1 OpenER: a Dutch initiative on OER ‘Bridging informal and formal learning’ Robert Schuwer

2 Agenda ­Motivation for the project ­Main characteristics of the project ­Current experiences ­Future scenarios

3 Setting the scene A little story

4 Motivation for the project (1) ­2000 / Lisbon Agreement: How can we increase the number of people with higher education? ­Bring more non-traditional groups (i.e. employed and unemployed people) to higher education ­Extend opportunities for lifelong learning based, amongst others, on an e-learning approach

5 Motivation for the project (2) ­Lowering existing tresholds: institutional, formal, financial, social, time, place, pace ­Making access easy and attractive ­Transfer from informal to formal learning

6 Main characteristics of the project ­Flexible, open, time-independent, easy accessible ­Only invest time and effort ­Research and measurements of effectiveness around the project ­Dutch language

7 Intended outcomes ­16 courses of 25 study hours each (= 1 EC) ­a user-friendly on-line delivery system ­user-friendly on-line facilities for self-testing and assessment ­opportunities for formal testing and certification as a starting point for higher education study ­substantial marketing and communication to create awareness with the Dutch population about OpenER and the OUNL

8 Current experiences (1) ­ unique visitors since launch ­A lot of media attention from local and national press, radio and television ­> 3400 visitors have registered (voluntarily) ­> 340 survey forms have been submitted ­Numerous feedback forms

9 Current experiences (2) ­Personal data ­71% of the population aged years ­43% did not participate in higher education before

10 Current experiences (3) ­Data of visit to website ­80% returning visitors ­Reasons for visit (>1 choice) ­follow a free course: 64%. ­test on ability to cope with university courses: 23% ­try out a study at the Open Universiteit Nederland: 43% ­reuse the material in their own courses: 5%.

11 Current experiences (4) ­Use of material ­20% did not look through any course ­37% browsed through a course ­43% studied a course

12 Current experiences (5) ­Study plans ­75% is currently not involved in any formal learning trajectory ­18% is currently involved in some form of higher education ­16% has plans for starting a formal study in higher education ­38% has plans for buying courses on the level of higher education ­71% indicated that this project affects their further study plans

13 OpenER after 2007 ­Scenarios 1.OU makes higher education borderless and attractive for non-traditional groups 2.OU is director for development of open learning material for higher education in the Netherlands 3.OU is director for offering open selfstudy learning material internationally

14 OpenER after 2007 (2) ­Scenarios (cont’d) 4.OU is the knowledge center for development and offering of student centered open learning material in the Netherlands 5.OU is nationally and internationally leading in educational research around open learning material