Exploring the Open University

The introduction to my latest OU unit has included some time spent investigating some interesting resources, here’s a summary:

Name one type of software developed by the Open University’s Knowledge Media Institute and explain briefly how it is used.

“The Knowledge Media Institute is a research and development centre at the leading edge of web, semantic, learning and new media technologies.”

OU Website

My original intention was to write about Flashmeeting, but whilst browsing the list of projects on the Knowledge Media Institute site, my eye was caught by something that sounded intriguing: a project called Bletchley Park Text.

The project creates an easy way to link physical exhibits at the Bletchley Park museum with online content. Visitors to the site see signs, like the one pictured below. They send the keyword(s) from the signs via SMS text message in order to create a personalised selection of web resources that can be browsed later.

I really like this idea – I’ve been looking at linking online content to classroom displays, but using shortened URLs and QR codes, so I’m interested in seeing how the Bletchley Park system works for users.

In fact, this has given me the push I needed to finally visit Bletchley Park. We’ll be taking the opportunity provided by the half term holiday to head to the museum, so I’ll be trying Bletchley Park Text for myself.

Photo credit: Bletchley Park – Hut 6 – sign by Elliott Brown on Flickr. Used under Creative Commons licence

Useful links:

• The Knowledge Media Institute
• Projects at the Knowledge Media Institute
• Bletchley Park Text – project outline
• Bletchley Park Text – homepage
• Bletchley Park Text – sample personalised website
• Bletchley Park

Find the Open University’s OpenLearn website. Who might use OpenLearn’s LearningSpace and LabSpace?

The Open University’s OpenLearn website is an amazing resource. It is a collection of online courses covering a huge range of subjects at a variety of levels. Users can learn a language, improve basic maths skills, study psychology or learn about the biology of influenza.

The resources are made available free of charge under a Creative Commons licence and can be used by anyone who wants to study, provided they don’t need to obtain a qualification. The resources could also be used by prospective OU students who want to try out some materials or see what is involved in studying a particular area.

The OU has made a short video summarising what’s on offer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_2ZQG8zSOQ

For education professionals or adventurous learners, the LabSpace offers opportunities to collaborate via an online forum. Users of the LabSpace can develop, edit and share resources. 

I’ve browsed the resources on the OpenLearn site in the past, although I’ve never worked through a complete unit. I’ve been impressed by the quality of materials and the ease of use.

Useful links:

• The Open University’s OpenLearn website
• Open University LabSpace

(This post originally appeared on the H807 course wiki at the Open University)