OU’s innovative learning earns global awards

Posted on 1 April 2016 • University news

The Open University is celebrating after winning top awards for its innovation and open education learning, both internationally and in the UK.

The OU was named winner in four categories in the highly-competitive 2016 Awards for Open Education Excellence, presenting accolades for excellence to sites, courses and projects across the world in the field of open education.

The awards were:

• Creative Innovation Award – Badged Open Courses (Open Media Unit); TESS-India – Teacher development resources (International Development Office)
• Open Research Award – Open World Learning (Institute of Education Technology)
• Open MOOC Award – Learning to (Re) Use Open Educational Resources (Institute of Education Technology and Faculty of Education & Language Studies)

The awards recognise excellence in innovation and learning across the OU. They were selected by the Institute of Open Education Awards Committee, populated by educators and open education advocates from around the world, which reviewed and selected the winners. Above all, the institute chose examples of sites, projects or resources “committed to increasing access to high quality education for everyone”.

Professor Hazel Rymer, Acting Pro Vice-Chancellor, Learning, Teaching & Innovation said:

“These awards, presented in a highly-competitive arena are a huge triumph for The Open University and underline the strength and superiority of our open education courses and resources.”

The OU is leading the field as a provider of creative, open learning both in the UK and on a global stage. We are delighted to receive these awards as they illustrate the innovation and breadth of learning offered to all by the OU.

In addition, the OU’s Badged Open Courses received an award by the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning (UALL), which recognises and celebrates projects, programmes and practices that promote lifelong learning in the HE sector. The OU was again recognised for its Badged Open Courses (BOC) project and its focus on developing academic skills relevant to Higher Education study, providing recognition for informal leaners and encouraging journeys into formal learning.