ERIC Number: EJ1030122
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Apr
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1492-3831
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Available Date: N/A
Mass Customization of Education by an Institution of HE: What Can We Learn from Industry?
Schuwer, Robert; Kusters, Rob
International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, v15 n2 p1-25 Apr 2014
One of the claims the OER movement makes is that availability of (open) digital learning materials improves the quality of education. The promise is the ability to offer educational programs that take into account specific demands of the learner. The question is how to reach a situation where a customized demand can be met using OER with acceptable quality against acceptable costs. This situation resembles mass customization as is common in industry for several decades now. Techniques from an industry where an end product is assembled with the demands of the customer as a starting point can be translated to the field of education where courses and learning paths through a curriculum are assembled using a mixture of open and closed learning materials and learning services offered by an institution. Advanced IT support for both the modeling of the learning materials and services and a configurator to be used by a learner are necessary conditions for this approach.
Descriptors: Open Education, Electronic Learning, Information Technology, Curriculum Design, Models, Higher Education, Technology Transfer
Athabasca University. 1200, 10011 - 109 Street, Edmonton, AB T5J 3S8, Canada. Tel: 780-421-2536; Fax: 780-497-3416; e-mail: irrodl@athabascau.ca; Web site: http://www.irrodl.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
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