Ten years of open practice: a reflection on the impact of OpenLearn
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The document summarizes the impact and evolution of OpenLearn, the Open University's open educational resource platform, over its first 10 years of operation. Some key points: - OpenLearn has provided free learning materials to over 4 million learners globally and increased access to education. - Through integration with formal OU modules, OpenLearn has helped boost student enrollment, progression rates, and confidence. It provides a way for learners to sample distance learning. - Over time, OpenLearn has expanded its social learning tools and begun offering "badged open courses" that provide recognition for informal learning through digital badges. These initiatives have increased learner engagement and driven more learners to pursue formal qualifications. - A redesign for
Ten years of open practice: a reflection on the impact of OpenLearn
- 1. Ten years of open practice: a reflection on the impact of OpenLearn Patrina Law Head of Free Learning, The Open University @HigherEdPatrina
- 2. 2 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…
- 4. 4 What’s on the OpenLearn platform? www.open.edu/openlearn
- 5. The journey into OpenLearn
- 7. 7 7 A commitment to openness
- 8. 8 Benefits to institutions of OER Increases access to education Provides an opportunity to assess and plan education choices Showcases intellectual outputs, promoting profile and attracting students Converts learners into fee paying enrolments Accelerates learning Adds value to knowledge production Reduces faculty preparation time Generates cost savings Enhances quality Generates 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
- 9. 9 9 Who are OpenLearn learners?
- 10. 10 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. ’
- 11. 11 OpenLearn launch in 2006
- 12. 12 OpenLearn in 2006: LearningSpace and LabSpace
- 13. 13 OpenLearn merging of sites 2010
- 14. 14 Social learning support, then and now
- 15. 15 Top ten courses on OpenLearn 1. Start writing fiction 2. Introduction to bookkeeping and accounting 3. Essay and report writing skills 4. Getting started on classical Latin 5. Introduction to child psychology 6. Introduction to music theory 7. Spanish Espacios publicos 8. The importance of interpersonal skills 9. Nutrition, vitamins and minerals 10. Starting psychology 2008 2016
- 16. 16 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.
- 18. 18 What this has achieved in 10 years
- 19. 19 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.
- 20. 20 Integrating OEP – producing OpenLearn courses Module choice Retention Key skills + preparation Postgraduate qualifications Engaging learner groups Mass appeal + profile raising
- 21. 21 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
- 22. 22 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
- 23. 23 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%)
- 24. 24 OpenLearn learners want OU- branded recognition for their learning. 80%
- 25. 25 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.
- 26. 26 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
- 27. 27 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
- 28. 28 Badge display Mozilla Backpack (or other aggregator) My OpenLearn Profile Social networks Printable certificate https://backpack.openbadges.org/backpack/login
- 30. 30 OpenLearn and OpenLearn Create 10th anniversary redesign www.open.edu/openlearn www.open.edu/openlearnworks Thank you for listening! @HigherEdPatrina http://www.slideshare.net/patrinalaw
Editor's Notes
- #4: Around 25 programmes each year that are broadcast (TV and radio) which generates around 250m views. Most people find us through search.
- #6: We have always referred to the Journeys from Informal to Formal Learning at the OU. This has become informal -- by accident or by choice: I’m searching for information / I’m interested in a subject. I enrol: I become a non formal learner. I complete my course, I do more free learning or I become an OU student. My achievements can be displayed on my profile, but I want something more.
- #7: We think syndication is important – getting the same content onto multiple channels – helps us reach more and different people We will build on this this year from these three initial channels to many more BUT critically ONLY openlearn will really allow us a degree of control over how our materials are shown, deliver on brand impression, and be optimised for offering next steps to OU OL has a value and much of that value comes from awareness. Trying to syndicate all courses to Google Play and Kindle. These are all conversions and they are not made specially for synications. YouTube; most people only stay on there for 2.5 minutes. Each channel or platform can bring different scales, demographics and special features– Broadcast channels – very good for inspiring interest on scale and raising awareness Online distribution channels allow greater opportunity to explore interests Social channels allow community building and some allow commitment to not just exploring learning materials – but actually taking a course in a group Those in the inner rings do everything the others in the outer rings do …. OpenLearn allows all of the above … Through the OU’s structured content we are getting better as delivering core content or links to content onto a wide range of these channels OpenLearn tends to have a Broadest mix of content (not just courses/MOOCs) Because of this better demographic (more appropriate) compared to most of the others – AND it is the ONLY channel wholly owned, populated, brandedby us – with only ONE exit door – THE OU! It also allows user to register their identity with the OU – however it does (yet) not have The scale of broadcast The social sophistication/appeal or mobile optimisation of FutureLearn – yet The download/offline ease of Apple - yet - but ebooks are coming NOW Is currently not FULLY optimised for MOOCs – but getting there But is has scale/conversion rate which makes it 10s -100 times more successful that any other channels in deliverying enquirers ... Into the next stage of the Journey
- #8: Using a Creative Commons licence supports organisations who want to republish resources for their own use. This allows content to be re-distributed onto other platforms, modified and released for local needs.
- #9: Stacey’s suggests that OER can “lead to faster learning, greater learner success”, but rejects his notion that OER “may not directly generate revenue”, although BOCs in particular see such high motivation and formal course sign-up.
- #15: Moodle modules available then were used e.g. discussion forums, quizzes. The notion of tagging was considered revolutionary as learners could socially network according to what they were interested in.
- #17: . This is likely to reflect trends in the way users approach finding information and a reliance on good search engine optimisation to find a website versus having to know a website address up front. and hence could be said to be approaching it: informally i.e. they arrived there because they were looking for general information; or non-formally i.e. they may have searched under the term ‘free course’.
- #21: Up to 5% of every module freely available Can be 1-24+ hours of learning Adapted from module content, but works as standalone course with own learning outcomes. If done well, can bring multiple benefits
- #22: Process overview/key facts inc. Learning design – variable depending on module/course type, course length, budget etc. Content developed – alongside module. Rights cleared for the open at the same time as for the module. Handover – when relevant module content ready, not when whole module ready (as already planned which bits will be used) Proofing and review – academic sign-off by module chair, final signoff by OMU Senior Producer Live – syndication to other platforms (inc. ebooks). Before module goes live.
- #24: K113 – click through to Study at the OU – talk through + other benefits include… Module choice/registrations Student preparedness Retention between registration and module start Profile (subject/work/academic author) Use of assets in main module Chance to try things out In order to achieve many of these…
- #27: OpenLearn Badged Open Courses (BOCs): Give informal learners the recognition they’ve requested. Give prospective students the skills to be prepared for undergraduate study. Give our current students a means of developing and displaying skills relevant to career progression. Cheaper to produce than our MOOCs No tutoring overhead Badging infrastructure interoperable with open standards BOCs are 24-hrs in length (usually 8 weeks or sessions of 3 hours) and cost half that of MOOCs (which are 12-hrs long). They are perpetually open courses with no start or finish date and hence have no presentation, tutoring or administration costs associated with repeat presentations. Learners study independently, and not as part of a cohort. BOCs have practice quizzes at the end of weeks 1-3 and 5-7 (each quiz is 5 set questions). At the end of weeks 4 and 8 learners will take their badging 15-question quizzes (each question has 3 variants to provide rigour to the badging assessment).
- #31: For mobile optimisation To respond to needs of learners and their changing search priorities Total change of navigation Merged learning and creating profiles