Using ECTS for Open Education

Calculation, Verification and Assessment of Learning Outcomes and Workload in Digital Environments

A major barrier, when it comes to recognition of fully flexible learning experiences, is their lack of compatibility with the existing standards and credit transfer and accumulation systems such as ECTS. In this task we will attempt to bridge that gap by recognizing certain use cases and analyse the following in the context of fully flexible learning environments:

  1. How workload is calculated and monitored;
  2. Which assessment methods are used and how are they evaluated;
  3. Which methods are used for identity verification and cheating prevention.

The exercise will include an extensive amount of literature review and will aim to find out whether the concepts of workload, assessment practices and identity verification, as applied to ECTS, can be applied to fully flexible learning experiences.

This will be followed by the identification of a set of factors that need to be taken into account by HEIs in order to ensure that the quality of open learning assessment is maintained. The ultimate aim is to propose a set of good practices that guarantee that every credit obtained in the context of open learning is of good quality. This will eventually help in facilitating the usage and acceptance of open learning in higher education institutions.

Publications