Profile summary
- Academic Related Staff
- Head of Open Learn
- Learner and Discovery Services
- Open Media and Informal Learning
- patrina.law
Professional biography
I am Head of OpenLearn at the Open University. My responsibilities include:
- Commissioning of all open content for the OU’s OpenLearn platform.
- Strategy and programme management of digital badging at the OU.
- Syndication and adaptation of free content to third party platforms such as iTunes, Google Play, Amazon and YouTube.
- Development of strategies that link data analysis around non-formal learners to our commissioning process.
- Evaluating and researching non-formal learning for impact.
- In collaboration with other OU units, taking our open courses and entry-level content to external partners to improve outreach.
I have been employed by The Open University since 2001 and have worked in Learning and Teaching Solutions and the Institute of Educational Technology. These roles have been wide-ranging but have had an emphasis on coordinating projects and research with a particular emphasis on Open Educational Resources (OER) and educational technology. I managed the Gates Foundation 'Bridge to Success' project (b2s.aacc.edu) and was Programme Manager for the Hewlett-funded OER Research Hub.
My research interests are around understanding informal learners and in developing a framework for good practice in informal learning and are linked on Open Research Online.
Research interests
My research papers are available on ORO and via the Publications tab on this profile. They are around understanding who our informal learners are, what they do with our open content and why, including more recently, the phenomenon of micro-credentialising and digital badges.
Impact and engagement
I have won two Learning and Teaching Awards at the OU: one for the implementation of the Learn About Fair (an annual event which aims to provide an informal opportunity to find out about the latest developments of using technology in education), and one for leading the eDesktop Programme -- the first project to provide a VLE for the University's student modules.
I have also won the following external awards for research and other projects:
- 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.
- International Council for Open and Distance Education Prize for Innovation and Best Practice 2015.
- Finalist for the Times Higher Education Award for Widening Participation Initiative for the Year (2015) for Badged Open Courses.
- Winner 2016 Open Education Consortium: Creative Innovation Award - Badged Open Courses.
- Finalist 2017 Learning Technologies Awards, Excellence in the Design of Learning Content.
Publications
Journal articles
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
Book chapters
Law, Patrina
In: Bliss, TJ and Blessinger, Patrick eds. Open Education: International Perspectives in Higher Education (pp. 137-158)
Publisher : Open Book Publishers
Conference items
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)
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)
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)
Thesis
Law, Patrina
PhD thesis The Open University
Other
Whitchurch, Celia and Law, Patrina
LFHE, London.
