New Media Awards 2007 Atos Origin

The Open University

http://www.open.ac.uk/openlearn

Nominated in Education award category.

The Open University is the UK's only university dedicated to distance learning. Of our 180,000 students, nearly all are studying part-time, 10,000 have disabilities, 50,000 are sponsored by their employers and a third have entry qualifications lower than those normally demanded by other UK universities.

The University is ranked among the top UK universities for its teaching quality.

Our mission - to give everyone, whatever their background, the opportunity to learn - makes it inevitable that we should be the first university in the UK to give free online access to our teaching materials to anyone, anywhere in the world.

1 nomination from readers

  • Our open content initiative, openlearn, makes educational resources from the University’s courses freely available, to anyone anywhere in the world, via the internet. It covers a range of academic subjects at access, undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It incorporates state-of-the-art learning support and collaboration tools – video conferencing, instant messaging and knowledge mapping software - to connect learners and educators in self-sustaining learning communities.

    Openlearn represents the first time that a UK university has published a large online collection of its courses under a Creative Commons licence, which allows resources to be downloaded, amended and shared free of charge.

    Openlearn combines open content with open source software, allowing users to adapt openlearn resources to their own needs and culture. It provides the opportunity for people to work together via the internet to co-modify, co-produce, test, and retest material, generating a cycle of rapid continuous improvement and a global repository of open educational resources. It reduces the cost barriers to access to educational materials, course creation and dissemination.

    More than quarter of a million people worldwide have accessed the website. Openlearn is supporting personal study, helping teachers to prepare classes, and businesses to update their employees’ skills.

    The project is a significant component in the University’s ongoing mission to widen access to education and tackle educational disadvantage. Evidence of use includes union learning groups in the UK and teachers in Africa. The content can be delivered off line and through mobile devices.

    openlearn is adding to knowledge on open content delivery, use of emerging technologies in learning and non-formal learning communities; it is moving forward the thinking and practice on intellectual property rights and quality assurance; and making an impact on the quality and reach of open content delivery at an international level.

    www.open.ac.uk/openlearn

    Nominated by Laura Dewis, 30 March 2007

4 comments from readers

  • A commendable endeavour

    Submitted by Dr Jon Searle, 30 March 2007

  • OpenLearn provides valuable information to students. Easy to access, an useful learning tool.

    Submitted by Elsa To, 02 April 2007

  • The OpenLearn content currently being made available is quite outstanding. It has the potential to be of value to a range of users from prospective students to teachers in search of high quality material that they can adapt for their own use. Once again the OU is leading an innovation in the practical use of ICT - not only with content but also through the approaches being adopted and supported by the OpenLearn Project.

    Submitted by David Taylor, 04 April 2007

  • Potentially of great benefits to loads of students in the UK and abroad, as high-quality content for independent learners or interested teachers.

    Submitted by Nick, 17 May 2007