Pete Cannell

Higher education in Scotland's colleges: opening up routes to a degree

The Scottish Funding Council’s (SFC) strategy for widening participation, Learning for All, first published in 2005, acknowledges the contribution of Scotland’s colleges in widening the social base of higher education (HE) study in Scotland. At the time the strategy was published, just under a quarter of all HE students were located in the colleges. This proportion is falling but it remains the case that, in contrast to the university sector, the population of HE students in the colleges is skewed towards the most deprived quintile of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). Improving the opportunities for these students to move on to degree study is therefore an important component of SFC widening participation policy. The implications of the fact that the fall in HE participation in the colleges is greatest among part-time students are discussed in this paper. Data from surveys of Open University (OU) in Scotland students who had previously studied at HE level in a college are used to provide some insight into the issues of part-time progression. In particular we look at issues of transition between sectors for part-time students and the intersection of policy discourses concerned with access, inclusion and skills utilisation.

Widening access and OER: developing new practice

Open Educational Resources (OER) are widely viewed as having the potential to open up access to educational opportunities at all levels. However, issues of access, openness and free use are complex and contested. The development of OER takes place in contexts where educational and other resources are distributed unevenly, both between the global north and south and within nations in the developed world. This paper reviews recent literature on OER and widening access to higher education for adults which suggests that so far OER is having limited impact on educational inequality. In the context of the tensions and challenges identified in the literature it then presents evidence from some recent developments in Scotland where OER has been developed collaboratively in widening access partnerships. The paper argues that the findings from these new initiatives support the view that realising the promise of OER is as much through the development of innovative social practice as through development of new content. It concludes by suggesting that there is a case for extending the definition of Open Educational Practices (OEP) from a focus on design and pedagogy into the domain of partnership and social networks.