© 2008 The Open University. All Rights Reserved Quality, Access and Scale in the UK Open University Dominic Newbould Open University 1978 – 2011 April 2011

Supported Open Learning

The Open University in 2011 Over 1.5 million students since ,000+ students in ,000 outside UK 570 courses, 70+ subjects → 256 qualifications

The OU in a global market Direct Teaching Provision

The OU in a global market major partnerships - examples: Bangladesh – English in Action (EiA) China – Peking U, Open University of China Ethiopia – Ministry of Education + British Council Middle East – Arab OU in 7 countries Russia – IIM LINK Singapore – UniSIM

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 improve the quality of teaching and learning in Britain’s universities by sharing best practice Have we been successful?

What is an Open University? Open – to people Playing a leading role in the transition to mass higher education by serving an increasingly large and diverse student body, as well as customers, clients and partners. Open – to places Contributing to a widening of educational opportunities by making OU programmes, courses and services available UK-wide and internationally.

What is an Open University? cont’d Open – to methods Exploiting distance-teaching methods, new learning technologies and teaching techniques to serve students based at work, at home or on the move. Open – to ideas The OU is a vibrant academic community dedicated to the expansion, refinement and sharing of knowledge.

Open all hours The OU’s first on-line course in 1996: a single day’s log-on record of students on-line to the OU Course: M206 Object Oriented Programming:

OU Structure Funding and Quality Assurance REF Teaching Production Research Student Support Q A HEFC QAA Fees

Study with the OU Open entry – no entry qualifications are usually required for undergraduates Exit levels more important than entry levels – value added greater

Who are OU students?

OU – 256 different Qualifications 37,000 awarded in

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

UK National Student Satisfaction Survey Over 260 HE Institutions surveyed. OU is at the top – awarded highest marks in the UK ’ s National Student Survey 2005 – 2010 OU also ranked first in The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) 2006.

OU and social networking: more links YouTube: iTunesU Social Learn

Challenges Designing learning and support strategies upfront Evolving the Supported Open Learning Model for the electronic era—on-line and mobile learning. Exploiting new technologies, new media and methods The OU's Virtual Microscope

The OU in 2011 Europe’s biggest University World-leading OU Business School In the top five UK Universities on teaching quality ratings and Student Satisfaction Surveys 2005–10 Blended learning in a multi-modal system. Teaching is “fit for purpose” 260,000 current students and clients 200,000 students studying online Excellence without exclusivity

Employer Organisation Corporation Firm Higher Education Institution (HEI) University Employee Student Individual

Contact Dominic Newbould Director of External Relations Open University Worldwide