No. 8 wire innovation at OERu: Scaling student support in open online learning without breaking the bank
Mackintosh, W.
Effective learning design is the art of implementing creative solutions within constraints.
The OER universitas (OERu), headquartered at Otago Polytechnic, is an international network of socially motivated institutions that assembles online courses using open educational resources (OER) for learners who, through lack of funding or availability, would not ordinarily be able to participate in higher education. OERu learners study for free and OERu partners provide assessment services and affordable opportunities for learners to gain academic credit towards recognised qualifications.
As a small charitable organisation, the OERu does not have the financial resources to provide lecturer-student support. Drawing on inspiration from Ernest Rutherford, the New Zealand born Nobel Laureate: ‘We haven’t the money, so we’ve got to think’, the OERu has implemented open source marketing automation software to scale email communications for course instructions to improve the learner experience.
Informed by the Interaction Equivalency Theorem (Anderson 2003), the OERu has implemented designs that are effective, affordable, and scalable. This snapshot presentation will demonstrate the design approaches and technologies used for managing cohort and independent study alternatives to maximise the opportunities for OERu learners.
Speaker profile
Dr Wayne Mackintosh is the Managing Director of the OER Foundation which coordinates the implementation of the OERu. He is also New Zealand’s UNESCO and International Council for Open and Distance Education Chair in Open Educational Resources.
