Hi Gene, Certification and review of OER is a complex issue. That said, no more complex in OER than for closed-resources ;-)
A couple of thoughts: 1) Merlot is not primarily a hosting repository of materials -- the vast majority of resources accessed through Merlot are hosted on external sites. So for example you could find the OER Handbook for Educators on Merlot (http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm? id=335365) which is hosted on WikiEducator. 2) Frankly -- Merlot's intellectual property policy is confusing. The site says that resources are licensed under "Creative Commons Licensing conditions" -- but when you read the detail (http:// taste.merlot.org/acceptableuserpolicy.html) there are a raft of different conditions for different categories of users. In the case of WikiEducator -- we have a values-based position on licensing. We only use licenses which meet the free cultural works definition. In Creative Commons terms that means CC0, CC-BY or CC-BY-SA. Of course materials dedicated to the public domain are welcomed. 3) Merlot is not the only act in town in so far as being an access point for open access materials. The OER Commons (http:// www.oercommons.org/) also provide search, find and rating services. Creative Commons have also been working on an interesting project called DiscoverEd (http://wiki.creativecommons.org/DiscoverEd). An innovative group called Folksemantic (http://www.folksemantic.com/) are also working on exciting new technologies. The issue is, that in the case of OER -- it doesn't matter where the resource are hosted. >From the OER Foundation's perspective we encourage all OER developers to use open content licenses and free file formats as the building blocks for a sustainable OER ecosystem. 4) In my personal view -- certification and credentialing is not the function of OER per se -- that's what education institutions should be doing. Education institutions are free to choose the learning materials they prescribe or recommend for their students (both closed and open materials.) So for example, WikiEducator hosts a number of course materials where students can obtain certifications from the institutions that teach these OER courses. I also look forward to seeing Joyce's thoughts on recognition of prior learning where institutions can assess learning experience gained from free and open OER courses hosted on WikiEducator and other open projects like P2PU, Wikiversity etc. 5) WE need to get better at providing users the opportunity to rate and rank materials developed and hosted in WE. We are exploring alternatives that will scale and work well in the formal education sector. Above all -- I think the most important value for WE to endorse and promote is the freedom to create. That means giving all educators in the world the permission to create and reuse learning materials for their purpose. While the formal sector rightly places strong emphasis on peer review, credentials etc -- we must be wary of using this as an excuse to restrict permissions and the freedoms of individuals to create their own teaching materials. In the same breath, we should also be creative in finding effective ways for the community to rate quality without imposing restrictions on the creation process. WE're making good progress - one step at a time. With your help and support - we're going to get better :-) Cheers Wayne On Oct 29, 2:36 pm, gene loeb <genel...@gmail.com> wrote: > I think it will be appropriate to initiate a certifying body and reviewers > if tht is not already done the reviews like being Merlot. > Just a thought. > Gene > > > > On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 1:17 AM, Carina <carina.bo...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi everyone, > > > I'm currently compiling some information about the development of > > OERs, which will be available on WikiEducator shortly for those who > > wish to comment on and add to it. But, I wonder if you know any > > program/institution/organisation at a tertiary level that offers > > credentials or certification for courses/units or modules that are > > OERs. > > > There are some free courses available on the Internet (e.g. > >http://alison.com/course/), but I’m not sure if they are OERs. > > > Your thoughts and comments on this issue are much appreciated. > > > Thanks, > > Carina > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > > Groups "WikiEducator" group. > > To visit wikieducator:http://www.wikieducator.org > > To visit the discussion forum:http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator > > To post to this group, send email to wikieducator@googlegroups.com > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > wikieducator-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > > -- > With Sincerest Best Wishes , > > Gene > Gene Loeb, Ph.D. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. 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