IET research has a significant impact on the growth of Open Education content and approaches, influencing both professional practice and public policy. The Open University's OpenLearn and Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) projects have been instrumental in developing this impact, with subsequent projects including OPAL, OLnet, SCORE and FLOSScom building on developments, for example:
- In the Educause and Gates Foundation funded project Bridge to Success, the OU partnered with two community colleges in the US to develop and adapt OER for learning to learn and maths education, for cascade within the community college sector to 750 learners. From the initial focus on community colleges the project's impact has widened to include family support centres, workforce development agencies, high schools, and plans are ongoing for the courses to be utilised by Mayoral Employment Development Offices, prisons and Baltimore libraries.
- Projects such as Personal Inquiry, iSpot and Out There In Here have had a significant impact in the field of participatory science. These projects have explored how technology can support personal inquiry learning, where for instance the nQuire software was used by 300 school children and their teachers and is now available as an Open Source application. Projects also engage directly with the public through digital media and combining location-based and laboratory study through collaboration approaches, leading to national media stories such as the six-year old girl who discovered a rare moth in her home. In 2010, iSpot won the New Media category in the Panda Awards and was shortlisted for the THE Outstanding Initiative of the Year award.