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Strategies for creating alternative (micro) credentials
Part 3 of a series that includes Alternative Credentials, micro-credentials, stackable credentials, and digital badges, and Alternative Credential Stacking Depending on how alternative credentials are positioned, the strategies for developing these credentials depend on the level of stakeholders that need to get involved. For example, a sector level strategy may involve engagement with provincial government, government agencies (e.g. ecampusOntario), industry, organisations and higher education institutions (HEI). 1. Establish guiding principles Central to the strategy is the need to adopt a set of guidelines or principles, and these tend to come in different flavours. The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) outline design, assessment, and implementation principles. The ecampusOntario microcertification principles and framework was co-developed by…
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What can open learn from blended learning initiatives?
In my reviewing of BC research on open, I came across a 2015 study by Irwin DeVries that used a comparative case study methodology of OERu course development with a case from FOSS development (p.77). I’ve done my share of case study research, and the comparative case study design has been one I’ve stayed away from, because I’ve never been able to reconcile how you’d avoid an apples to oranges comparison situation. Irwin’s article illustrates that this is not only doable, but also offers some possibilities that I hadn’t considered. I’m currently in the process of preparing a research proposal of institutional case study research on a few BC institutions…
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Open infrastructure and open education practices
One of the questions that I’ve been percolating and discussing with my OpenETC collaborators is the extent can you do open and engage in open education practices without open infrastructure. The timing is perfect, as I’m about to embark on a two week guest speaker gig for the MET course Planning and Managing Educational Technologies for Higher Education. This is the third year I’ll be doing a guest speaker spot in this course, and while in the previous years I focussed on the institutional organisation of educational technologies, this time I’m going to focus on the growing importance of considering open educational technology as part of the educational technology infrastructure of an institution.…
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A crash course in ed tech and online learning for higher ed leaders
One of the things I’ve come to appreciate is how challenging it can be for an institution to grapple with online learning and ed tech. Leadership is so important and yet the top layer of an institution is generally not selected for their in depth knowledge of something many of us have dedicated our careers to. Even Directors of Teaching and Learning centres may specialize in other things, and have only an operational level understanding of ed tech and how it supports teaching and learning. The online learning in Canadian universities and colleges 2018 preliminary data is pointing – with a few exceptions – to the growth of online and…
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Don’t let your online strategy become a conversation about which LMS to use
I’m that age where I can say I’ve been working in ed tech for 15 + years. Like many of us, my life in ed tech in higher education began more or less with the LMS. Through the years I’ve witnessed the good, the bad, and the ugly with seemingly endless tentacles that the LMS brings to our discussions about teaching and learning and especially online learning in our institutions. Here’s the short of it. LMS’s do some things really well and are not going to go away. We still use an LMS at our institution, and while I would really like the vendor to invest some of our hard…
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Mobile Learning at an Applied Institution
We’ve been asked on numerous occasions about our mobile strategy–how we got there and where we are going next. Oddly, we are rarely asked the why question, but for me that is really where it starts. The Context When I first came to JIBC 4 years ago, mobile was on my radar as the latest thing but I was already at that stage of ed tech dis-illusionism where everything sounded like a buzzword. But the more I learned about this peculiar institution– which boasts a relatively unusual range of course offerings, course formats, and professions and pathways–the more mobile became interesting. When a particularly savvy program area pitched the idea of an app, explaining…
