Status: Current
When the Open University made learning resources available free online, nowhere did it open up more educational opportunities than in Africa.
The OU was the first UK university and the first distance learning institution in the world to develop online learning materials, made freely available through a Creative Commons licence on its OpenLearn web portal.
“ OpenLearn encourages learners to create learning communities ”
Learners and educators can download these free materials – known as Open Educational Resources (OERs), revise them to suit their own local context, and post their revised versions on the OpenLearn site to create an even greater resource for others.
OpenLearn comprises two main spaces: LearningSpace and LabSpace. LearningSpace provides access to hundreds of educational resources including self-contained study units, covering the main academic topic areas, from introductory to advanced level. The LabSpace within OpenLearn encourages learners to create learning communities, to share and modify learning materials, allowing new versions to be uploaded and shared.
The OU is also exploring ways to develop joint OERs that effectively support learning and teaching at institutions in Africa, through the open learning network Olnet. Researchers are also working towards print, mobile and desktop versions of resources for areas where internet access is limited.
