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Dr Patrina Law

Dr Patrina Law, The Open University

Profile summary

  • Head of Open Learn

Professional biography

I am Head of OpenLearn at the Open University where I specialise in e-learning strategy and outreach, researching and commissioning impactful free learning through Open Educational Resources (OER) for adult learners across multiple platforms (OpenLearn.com, YouTube, Amazon (Kindle)). My goal is to reach those hardest to reach and through OpenLearn this amounts to over 10 million people, globally each year, with numbers soaring during the pandemic.

I instigated and led the development and commissioning of digital badges for free courses for OpenLearn in 2015, to reward and recognise learners' achievements meaningfully. In May 2023, OpenLearn issued its quarter of a millionth digital badge and our data continues to show that these are highly impactful achievements with real meaning to people, both personally and professionally.

My research and business interests are around understanding the motivations of non-formal learners using OER, business models associated with online learning, the impact and applications of digital badging for OER, particularly how to deliver meaningful digital credentials to support learners in low socio economic groups.

Academic publications can be found in the Open University's Open Research Database and Google Scholar. 

Research interests

My research papers are available on ORO and via the Publications tab on this profile. They are around understanding who non-formal learners are, what they do with OER and why, including more recently, the phenomenon of micro-credentials and digital badges.

Impact and engagement

External awards for research and other projects:

  1. 2015 Open Education Consortium Open Research Award for Open Education Excellence in recognition of outstanding efforts and contributions to advance Open Education through investigation, analysis and research.
  2. International Council for Open and Distance Education Prize for Innovation and Best Practice 2015.
  3. Finalist for the Times Higher Education Award for Widening Participation Initiative for the Year (2015) for Badged Open Courses.
  4. Winner 2016 Open Education Consortium: Creative Innovation Award - Badged Open Courses.
  5. Finalist 2017 Learning Technologies Awards, Excellence in the Design of Learning Content.
  6. Winner 2021 for the OpenLearn Team for Open Education Global's Open Resilience Award 2021 for recognising exemplary open educational practices implemented in the context of Covid-19.

Internal awards (Open University): Implementation of the Learn About Fair (an annual event for staff to discover the latest developments in educational technology); and the eDesktop Programme -- the first project to provide a VLE for the University's student modules.

External collaborations

I am a Principal Fellow of the HEA and serve on the 1EdTech European Leadership Board, the 1EdTech Digital Credentials Product Steering Committee and the Editorial Board for the RSA's Journal.and previously, the External Expert Advisory Board for SySTEM 2020. 

I am an academic reviewer for the Journal of Distance Education and a committed fund-raiser/supporter for CICRA (Crohn's in Childhood Research Association) and the HOPE Foundation.

Publications

How Directing Formal Students to Institutionally-Delivered OER Supports their Success (2019-11-19)
Law, Patrina
Journal of Learning for Development, 6(3) (pp. 262-272)

How OpenLearn supports a business model for OER (2017-04-17)
Law, Patrina and Perryman, Leigh-Anne
Distance Education, 38(1) (pp. 5-22)

Ten years of open practice: a reflection on the impact of OpenLearn (2016)
Law, Patrina and Jelfs, Anne
Open Praxis, 8(2) (pp. 143-149)

Badging and employability at The Open University (2015-12-01)
Law, Patrina; Perryman, Leigh-Anne and Law, Andrew
European Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, Best of EDEN 2013-2014, Article 704

Recognising Informal Elearning with Digital Badging: Evidence for a Sustainable Business Model (2015-11-26)
Law, Patrina
Open Praxis, 7(4) (pp. 299-310)

Internal Responses to Informal Learning Data: Testing a Rapid Commissioning Approach (2015)
Law, Patrina and Perryman, Leigh-Anne
European Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning (pp. 76-84)

Digital badging at The Open University: recognition for informal learning (2015)
Law, Patrina
Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 30(3) (pp. 221-234)

Learning the lessons of openness (2012)
McAndrew, Patrick; Farrow, Robert; Law, Patrina and Elliott-Cirigottis, Gary
Journal of Interactive Media in Education

Using an Open Educational Resources Platform to Support Underserved Groups (2020-08-19)
Law, Patrina; Page, Anna and Storrar, Rosie
In: Sengupta, E.; Blessinger, P. and Makhanya, M. eds. Integrating Community Service into Curriculum: International Perspectives on Humanizing Education. IHETL (pp. 51-72)
Publisher : Emerald Publishing Limited

The Identified Informal Learner: Recognizing Assessed Learning in the Open (2016-12)
Law, Patrina
In: Bliss, TJ and Blessinger, Patrick eds. Open Education: International Perspectives in Higher Education (pp. 137-158)
Publisher : Open Book Publishers

Mapping the Key Motivations of Openlearn Learners in the Pandemic (2023)
Law, Patrina
In : 17th International Technology, Education and Development Conference (6-8 Mar 2023, Valencia, Spain) (pp. 1298-1306)

Smart Cities MOOC: Teaching citizens how to co-create smart cities (2016-08-03)
Hudson, Lorraine; Kortuem, Gerd; Wolff, Annika and Law, Patrina
In : 4th International Conference on ICT for Sustainability (ICT4S) (29 Aug - 1 Sep 2016, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Internal responses to informal learning data: testing a rapid commissioning approach (2014-10-28)
Law, Patrina and Perryman, Leigh-Anne
In : 8th EDEN Research Workshop: Challenges for Research into Open & Distance Learning: Doing Things Better-Doing Better Things (27-28 Oct 2014, Oxford, UK)

Digital badging at The Open University: recognition for informal learning (2014-10-23)
Law, Patrina and Law, Andrew
In : The Open and Flexible Higher Education Conference 2014: 'New Technologies and the Future of Teaching and Learning ' (23-24 Oct 2014, Krakow, Poland)

Developing sustainable business models for institutions’ provision of open educational resources: Learning from OpenLearn users’ motivations and experiences (2013-10)
Perryman, Leigh-Anne; Law, Patrina and Law, Andrew
In : Open and Flexible Higher Education Conference 2013 (23-25 Oct 2013, Paris, France) (pp. 270-286)

Open educational resources for all? Comparing user motivations and characteristics across The Open University’s iTunes U channel and OpenLearn platform. (2013-10)
Law, Patrina; Perryman, Leigh-Anne and Law, Andrew
In : Open and Flexible Higher Education Conference 2013 (23-25 Oct 2013, Paris, France) (pp. 204-219)

Learning the Lessons of Openness (2012-04)
McAndrew, Patrick; Farrow, Robert; Law, Patrina and Elliott-Cirigottis, Gary
In : Cambridge 2012: Innovation and Impact – Openly Collaborating to Enhance Education, a joint meeting of OER12 and OpenCourseWare Consortium Global 2012 (16-18 Apr 2012, Cambridge, UK)

A bridge to success (2012-04)
Law, Patrina; McAndrew, Patrick; Law, Andrew; Warner, Kathy; Runyon, Jean; Lascu, David; Arundel, Anne and Muramatsu, Brandon
In : Cambridge 2012: Innovation and Impact – Openly Collaborating to Enhance Education, a joint meeting of OER12 and OpenCourseWare Consortium Global 2012 (16-18 Apr 2012, Cambridge, UK)

Refining Open Educational Resources For Both Learner And Institution (2019-02-20)
Law, Patrina
PhD thesis The Open University

Consultation for the 2023 GEM Report on Technology and Education (2023-06)
Charitonos, Koula; Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes; Huxley, Sarah; Hedges, Claire; Law, Patrina; Power, Tom; Akyeampong, Kwame; Mwoma, Teresa; Al-Awidi, Hamid and Whitelock, Denise
The Open University

Optimising the Potential of Third Space Professionals in UK HigherEducation (2010-03)
Whitchurch, Celia and Law, Patrina
LFHE, London.