Quality Models for Open, Flexible, and Online Learning

This article is based on research conducted for the European CommissionEducation & Training 2020 working group on digital and online learning(ET2020 WG-DOL) specifically regarding policy challenges, such as thefollowing: 1) Targeted policy guidance on innovative and open learningenvironments under outcome;2) Proposal for a quality assurance modelfor open and innovative learning environments, its impact on specificassessment frameworks and its implication for EU recognition and transparencyinstruments. The article aims to define quality in open, flexible,and online learning, particularly in open education, open educationalresources (OER), and massive open online courses (MOOC). Hence,quality domains, characteristics, and criteria are outlined and discussed,as well as how they contribute to quality and personal learning so thatlearners can orchestrate and take responsibility for their own learningpathways. An additional goal is to identify the major stakeholders directlyinvolved in open online education and to describe their visions, communalities,and conflicts regarding quality in open, flexible, and online learning.The article also focuses on quality in periods of crisis, such as duringthe pandemic in 2020. Finally, the article discusses the rationale and needfor a model of quality in open, flexible, and online learning based on threemajor criteria for quality: excellence, impact, and implementation fromthe learner’s perspective.

Human Rights and Social Justice through Open Educational Resources and Lifelong Learning

A landmark in the realization of UNESCO’s Sustainability Goals,Education for All(SDG4),was passed when the organization’s Recommendation of Open Educational Resources(OER)was uniformly adopted in 2019.Now it is time to transfer from the consciousness of OER to their mainstream realization at all levels,micro,meso,and macro,including all stakeholders,such as governments,institutions,academics,teachers,administrators,librarians,students,learners,and the civil service.The OER Recommendation includes five areas:building capacity and utilizing OER;developing supportive policies;ensuring effectiveness;promoting the creation of sustainable OER models;promoting and facilitating international collaboration;monitoring and evaluation.OER are valued as a catalyst for innovation and the achievement of UNESCO’s SDG 4,education for all,lifelong learning,social justice,and human rights.The OER Recommendation will be a catalyst for the realization of several other SDGs.Because access to quality OER concerns human rights and social justice,this Recommendation is vital.In 2020,the effects of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic clearly demonstrated the importance of opening up education and the access to internationally recognized,qualified learning resources.This article describes and discusses how the promise of resilient,sustainable quality open education can be fulfilled in the new normal and the next normal.