So as I have always figured, the end-game for OERu is a commercial product. Created by WikiEducator (and more recently, a bevy of 'founding partners') OERu attracted many with the promise for free online courses. An the courses are free. But according to the announcement of the furst OERu course: "Cost of Assessment services by USQ : Assignment 1 (AU$50); Assignment 2 (AU$50); Assignment 3 (AU$100) - Includes grade and feedback." That's $200 a course. Or $1000 for a five-course semester. Sure, there's a bit of a savings - but that's possible, I guess, when hundreds of volunteers have been providing education and materials for free. I wonder whether there would have been so much enthusiasm for WikiEducator had volunteers known from the outset that it will still cost $1000 a semester. Even the headline of the email, used as the heading for this post, is misleading: "Only few day's left to register for our first OERu course: Know of anyone interested in free learning for university credit?" OERu: where 'free' means $200.
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