Open Badges

https://wiki.mozilla.org/images/5/59/OpenBadges-Working-

Paper_012312.pdf

...in the current formal education

and accreditation systems, much of

this learning is ignored or missed

entirely. Institutions still decide what

types of learning 'count', with little

room for innovation, as well as who

gets to have access to that

learning. Their end products, the

grade or degree, are the only way

that learning is currently

communicated and recognized

within the system, as well as the

larger society. The Mozilla Open Badges project is not

just about curriculum, nor learning –

they are about an explicit approach to

claim from HE their control on

credentials. We already have the

policy environment to meet this

challenge- but our challenge is to

confront the “oranges and oranges”

problem, the “not manufactured here”

phenomenon, and be creative about

our business, and models of design.

DIVISION OR SCHOOL http://wikieducator.org/OER_university/Home

DIVISION OR SCHOOL http://kmi.open.ac.uk/ http://oer.kmi.open.ac.uk/?page_id=1254

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Global re-activism?

http://eductechalogy.org/index/archives/323 http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/08/02/conventional-

online-universities-consider-strategic-response-moocs

MOOCS do not solve the

issue of the relationship

between a citizen’s

learning and learning as

an enrolled student.

Pressure to resolve this

relational failure is already

emerging.

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Are we in a pickle?

I hope so.

But not of the chicken little

kind.

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The promise of open learning

Lies in

•Re-valuing situated knowing and

doing

•Learning how to be engaged

translators rather than one-way

transmitters

•Critique of industrial organization

in HE (disaggregation, hierarchies

of knowledge)

•Co-learning

•Seeing enrolled learning as a

relational package deal in citizen’s

lives (they will, even if we don’t)

•Carefully challenging the

‘oranges and oranges’ problem,

and the ‘not manufactured here’

phenomenon (because neither

make sense in a digital age).

•Creativity

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Aligning institutional strategy with open learning in a digital age means grappling with the question:

How do we find new ways to

think about, positively respond to, creatively interpret

a citizen’s lifelong and lifewide learning journey

as an integral part of enrolled learning – and vice versa?

The business of institutional learning

The business of institutional learning over many decades has

relied on distinctions such as critical thought, reflection,

discipline knowledge, research etc , distinctions “shored up” via

power over the credential. This distinction no longer holds true.

Learning is a package deal developed by citizens who

sometimes become enrolled students . The greatest challenge

we face in the digital age is not MOOCS, despite Chicken Little.

It’s our need to form new relationships between learning inside

and outside the institution. Research has consistently shown

that HE in Australia has resisted this change – and as a result

the Sector has been thrown off guard. The rush to MOOCS

won’t resolve the underlying challenge – we need to value

lifelong learning, not just talk about it. Words like connectivism,

seamlessness, authentic learning, student-centre learning are

robbed of meaning if we don’t engage with and create new ways

of engaging with learning outside the institution.

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References

Cameron, R. 2006, 'RPL and the disengaged learner: the need for new starting points', in P Anderson & J Harris (eds), Re-theorising the recognition of prior learning, National Institute of Adult and Community Education (NIACE), England and Wales.

Childs, M., Ingham V., and Wagner R. 2002, Recognition of prior learning on the web - a case of Australian universities, Australian Journal of Adult Learning, Volume 42, Number 1, April 2002, pp.39-56.

Cameron, R. 2012, "Recognising workplace learning: the emerging practices of e-RPL and e-PR", Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 24 Iss: 2, pp.85 - 104

Fox, T.A., 2005, Adult learning and recognition of prior learning: The 'white elephant' in Australian universities. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 54(3), pp. 352-370.

Misko, J, Beddie, F & Smith, L 2007, The recognition of non-formal and informal learning in Australia: country background report prepared for the OECD activity on Recognition of Non-formal and Informal Learning, DEST, Canberra.

Pitman T. & Vidovich L., 2012, Recognition of prior learning (RPL) policy in Australian higher education: the dynamics of position-taking, Journal of Education Policy , Vol. 27(6)

Pitman T, & Susan Broomhall S, 2009, Australian universities, generic skills and lifelong learning, International Journal of Lifelong Education , Vol. 28 (4).

Pitman, T. 2009. Recognition of prior learning: the accelerated rate of change in Australian universities, Higher Education Research & Development Vol 28(2), pp.227-240

Smith, E., 2010, A review of twenty years of competency-based training in the Australian vocational education and training system. International Journal of Training and Development, 14: 54–64. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2419.2009.00340.x

Taylor T., & Clemans A., 2000, Avoiding the Hoops: A study of recognition of prior learning processes in Australian faculties of education, Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education , vol. 28 (6). 2000

The Mozilla Foundation and Peer 2 Peer University in collaboration with The MacArthur Foundation (2012) Open Badges for Lifelong Learning: Exploring an open badge ecosystem to support skill development and lifelong learning for real results such as jobs and advancement, pp.1-14. https://wiki.mozilla.org/images/5/59/OpenBadges Working-Paper_012312.pdf retrieved 12/11/2012

Wheelahan, L, Miller, P., Newton, D, Dennis, N, Firth, J., Pascoe, S & Veenker, P 2003, Recognition of Prior Learning:

policy and practice in Australia, report to Australian Qualifications Framework Advisory Board.

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Not business as usual?: MOOCs, Badges, OERs & global personal learning

activism

Dr Merilyn Childs, Associate Professor of Higher Education, Acting Director of

the Flexible Learning Institute, Charles Sturt University. Presentation at the

Digital Futures in Higher Education, Aligning institutional strategy with

pedagogical innovation, 13 & 14 November 2012, Citigate Central, Sydney.

Contact: Merilyn Childs

mchilds@csu.edu.au