Language educator Wayne Rimmer, who graduated from The Open University’s (OU) Masters in Online and Distance Education in 2022, tells us about how it impacted both his teaching and his desire for further study with the OU.

Wayne Rimmer writes:

I embarked on the MAODE because I felt my teaching was getting stale and I’d always been curious about the Open University experience. In the distant past, I had done a TESOL teaching diploma by correspondence course (how dated does that sound!) so I felt I could cope with asynchronous learning. Plain sailing? Well, two things happened to blow my boat off course. First, the pandemic struck. Second, almost concurrently, I started my new job teaching English for Academic Purposes at the University of Manchester. New course types, all the teaching switched online, I had colleagues and students I’d never physically met, an assignment was on the horizon… Time to bail out?

I can honestly say that the MAODE kept me afloat. The course contained a lot of content which I could adapt to my teaching context. For example, I became much more aware of the affordances of technology and I began to see advantages of online teaching such as interactive documents for collaborative student writing. I also became very interested in Open Educational Resources and their potential for sharing and the co-creation of knowledge. The discussion boards were also a terrific stimulus as students were approaching the course from all sorts of perspectives and I found it refreshing to switch off from my English-teacher persona.

I completed the MAODE in 2022 and immediately signed up for an MA in Classics (OU A863). Things are going swimmingly with Classics, thanks to the springboard of the MAODE. I can’t say land is in sight, there is a dissertation to write next year, but the water is lovely!

Interested in finding out more about The Open University’s Masters in online teaching?

In 2023 we launched the OU’s new Masters in Online Teaching, an innovative postgraduate programme exploring the ways that new media, digital pedagogies and cutting-edge educational technologies can be used effectively and equitably, across multiple sectors, to engage diverse learners and meet their needs. The programme offers flexible study pathways featuring a choice of topics, study intensity and study timing, and the option to include credit from a select postgraduate microcredentials.

Find out more about the OU’s MA In Online Teaching here.

School teacher Andy Brooks, a graduate of The Open University’s (OU) Masters in Online and Distance Education, tells us about how his MAODE study helped him to successfully move his teaching online.

Andy Brooks writes:

The COVID-19 pandemic forced us to adapt to distance learning, something that I never would have imagined for kids. As a teacher who transitioned from industry to education later in life, I would have found it exceptionally challenging to make the switch to online teaching. However, my experience studying my MAODE provided me with the skills and confidence needed to transition to online teaching during the pandemic.

The course’s focus on effective lesson design helped me create engaging and interactive online lessons, ensuring that my students had access to high-quality education from home. By experimenting with various online tools, I found new ways to make learning fun and engaging for my students.

In addition to enhancing my teaching skills, the MAODE course provided me with the opportunity to extend my research skills and showcase my ideas at an online conference. It was a fantastic experience where I was able to learn from other educators and see how technology was being implemented in education in novel ways.

Looking back, I am grateful for my experience studying the MAODE. It gave me the skills and confidence to adapt to online teaching during the pandemic and provided me with the opportunity to develop my research skills and showcase my ideas at an online conference.

Interested in finding out more about The Open University’s Masters in online teaching?

In 2023 we launched the OU’s new Masters in Online Teaching, an innovative postgraduate programme exploring the ways that new media, digital pedagogies and cutting-edge educational technologies can be used effectively and equitably, across multiple sectors, to engage diverse learners and meet their needs. The programme offers flexible study pathways featuring a choice of topics, study intensity and study timing, and the option to include credit from a select postgraduate microcredentials.

Find out more about the OU’s MA In Online Teaching here.

GP Dirk Pilat, graduate of The Open University’s (OU) Masters in Online and Distance Education (MAODE), provided by the Institute of Educational Technology (IET), discusses how studying the programme affected their development of academic competencies and their career.

The Open University’s MA in Online and Distance Education, now replaced with the Masters in Online Teaching, provided students with the opportunity to study the theory and practice of online and blended teaching through modules created by educational experts from IET.

Reflecting on their experience of studying the MAODE programme, and the ways in which the course supported their career progression, Dirk Pilat writes:

I studied for the Master of Arts in Online and Distance Education between 2015 and 2018, and as with all my previous Open University studies, it was a delight. The courses were well thought out, the study material was excellent and close to day to day practice. During my studies I already worked at the Royal College of General Practitioners’ (RCGP) online learning environment, and the ideas and additional knowledge generated from the courses were applicable in my day to day work and helped me improve the RCGPs online content. The academic acumen I developed helped me to expand the scope of my role at the RCGP and I was able to take on a more senior role with a more strategic outlook over the College’s professional development content. I can thoroughly recommend this degree for all educational professionals who want to further their knowledge and experience in remote and distance learning, and ultimately, their career. 

Interested in finding out more about The Open University’s Masters in online teaching?

In 2023 we launched the OU’s new Masters in Online Teaching, an innovative postgraduate programme exploring the ways that new media, digital pedagogies and cutting-edge educational technologies can be used effectively and equitably, across multiple sectors, to engage diverse learners and meet their needs. The programme offers flexible study pathways featuring a choice of topics, study intensity and study timing, and the option to include credit from a select postgraduate microcredentials.

Find out more about the OU’s MA In Online Teaching here.

Carol Waites, a graduate of The Open University’s (OU) Masters in Online and Distance Education, tells us about her popular newsletters that sprang out of one of her Masters projects.

Carol writes:

Apart from helping me launch my online writing courses for United Nations staff in the field, the MAODE course called “The Networked Practitioner” was also a catalyst for my successful writing tips. A group of human rights lawyers, who had just finished a writing course with me, asked me to give regular refreshers and so the idea was formed. I used it for my MAODE project in 2016 and have continued since.

The current Masters in Online Teaching will offer more opportunities for students to excel in their teaching in today’s rapidly changing world.

I have an audience of over 1,200 people signed up to my newsletter and have produced 267 tips and counting. I produce them on a weekly basis and they are popular with both my students and people from other walks of life than the international organizations. They focus on demystifying topics such as confusing grammar and vocabulary, on how to change your style to suit your audience, and other tips suitable for people writing in government type jobs. My audience also includes teachers worldwide, who are often followers of mine on social media, using it with their academic students.

I post them weekly on my Weebly website, on my WordPress website, on my social media including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and occasionally Instagram. My newsletter is produced using MailChimp. People sign up with the form on the Weebly website.

https://professionalwritingtips.weebly.com/writing-tips

I regularly sign my writing students up to receive the tips, with their permission, and I encourage them to get their colleagues who are interested to sign up.

Carol Waites, PhD

Carol Waites Consultancy Services

Geneva, Switzerland

Interested in finding out more about The Open University’s Masters in online teaching?

In 2023 we launched the OU’s new Masters in Online Teaching, an innovative postgraduate programme exploring the ways that new media, digital pedagogies and cutting-edge educational technologies can be used effectively and equitably, across multiple sectors, to engage diverse learners and meet their needs. The programme offers flexible study pathways featuring a choice of topics, study intensity and study timing, and the option to include credit from a select postgraduate microcredentials.

Find out more about the OU’s MA In Online Teaching here.