Ten years of open practice:

a reflection on the impact of OpenLearn 

Patrina LawHead of Free Learning, The Open University@HigherEdPatrina

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Providing free learning

ELIZABETH THE SECOND by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Our other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith…

Engaging new learners

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What’s on the OpenLearn platform?

www.open.edu/openlearn

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The journey into OpenLearn

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Reaching other platforms

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A commitment to openness

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Benefits to institutions of OER

Increases access to educationProvides an opportunity to assess and plan education choicesShowcases intellectual outputs, promoting profile and attracting studentsConverts learners into fee paying enrolmentsAccelerates learningAdds value to knowledge productionReduces faculty preparation timeGenerates cost savings Enhances qualityGenerates innovation through collaboration.

(Stacey, 2012)

For OU students in particular: A taster for online/distance Delivers improved progression for those that use OpenLearn A vehicle for module choice / qualification pathway

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Who are OpenLearn learners?

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How do they feel about their learning?

58%

‘A test to give confidence my next module choice is appropriate for me’

38%

80%

Declare improved confidence in ability to study.

Are students (of this -- 100,000 OU students / year).

Want OU-branded recognition for informal learning.

More likely to take another free course.

More likely to recommend OU content to others.

80%

80%

‘The free extracts of courses gave me confidence to enroll in my first module…I have also been using them to practice time management.’

‘A good talking point and something to include on my CV’

‘Fees are now too high for me to consider continuing my degree’

‘Thank you for providing a resource for people that cannot get to a facility due to physical or financial difficulty. ’

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OpenLearn launch in 2006

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OpenLearn in 2006: LearningSpace and LabSpace

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OpenLearn merging of sites 2010

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Social learning support, then and now

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Top ten courses on OpenLearn

1. Start writing fiction2. Introduction to bookkeeping and

accounting3. Essay and report writing skills4. Getting started on classical Latin5. Introduction to child psychology6. Introduction to music theory7. Spanish Espacios publicos8. The importance of interpersonal skills9. Nutrition, vitamins and minerals10. Starting psychology

2008 2016

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Comparing trends in search

2009: 45% of visitors came to the platform via Internet search; 45% from referral sites and 10% from typing a direct URL. 2016: >90% of learners come to the platform via Internet search; <4% direct to homepage.

• Google favours OpenLearn due to quality of content + quality and quantity of inbound links e.g. bbc.co.uk .gov and .edu sites.

• Usually the no. 1 search result for free course and in the top 3 for subject-specific free course search.

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OpenLearn today

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What this has achieved in 10 years

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What OU students think of OpenLearn

Survey 2015: 1,127 respondents:• 48% had used OpenLearn.• Majority (72%) had viewed free courses, over videos, activities or other

short pieces of learning. • Of those who had used OpenLearn, majority declared increase in

confidence in their studies as a result. • Those who had used OpenLearn were 5-10% more likely to progress to

the next module.

Qualitative data Identifies four main themes as to the opportunity that using OpenLearn affords:

1. To re-assure that they have the ability to study at HE level;2. To see what study at the OU is like before making a commitment;3. To help students choose the right module as they move through a qualification; 4. To use OpenLearn materials as an additional resource to augment their learning.

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Integrating OEP – producing OpenLearn courses

Module choice Retention Key skills +

preparation

Postgraduate qualifications

Engaging learner groups

Mass appeal + profile raising

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OEP for OL courses: process

OU module conceived

OpenLearn course proposal agreed

OpenLearn course specified.

OU module specified.

LEARNING DESIGN

OpenLearn course produced. OU module produced

Critical read, review and signoff

OpenLearn course live before OU

module

Syndication to YouTube, Google

Play, Amazon, iTunes U

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Guiding principles for OpenLearn courses Learners most value quizzes with feedback Use of activities and video also highly rated Select the most engaging content within a module Make a key topic accessible to new learners Ensure the course works as a stand-alone piece of learning Learners value recognition for their achievement (statement of

participation)

● New assets, such as videos and animations are used in module● Others’ OER used in OpenLearn course

Closed environments with a start and finish date i.e. MOOCs, have lower completion rates than open courses Forced social activity encourages high drop-out Straight adaptation of module content performs poorly

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When done well…

●Data over 6 months: 1st December 2014 to 31st May 2015 (site averages in brackets)

●Unique browsers 10,703●Average pages viewed 11.07 (3.27)●% UK 79.4% (50%)●CTR to OU courses 21% (~11%)

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OpenLearn learners want OU-branded recognition for their learning.

80%

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What are digital badges?

Image credits: Thornhill School http://thornhillschool.org.uk/current/latest-news/-/post/blue-peter-badges; and Patrina Law.

As a coming together of games culture and the traditional badge issuing by clubs and societies, a digital badge has developed to become “…an online visual representation of an accomplishment or skill” (Ostashewski & Reid, 2015) issued in a variety of formal and non formal settings.

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Badged Open Courses: assessment

• All BOCs are 24 hours of learning • Automatically-assigned via Moodle quizzes• Learners need to achieve 50% to pass an

assessment• Learners are given three attempts• If they fail on the third attempt, they can

retake after 24 hours• Practice assessment is available throughout

the course• All pages of the course must have been ‘read’• Formal assessment halfway and at end of

course

Two successful assessments = 1 badge

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Badged Open Courses: impact• 2500+ badges issued• The BOCs are generating around 12,000

new visitors a month to OpenLearn• They drive a very high proportion of

learners to click-through to make an enquiry to the OU (26.2% Feb-Nov 2015)

• Completion rates of BOCs are higher than our MOOCs

• 350 formal module registrations have been made (mostly entry level)

• 2,500 prospectus requests• >300 qualification sign-ups (mostly new

students)• Satisfaction rates very high (~98%) • 57% say that they will be sharing their

achievements with an employer

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Badge displayMozilla Backpack (or other aggregator)

My OpenLearn ProfileSocial networks

Printable certificate https://backpack.openbadges.org/backpack/login

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Integrating open principles

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OpenLearn and OpenLearn Create 10th anniversary redesign

www.open.edu/openlearnwww.open.edu/openlearnworks

Thank you for listening!@HigherEdPatrinahttp://www.slideshare.net/patrinalaw