The Dutch Open Universiteit is a university for distance learning at university level. This means that students do not take part in colleges but study at home.
Introduction
The Open Universiteit was founded in 1984. It welcomed its first students in September 1984. The Open Universiteit is an independent government-funded institute for distance learning at university level.
The administration is based at Heerlen, in the province of Limburg, in the very south of The Netherlands. Furthermore the Open Universiteit has 12 study centres and 3 support centres in the Netherlands, 6 study centres in Belgium (Flanders) and 1 study centre in the Netherlands Antilles.
19,013 students are enrolled (in 2003) at a Dutch study centre or support centre, including 710 students who live in other parts of the world, and 1,991 students are enrolled (in 2003) at a Belgian study centre. Since the Open Universiteit was founded over 250.000 students have studied its courses.
Aims
The Dutch government's purpose in founding the Open Universiteit Nederland was to make higher education accessible to anyone with the necessary aptitudes and interests, regardless of formal qualifications.
The Open Universiteit identifies four further aims:
- to create a cost-effective form of higher education,
- to encourage innovation in Dutch higher education, in terms of both curriculum and teaching methods,
- to reduce the teacher shortage in Dutch primary and secondary schools, and
- to be a recognized player in (commercial) distance and e-learning training programmes and consultancy.
Governance
Chairman of the Open Universiteit is Thijs Wöltgens , a former member of parliament.
Departments & faculties
The Open Universiteit is divided into four departments. The Educational department develops and provides educational materials and conducts educational programmes. It consists of six faculties, grouped according to their general focus:
- School of Management,
- School of Cultural Studies,
- School of Informatics,
- School of Natural Sciences,
- School of Psychology,
- School of Law.
Furthermore, the university has a School of Education and an Educational Technology Expertise Centre, which assists the faculties in developing courses and programmes and develops innovative teaching methods for distance education and higher education in general.
Each faculty - exept for the School of Education - is headed by a dean of studies, who supervises teams of subject specialists and educational technologists engaged in developing courses and programmes. This often takes place in co-operation with specialists from other educational institutes or from trade and industry.
The other two departments are the department of Business Services and the department of Support Services, which provides operational services, ranging from staff administration to the distribution of course materials.
Study programmes
The Open Universiteit offers three types of study programmes:
1) Bachelor and Master degree programmes. The Open Universiteit offers fully accredited Bachelor or Master degree programmes in Law, Economics, Business and Public administration, Engineering, Environmental science, Cultural studies and Psychology. The university converted its programmes to the Bachelor-Master structure in September 2002.
2) Short programmes. Students can also follow short programmes. These include short vocational training courses, postgraduate courses and short undergraduate programmes, which are developed in co-operation with universities of professional education, academic universities, professional bodies or commercial companies.
3) Courses. Besides these academic programmes, students can choose from over 300 modular courses. This modular course system implies that student can enrol either for full-length degree programmes or choose to study one of over 400 individual courses.
Students
People from all walks of life and all ages take advantage of the Open Universiteit. There are no entry requirements other than the ability to study at an appropriate level.
The Open Universiteit is especially popular with those who cannot physically attend a traditional university (because they are disabled, abroad, in prison, or serving in the armed forces), or who wish to study a first (or additional) degree while holding down a full time job, whether to progress their career or allow them to change their career. About 70% of the students remain in paid employment throughout their studies.
Teaching methods
The Open Universiteit uses a variety of methods for distance learning, including written materials, the internet, and occasional evening seminars or day sessions.
The Open Universiteit is a frontrunner in new learning technologies and educational insights. It offers all of its students an electronic learning environment through which they can easily communicate with each other and with their teachers. It enables them to download learning materials, and they can check their knowledge and skills with a short introductory opening test on Studienet.
Studienet is an early learning environment of the Open Universiteit and was one of the first operational learning environments in The Netherlands. At this time 98% of the students make use of Studienet, making it the country’s largest electronic learning environment.
Innovation
The Open Universiteit continuously works to improve and innovate its education and to support Dutch higher education in preparing for a new learning approach. Annually, the Open Universiteit invests nearly 7 million Euros on its innovation task. This so-called new learning approach features different types of learning experiences and flexibility in education methods. For this purpose, Open Universiteit Nederland applies EML and Edubox.
EML is an educational modelling language that is used to describe both the learning process and the learning content. It was introduced at the end of 2000 and now forms the basis for a new worldwide computer language. Edubox is the electronic learning environment in which EML is run.
EML and Edubox enable different forms of blended learning (multiple forms to provide education) and hybrid learning (multiple media). In this way educational institutes can serve and support their students according to their individual means and preferences. More information can be found on the Learning Networks website.
The extensive freedom and openness offered by its educational system sets heavy demands to the way education at the Open Universiteit is organised and on the materials used.
The six faculties and the Educational Technology Expertise Centre, which are responsible for the development and monitoring of courses, continuously work on the improvement of content, instructional methods and structure of the university's programmes. A well-balanced course design incorporates the use of linear and interactive electronic media where appropriate.
Course materials may include books and specially produced printed texts, audio and video materials, multimedia programmes and cd-roms, and communication through electronic networks: we offer a media mix where computers play a major role. All of these methods contribute to ongoing improvement and innovation.
External links
www.ou.nl
Last updated: 06-05-2005 17:55:51
