Contributed by Laura Dewis
OpenLearn-The Open University’s open content website, was formally launched in London on 25 October 2006. Keynote speakers included Bill Rammell, MP, Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education, Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law at Stanford University, Marshall Smith of The Hewlett Foundation, and the Vice-Chancellor of The Open University, Brenda Gourley.
Looking to the future, Marshall Smith said, “The legacy of this wonderful gift from the OU to the world will not only be extraordinary original content, but will also be the many future generations of derivative content developed, tested and re-tested by untold numbers of students, teachers and others around the world.”
Bill Rammell congratulated The Open University and described the project as a “superb initiative that not only helps take the OU forward but meets some of the development needs of some of the poorest people in some of the poorest parts of the world."
Guests included The Open University’s strategic partners, politicians, bloggers, open content experts, co-publishers, academics involved with open source and open content, and those connected with e-government and the widening of political participation, as well as Open University Council members, honorary graduates, key contacts, and friends. Following speeches there was the opportunity to discuss potential partnerships and publicity opportunities, while members of the OpenLearn team demonstrated the website.
OpenLearn is the Open University’s repository for making a selection of its learning materials available openly on the internet to learners and educators around the world.
In the LearningSpace part of the repository a user can sample OU-UK materials. The materials are designed to be studied flexibly, away from any formal teaching environment, by people who have many demands on their time, and who have a range of needs and experience.
The LabSpace section of OpenLearn is a community-led environment that provides users with the opportunity to take OU-UK materials and modify them for their use. LapSpace users can then share their modifications with others. This is an important and powerful example of the concept of sharing and reusing educational resources. It is intended for educational and other professional practitioners and more adventurous learners.
Listen to the speeches at: http://stadium.open.ac.uk/webcast-ou/