Welcome presentation for IET

1. Welcome to the
Institute of Educational
Technology
www.open.ac.uk/iet

2. The Open University
• Largest University in the UK
• 260,000 students
• 7,000 tutors
• 1,200 academic staff
• Modern distance learning
Milton Keynes

3. 25% of undergraduates aged under 25

4. Open Education
• “The Open University's mission is to be open to
people, places, methods and ideas”
• 44% of undergraduates start without
qualifications needed for a conventional
university
• 12,000 students with disabilities
• 20,000 students outside the UK
• Free access to some learning materials online
• 20 million downloads from iTunesU

7. Institute of Educational Technology
IET ensures that the Open
University is a world leader in
research in educational
technology.
• Open approaches to research
• Collaboration with world class
researchers internationally
• Linking research and practice

8. IET innovation
• First fully online Open University course, in
1998
• Masters (MA) in Online and Distance
Education
• Postgraduate Certificate in Academic
Practice
• Pioneer development of learning objects
• Journal of Interactive Media in Education
(JIME)
– Open access journal, launched in 1996

9. IET research
• Open Educational Resources
– Olnet, Bridge to Success
• iSpot
• Out There In Here
• Personal Inquiry
• xDelia
• Mobile learning
– MOTILL
– MASELTOV
• Wolfson virtual science lab
• Accessibility
• Learning analytics
• Learning design

10. Olnet: Open Learning Network
• Global research hub for open
educational resources
– Participatory learning
– Design of OER
– OER effectiveness
– OER reuse
• Supported by William and Flora
Hewlett Foundation
• Partnership with Carnegie Mellon

11. iSpot
• Open citizen science
• Wildlife observation
• 16,000 registered
users
• 85,000 observations
• Re-discovered
„extinct‟ species
• Identified invasive
species

14. Out There In Here
• Research project
funded by EPSRC
• Live collaboration
between students on
field trip and in
technology-enhanced
room
• Ubi-learning: sharing
and commenting on field
data at a distance

15. Personal Inquiry
• Three year project
• Open University / University
of Nottingham
• Aim:
– To help children become
scientists, by developing
their skills of effective
science investigation

16. xDelia
• 3 year European Union
Project
• Bio-sensors and
serious games to
explore effects of
emotional bias in
financial decision
making

17. Mobile learning
Access Relevance
Community Context
Embedding Continuity
Learning
Design Personalisation

18. MOTILL
Key aim
MoULe To facilitate outdoor learning and
• Funded by European
collaboration
FÓN To support language learning for life
Commission Federica To open up access to advanced
knowledge
• Analysis of mobile LOGOS To enable flexible access to courseware
and objects from repositories
technologies for lifelong BathSMS
WoLF
To support students entering university
To link college and work-based
learning Bletchley
learning
To personalize learning and link
• Collecting evidence from
Park museum visit with school or
Text home
research and practice Contsens To enable context-sensitive and
location-based learning
Ensemble To support integration and active
• Working with policy citizenship by using everyday
tools
makers to raise awareness MobileDNA To support extracurricular or outreach
activity and collaboration
• 11 best practice case Mobile Mood
Diary
To support self-monitoring for long
term health care
studies

19. MASELTOV
• Mobile Assistance for Social Inclusion
and Empowerment of Immigrants with
Persuasive Learning Technologies and
Social Network Services
• Funded by European Commission

20. Wolfson OpenScience Lab
• £1 million grant from
Wolfson Foundation
• Online science lab
• Remote access to
facilities and data

21. IET support to the University
• Access for disabled students
– Expertise
– Training
– Evaluation of new technology
• Monitoring and evaluation of student
learning experience
– Database of student profiles and progress
– Surveys of student views on quality
– Employability
– Learner analytics

22. Collecting/measuring Data tools
Student Retention Data tables
Student Feedback Open comments
Key Performance Indicators
Actions to improve Executive dashboard
Sharing good practice Focus Areas
Programmes
Module reviews
External audits/accreditation