I have been working with online courseware and learning applications in Pearson’s higher education group in Canada for over a decade. Pearson is a global, for-profit education company that understands the importance of resource scalability, and it is committed to providing services to learners, educational institutions, employers, and governments to enhance employability and fill the skills gaps for on-demand jobs. Other types of organizations have similar human-centric goals, and an exemplary one that I’ve been watching closely since the COVID-19 outbreak is the highly innovative eCampusOntario.
eCampusOntario is a not-for-profit centre of excellence that leads research, innovation, skills and academic/industry development. Working with 48 public, post-secondary institutions in Ontario and an array of industry and government partners, eCampusOntario has been able to demonstrate that speed and relevance can be an education industry game changer. Let’s take a brief look specifically at their approach to Mobile and Open Education Resources, how it is unique, and why is it relevant and important.
- eCampusOntario H5P Studio: Mobile OER
- Micro-Credentials: An Ecosystem of Partners
- Future Value of Virtual Online Learning
eCampusOntario’s H5P Studio was created in partnership with the Wilfrid Laurier University Library and a beta version was released to public, post-secondary institutions in Ontario on March 5, 2020. H5P is an abbreviation for HTML5 Package. It is a powerful, free, open source authoring tool that supports the collaborative use of mobile technology across learning contexts and multiple devices. The two-minute video below describes the aims and ambition for this emerging technology.
The create-a-thon in May 2020 was held with over 100 users to encourage rapid co-creation of content to support remote learning. By October 29th, 2020 eCampusOntario logged its 10,000th H5P interactive creation and celebrated the fact on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Ryerson University, Centennial College, and George Brown College collaborated on Skills Practice: A Home Visit, a great example of a branching simulation game, helping reduce costs for each institution and to increase the spread of knowledge in their nursing and mental health programs.
The eCampusOntario H5P Studio Catalogue of Content is growing rapidly. H5P content can be shared across an array of education technologies: embedded in any platform that uses iframes, available as an integration for learning management systems like Canvas, D2L Brightspace, Moodle, and Blackboard, and other systems that support the LTI standard such as WordPress.
Why is this an important landmark (a non-physical one, of course) for open and mobile delivery and experience? It is free, supports all of Ontario’s public, post-secondary institutions, can be used privately or shared publicly to showcase your creations, linked to social media accounts or personal websites. Sharing OER means faster delivery of learning resources where they are needed most. Government and industry partners are helping to drive this growth further with standardized micro-certifications using a range of OER and H5P learning objects. There are other global OER hubs dedicated to K-20 and professional learning with authoring tools and excellent resources, like OER Commons, but the local application of eCampusOntario’s H5P Studio impresses me by its seemingly immediate success in its support for Canadians.
“Innovation in digital credentialing and micro-certification has been hampered in Canada by lack of consensus over the goals, methods and even the terms used to describe these flexible learning and recognition practices.” Presant, D. (2020, February) Micro-Certification Business Models in Higher Education. (Page 7). eCampusOntario.
There is an emerging ecosystem of micro-credentials offering short-duration learning designed to lower barriers to skills acquisition and increase access to industry-recognized post-secondary education. The Micro-certification Principles and Framework was collaboratively designed by eCampusOntario and a group of colleges, universities, employers, and public agencies to create a common micro-certification ecosystem in Ontario. Traditional, formal educational institutions are working with employers to ensure that students and employees gain recognized skills and retraining, and those participating institutions are remaining relevant to learners by connecting them with employers in a meaningful way. Access to high-quality postsecondary education anytime, anywhere is an achievable goal for students and employees that need faster learning solutions at lower costs to remain relevant in their fields of interest to move into others.
The framework, research, and pilot projects are all showcased on the e-micro-credentials site. Of particular interest to me is the Business Models and Dimensions summary matrix of the multiple strategies that were validated in the research conducted in Micro-certification Business Models in Higher Education (p. 9-11). The summary shows not-for-profit and for-profit institutions and companies with successful implementation of business frameworks and certification models that promote the portability and extensibility of skills earned. I think the groundwork that eCampusOntario has laid is setting an exemplary model for education and industry partners to feel compelled to participate in rather than compete in Ontario.
eCampusOntario clearly demonstrates its relevance to the education and employment ecosystem in Ontario and can be readily differentiated from other non-profit and for-profit organizations working in this space by its ability to start a fire in this industry. Could pivoting to remote teaching and training be made any easier? Rapid OER creation and network growth in the education industry and solving problems with innovative business development at a rate that is difficult for for-profit centres of excellence to match are great reasons to take an interest in the current and future value of eCampusOntario.
Ontario is investing $50 million in 2020-21 to improve access to anytime, anywhere virtual learning to ensure that all Ontarians have equal access to skills development. Provincial policy makers are planning to support and build on intermediaries like eCampusOntario to develop resources and promote verified, stackable micro-credentials. Higher Education for Lifelong Learners: A Roadmap for Ontario’s Post-Secondary Leaders and Policy Makers is a policy paper outlining broad and ambitious goals for a virtual lifelong learning strategy in Ontario. The research and investments seem to indicate that the future is definitely Mobile and Open. With eCampusOntario I see an excellent, networked knowledge economy growing with increased engagement and participation in the labour market where traditional educational partners may not have succeeded on their own.