Transcript Slide 1

ODeL @ UNISA
July 2013
Gerda Mischke
Office of the Pro Vice Chancellor
When are university courses
‘open’?
Open education does not necessarily mean ‘for free’
and ‘for free’ does not necessarily mean ‘open’.
Options: open and free, open and paid-for, closed
and free, or closed and paid-for.
UNISA’s view of openness
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Admission requirements – the ethical dilemma of being too open.
Pedagogy – how we teach (online, blended, correspondence, workbased, etc). FALLACY OF MIXED MODE (museum courses), integration.
Open curricula – what we teach or consider worthy of knowing.
Open educational resources (OER) – reuse, re-formatting, repurposing,
redistribution of content and learning objects – implications for
ownership, intellectual property rights, etc.
Open assessment – access to sufficient formative assessment, open
examinations and rubrics, non venue-based examinations, etc.
Open access to devices – device agnostic, offline-online.
Open accreditation – the status of qualifications.
Open futures – changing careers, the sell-by date of knowledge, ‘just
in time’ knowledge.
UNISA’s Signature Course project (MOCS)
One module per College going ONLINE on a massive scale addressing
topics of grave importance (+ 30,000 registrations).
Discipline-related material focusing on social cohesion, mentorship,
critical thinking, media literacy, communication, appreciation for
societal values, Africanisation.
OdeL pedagogy: designed for ‘presence’ (discussion forums, blogs,
surveys, respond to fellow students’ work), 30 students per group.
Teaching Assistants: online mentors marking online assignments (80%
of year mark obtained through + 10 assignments; 20% through non
venue-based examination). Tracking options.
UNISA’s offline-online platform
Digi-bands for students with no or restricted internet access.
Consists of rubber wrist bands with 12 gigabyte memory
sticks.
Sophisticated software allows synchronisation
with the LMS (myUnisa).
All course material, URL links and video clips are
downloaded onto the digi-bands.
Students work offline and go online at
regular intervals to upload their material
onto the LMS and to download
announcements, discussions forums
and all other updates.
Going mobile in 2014.
Barriers and Government support
Course fees and subsidies.
Admission requirements – the risk of being too ‘open’.
Pedagogy – paper behind glass, vs blended, vs online.
Curricula – what we teach or consider worthy of knowing.
Course completion rate – MOOCS have been ‘moocked’ up.
Student support – model, standard, costs involved.
Student skills – computer skills, critical thinking, self efficacy.
Student habits – student mass action.
Affordable access to digital devices (UNISA laptop and tablet
initiatives).
Affordable access to the internet (UNISA data packages).
Closure
The value of openness does
not necessarily lie in the
content, but in the systems,
support, accreditation and
structure.