OU set 'world standard in distance learning' says report

The Open University is held up as a model in a high-profile report which recommends the UK invest more than £100 million over five years to boost online learning.

Collaborate to Compete, published on January 27th by the Higher Education Funding Council, says the UK set a “world standard in distance learning” by establishing The Open University.

It recommends that the OU, along with JISC and the Higher Education Academy , should lead on a £25 million initiative to develop and exploit the potential of open educational resources.

The report also singles out the OU as the only public, not-for-profit higher education provider to have been conspicuously successful at working on a large scale.

It cites the OU’s virtual learning environment and e-assessment system through which about 500,000 assessments were submitted online in 2009, and its supported open learning system ‘giving its 250,000 students flexibility to study when and where suits them best’.

The report was written by an Online Learning Task Force which included OU Vice-Chancellor Martin Bean and other academics, as well as experts from Microsoft, Apple and Pearson.

A key message is that online learning offers the prospect of significant benefit for students and for the country, but UK universities need to act now in the face of competition from overseas institutions and private providers. “The moment has come if we wish to remain and grow as a major international player in higher education,” says Task Force chair Dame Lynne Brindley.