Dominic Newbould

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Dominic Newbould

• Open University Communications
• External Relations
• Community Relations
• Background in research, tutoring OU courses and
  publishing in the OU

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• The Open University
• in 2005
• Over 2.5 million students since 1971
• 200,000 students
• 35,000 outside UK

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The OU in a global market
The OU has students and works in partnership in
the following countries.

• Austria
• Belgium
• Brazil
• BulgariaNBU
• Canada
• China
• Cyprus
• Czech RepublicCUB
• Denmark
• EthiopiaMDP
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hong KongOUHK
• HungaryECBS
• IndiaACME

• Ireland
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• Middle East AOU
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Portugal
• RomaniaCODECS
• RussiaLINK
• SingaporeSIM
• Slovak RepublicCUB
• South AfricaSBL
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• UK
• USA

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The Open University
RAE
QAA
HEFCs
Teaching
Research
Fees
Q A
Production( LTS )
StudentSupport
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Why have an Open University?

• To make higher education (HE) available to many
  more people widening participation
• To exploit technologies, methods and pedagogy to
  achieve increased access to HE
• To pioneer a new system of educationsupported
  open learning
• To take the university to the student
• High quality, cost-effective, open learning
  accessible and inclusive

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What is an Open University?

• Open to peoplePlaying a leading role in the
  transition to mass higher education by serving an
  increasingly large and diverse student body
• Open to placesContributing to a widening of
  educational opportunities by making our
  programmes, courses and services available
  UK-wide and internationally
• Open to methodsExploiting distance-teaching
  methods, new learning technologies and teaching
  techniques to serve home- and work-based students
• Open to ideasThe OU will be a vibrant academic
  community dedicated to the expansion, refinement
  and sharing of knowledge

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• and
• open to time
• Increasingly, students will study in a time of
  their own choosing and at a pace that suits them.
  
• The OU will help students manage home, family,
  work and study.

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Open all hours a single dayslog-on record of
students on-line to the OU (Course M206
Object Oriented Programming 1996)
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Study with the OU

• Open entry no entry qualifications are usually
  required for undergraduates
• Exit levels more important than entry levels
  value added greater
• All registered students have a local tutor
• Network of over 300 UK study centres
• A typical undergraduate course involves about
  1014 hours study per week over 32 weeks

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Who are OU students?

• Median age 33. Youngest student 9 youngest
  graduate 17.
• Fastest growing cohort of OU students 1824
  age-group
• About 35 studying for a second degree or
  additional qualification
• 40 of OU students do not have the school-leaving
  qualifications that usually enable university
  entrance
• Currently some 10,000 disabled students are
  studying with the OU
• Over 75 OU students are in employment
• About 80 of finally-registered undergraduates
  pass their first-year examinations

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Student Value chain How the OU tracks its students
1st assignment completed
Completed 33 of course
Potential Student
Completed Course
Enquired
Continued
Graduated
Reserved
Registered
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Academic organisation

• 7 Faculties Arts, Social Sciences, Maths
  Computing, Science, Technology, Education
  Language Studies, Health Social Care
• OUBS Open University Business School
• Institute of Educational Technology (IET)
• Knowledge Media Institute (KMi)
• 13 Regional Centres covering the UK
• 1250 full-time academic staff
• Research and teaching throughout the OU

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Regional Centres

• The University has 13 regional centres in the UK
• each has a Director and a staff of academics and
  administrators. Staff Tutors are based in
  Regions.
• Staff in the centres are responsible for
• the practical support and advising of students
• the recruitment, training and supervision of
  8,000 part-time associate lecturers (ALs)
• the organisation of tutorials, residential
  schools, examinations and events

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Qualifications

• Defined set of courses, with regulations about
  academic levels, combinations, etc.
• pre-Degree or Access courses
• Certificates and Diplomas
• Bachelors degrees
• Masters degrees
• Research degrees
• 325,000 OU graduates since 1971

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Credit Structure (CATS)

• Modular structure credit awarded for courses
• Module or course size 30 or 60 points (120
  points full-time year)
• 360 points BA or BSc degree
• Each course is at one of four academic levels
• levels 1, 2 and 3 for bachelors degrees
• level M for taught graduate programmes

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Course Components

• Study Guide and workbooks
• Computing software, practical kits
• Face-to-face or on-line tutorials
• TV or radio broadcasts on BBC
• Alternative eLearning options
• Audio-,video-tapes, CD-ROM, DVD
• Day Workshops or Residential Schools
• Assessment and Examination

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Typical Assessment Model

• 50 Continuous Assessment(Tutor-marked
  Assignments)
• 50 End-of-course Examination
• New forms of assessment introduced
• One 60 point OU course is roughly equivalent to
  one semester in a traditional university at
  undergraduate level...

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Quality Learning and Teaching
The Open University Course Development Process
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Vision of the Future? (c. 1898)
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What e-Learning is Not
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Innovation in teaching methods and media

• OU offers an alternative higher education,
  student-centred
• The OU has pioneered new curriculum,
  instructional design and use of media learner
  focused
• Academics and teaching support staff need more
  professional skills

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Course Production Team
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Quality depends on people and on process

• Multi-skilled course team
• Peer group review
• Reiteration
• Briefing and training
• Objective scrutiny of the results research

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Quality Assurance

• OUs own processes course teams, external
  assessors, external examiners, student surveys
• Teaching quality assessments
• Research assessment exercise

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Rapid growth of online conferencing at the OU
160,000 users by 2001 180 courses 16,000
conferences 2,000 student moderators
Average daily activity 51,000 connections
7,000 different users 20,000 messages
sent 150,000 messages read
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Issues and challenges

• Bologna process and harmonisation of award and
  QA frameworks
• Recognition of awards gained by distance learning
• Globalisation of HE academic imperialism or
  social justice?
• Tension between valuing diversity and bringing
  systems together for common good

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The Open University in 2005

• Europes biggest University
• Largest Business School in Europe
• In the top five UK universities on teaching
  quality ratings
• Blended learning in a multi-modal system
• 250,000 current students and clients
• 160,000 students studying online
• Excellence without exclusivity

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