This article was submitted by Richard Heller, of the Peoples-uni.

The most common question we get in the Peoples-uni (http://peoples-uni.org), which has the use of Open Education Resources as its basis, is ‘Are you accredited?”. This may be a reasonable question, given some historic examples of low quality Internet based degrees.

My original answer to the question was that the quality of the programme will be assessed by the students and their employers in terms of outcomes – were the competences gained during the course useful? But is this ‘trust us’ approach appropriate? Will it convince an employer to offer a post to one of our graduates? Is it enough to encourage a student to invest so much time and energy in learning? Will not exernal accreditation of process benefit programme development? The University sector has set up all manner of quality assurance measures, of which accreditation is one. Is this appropriate to Open Courseware?

There are two things to accredit – first the educational materials themselves, and here we are talking of OER, and second the educational context in which they are used. My personal view is that the first is much less important than the second. My own shortcut approach to the accreditation of OER is to use those from a credible organisation, and not to set up any form of accreditation which will be difficult and costly. Poor resources will ultimately be rejected by the users and alternatives sought. Accreditation or certification of the educational context is more difficult. Where OCW is offered by traditional Universities, their own quality assurance mechanisms will doubtless be used. Where these involve collaboration between Universities, I would also suggest that each partner has to trust the other and accept the mechanisms each use. Where new educational contexts are being provided, such as the Peoples-uni, there is no easy answer.

My original answer to wait for the outcomes to be demonstrated has been modulated – we are actively seeking accreditation and certification through linkages with educational and professional organisations which will give us and our graduates credibility. But to set up some external body for the accreditation or certification of OER or OCW is a step too far in my view.