By Sir John Daniel The Open University The United States Open University open.ac.uk

16. The Learner’s Guide to the Open University. (www.open.ac.uk/learners-guide) The first live webcasts, offering real time advice and guidance to help students plan their future studies with the OU, have been staged by the NTSS Team in association with KMi. The experimental webcasts took place over two evenings and on a Sunday morning in early July. T171 students were given the opportunity to view real time presentations on course choice and ask questions about their course choice and career planning to a team of volunteer Senior Counsellors and Regional Advisers. Overall the webcasts went well – with our counsellors and advisers able to offer essential guidance to students. Feedback from both students and tutors was very positive, although several students had difficulty downloading the plugins. The webcast site and replay url are available for viewing at: http://kmi.open.ac.uk/projects/rtag/The Learner’s Guide to the Open University. (www.open.ac.uk/learners-guide) The first live webcasts, offering real time advice and guidance to help students plan their future studies with the OU, have been staged by the NTSS Team in association with KMi. The experimental webcasts took place over two evenings and on a Sunday morning in early July. T171 students were given the opportunity to view real time presentations on course choice and ask questions about their course choice and career planning to a team of volunteer Senior Counsellors and Regional Advisers. Overall the webcasts went well – with our counsellors and advisers able to offer essential guidance to students. Feedback from both students and tutors was very positive, although several students had difficulty downloading the plugins. The webcast site and replay url are available for viewing at: http://kmi.open.ac.uk/projects/rtag/

18. The principal aim of ROUTES is to provide OU students with a limited number of quality Internet resources associated with their particular course. This is achieved by subject librarians and academic staff working together to select resources. The selection criteria are as strict as those used by other national Internet gateways, such as OMNI (Organising Medical Networked Information) or SOSIG (Social Sciences Information Gateway), but have the added requirement of being directly relevant to Open University courses. For students on K302 the ROUTES resources are an additional source of information for their assessments. Through the course they are asked to critically evaluate articles and research in a particular topic area they choose relevant to their work. A number of the resources available on ROUTES will assist them in doing this evaluation. As well as supplementing course materials the use of ROUTES is encouraging the students on health courses to explore new technologies, to seek information, and evaluate what they find. The database does restrict initial searches to those selected by the academics and Library staff to ensure quality, but once in a site the student can explore further. 1600 resources, supporting 66 OU courses http://routes.open.ac.uk One course currently in production for presentation in the year 2002 is already expecting to include a week of study dedicated to familiarising their students with use of the Internet, and this will be done using resources held on ROUTES. OU students have the same kind of experience as campus-based. We can now use the Library to develop student and staff information skills.The principal aim of ROUTES is to provide OU students with a limited number of quality Internet resources associated with their particular course. This is achieved by subject librarians and academic staff working together to select resources. The selection criteria are as strict as those used by other national Internet gateways, such as OMNI (Organising Medical Networked Information) or SOSIG (Social Sciences Information Gateway), but have the added requirement of being directly relevant to Open University courses. For students on K302 the ROUTES resources are an additional source of information for their assessments. Through the course they are asked to critically evaluate articles and research in a particular topic area they choose relevant to their work. A number of the resources available on ROUTES will assist them in doing this evaluation. As well as supplementing course materials the use of ROUTES is encouraging the students on health courses to explore new technologies, to seek information, and evaluate what they find. The database does restrict initial searches to those selected by the academics and Library staff to ensure quality, but once in a site the student can explore further. 1600 resources, supporting 66 OU courses http://routes.open.ac.uk One course currently in production for presentation in the year 2002 is already expecting to include a week of study dedicated to familiarising their students with use of the Internet, and this will be done using resources held on ROUTES. OU students have the same kind of experience as campus-based. We can now use the Library to develop student and staff information skills.

29. The mixture of intense collaboration tailing off into traditional, more individual study has worked astonishingly well. The students, many of whom became total converts to the value of collaborative learning in the early stages of the course, were definitely flagging by about 4 months into the course...The problems are: That the structure and timetable imposed by collaborative learning makes the course very much less flexible than traditional distance education. That the schedules of busy professional people who are attracted to this programme mean that holidays, family crises, sudden job commitments are a major hinderance to regular, sustained participation in group activities. That students experience more guilt and stress about failing their colleagues in collaborative work that their tutors in individual work. This material has been collated on the following website, bringing together reports on experience from a range of courses. Good practice to date, in both the IET MA and T171, has focused on encouraging and supporting those students who wish to use the medium creatively and extensively, but also on extending activity timescales and creating alternatives to online participation, so as to cater for those students who wish to comply only with the basic requirements for completing the course. http://iet.open.ac.uk/pp/r.goodfellow/lessons/intro.htmThe mixture of intense collaboration tailing off into traditional, more individual study has worked astonishingly well. The students, many of whom became total converts to the value of collaborative learning in the early stages of the course, were definitely flagging by about 4 months into the course...The problems are: That the structure and timetable imposed by collaborative learning makes the course very much less flexible than traditional distance education. That the schedules of busy professional people who are attracted to this programme mean that holidays, family crises, sudden job commitments are a major hinderance to regular, sustained participation in group activities. That students experience more guilt and stress about failing their colleagues in collaborative work that their tutors in individual work. This material has been collated on the following website, bringing together reports on experience from a range of courses. Good practice to date, in both the IET MA and T171, has focused on encouraging and supporting those students who wish to use the medium creatively and extensively, but also on extending activity timescales and creating alternatives to online participation, so as to cater for those students who wish to comply only with the basic requirements for completing the course. http://iet.open.ac.uk/pp/r.goodfellow/lessons/intro.htm

32. Josie Taylor and Canan Tosunoglu, M206 Evaluation Report 1998, PLUM Paper No 122, IETJosie Taylor and Canan Tosunoglu, M206 Evaluation Report 1998, PLUM Paper No 122, IET

33. Josie Taylor and Canan Tosunoglu, M206 Evaluation Report 1998, PLUM Paper No 122, IETJosie Taylor and Canan Tosunoglu, M206 Evaluation Report 1998, PLUM Paper No 122, IET

35. Shield, Lesley and Hewer, Sue. (1999) ‘A synchronous learning environment to support distance language learners’., in K Cameron (ed) CALL and the Learning Community, Proceedings of Exter CALL 99, Exeter, Elm Bank Publications, pp 379-391.Shield, Lesley and Hewer, Sue. (1999) ‘A synchronous learning environment to support distance language learners’., in K Cameron (ed) CALL and the Learning Community, Proceedings of Exter CALL 99, Exeter, Elm Bank Publications, pp 379-391.

38. 50% used quizzes to check their understanding, 36% a lot. 100% agreed quizzes helped their understanding. 50% used the video clips a lot. 83% thought the role of audio clips was helpful. 93% said there were advantages to learning this topic through this type of medium rather than text or video. Audio clips meant you were still looking at the screen and learning, rather than having to stop and read something. Being an interactive CD you are forced to make decisions. I found this very helpful in making me think carefully about what was happening. It also left an image in my memory which will help me to remember the particular activity. Whitelock, Denise (1998), S103 Students’ response to the Block 2 multimedia materials, PLUM Paper No 109, IET.50% used quizzes to check their understanding, 36% a lot. 100% agreed quizzes helped their understanding. 50% used the video clips a lot. 83% thought the role of audio clips was helpful. 93% said there were advantages to learning this topic through this type of medium rather than text or video. Audio clips meant you were still looking at the screen and learning, rather than having to stop and read something. Being an interactive CD you are forced to make decisions. I found this very helpful in making me think carefully about what was happening. It also left an image in my memory which will help me to remember the particular activity. Whitelock, Denise (1998), S103 Students’ response to the Block 2 multimedia materials, PLUM Paper No 109, IET.

40. Adrian Kirkwood, The SD206 Human Brain CD-ROM Survey 1998, PLUM Paper No 113, IET.Adrian Kirkwood, The SD206 Human Brain CD-ROM Survey 1998, PLUM Paper No 113, IET.

44. Ellie Chambers and Jan Rae, ‘Evaluation of the Homer CD-ROM’, IET, Jan 1999Ellie Chambers and Jan Rae, ‘Evaluation of the Homer CD-ROM’, IET, Jan 1999

46. http://www.open2.net/science/roughscience/http://www.open2.net/science/roughscience/

48. www.open.ac.uk www.open2.net oubs.open.ac.uk open.ac.uk/science/ www.open2.net/openscience Since the students were given access to their CIRCE records on Web last Summer over 75,000 individuals have looked at their record at least once, and there have been over 50,000 changes made to personal details. (http://mi.open.ac.uk/palaces/p14stats.htm) Following a low-key launch of CIRCE record access for ALs in July this year, over 500 ALs have looked at their students' records at least once. Feedback is very positive, and they clearly want a much richer service to be developed. (http://mi.open.ac.uk/palaces/p14bstats.htm) Since March this year the Courses and Qualifications site has taken 47,000 couse reservations. (http://mi.open.ac.uk/palaces/p12stats.htm) We have now collected 46,000 validated email addresses for students, with 10,000 students asking for administrative email communication. (http://mi.open.ac.uk/palaces/mailpref.htm) 11,600 residential school bookings have been taken on the web since the service was introduced in 1999. (http://mi.open.ac.uk/palaces/p7bstats.htm) We are receiving 4,500-5000 brochure requests a week from various promotional websites. (http://pcms100/stats/p11.htm) www.open.ac.uk www.open2.net oubs.open.ac.uk open.ac.uk/science/ www.open2.net/openscience Since the students were given access to their CIRCE records on Web last Summer over 75,000 individuals have looked at their record at least once, and there have been over 50,000 changes made to personal details. (http://mi.open.ac.uk/palaces/p14stats.htm) Following a low-key launch of CIRCE record access for ALs in July this year, over 500 ALs have looked at their students' records at least once. Feedback is very positive, and they clearly want a much richer service to be developed. (http://mi.open.ac.uk/palaces/p14bstats.htm) Since March this year the Courses and Qualifications site has taken 47,000 couse reservations. (http://mi.open.ac.uk/palaces/p12stats.htm) We have now collected 46,000 validated email addresses for students, with 10,000 students asking for administrative email communication. (http://mi.open.ac.uk/palaces/mailpref.htm) 11,600 residential school bookings have been taken on the web since the service was introduced in 1999. (http://mi.open.ac.uk/palaces/p7bstats.htm) We are receiving 4,500-5000 brochure requests a week from various promotional websites. (http://pcms100/stats/p11.htm)

50. PC Loan Scheme 96 97 98 99 00 Level 1(PCs) 1943 1645 1950 1320 2300 FAF students 476 710 1090 1100 2000 Total cost 1,016k 921k 782k 679k 646k Total cost 96-00: £4,044kPC Loan Scheme 96 97 98 99 00 Level 1(PCs) 1943 1645 1950 1320 2300 FAF students 476 710 1090 1100 2000 Total cost 1,016k 921k 782k 679k 646k Total cost 96-00: £4,044k

58. Withdrawal Survey 2000 - April Interim results The April interim results are now available including a brief report drawing out the main findings and tables of results by Region (including UK/NonUK for R09 and R12), by Faculty and by FAF/Non-FAF students. http://ietstats.open.ac.uk/ietstats/surveys/withdraw00/withdraw00.htm Withdrawal Survey 2000 - April Interim results The April interim results are now available including a brief report drawing out the main findings and tables of results by Region (including UK/NonUK for R09 and R12), by Faculty and by FAF/Non-FAF students. http://ietstats.open.ac.uk/ietstats/surveys/withdraw00/withdraw00.htm

59. See LTTO website (www2.open.ac.uk/ltto/) If 60% generic and customisable resources are used: Academic staff time can increase by 20% Production staff time can increase by 60% Either way ~ Presentation staff time can increase by 20% Hence: need for productive methods of development and presentation See LTTO website (www2.open.ac.uk/ltto/) If 60% generic and customisable resources are used: Academic staff time can increase by 20% Production staff time can increase by 60% Either way ~ Presentation staff time can increase by 20% Hence: need for productive methods of development and presentation

61. Electronic TMAs 1999: 1.5% of TMAs processed electronically 2000: 9% (60k to date); due to increase further 2001 Processed @ 400 per hour at peak System availability Jan - June 2000 Average 98% JANET network principal cause of disruption Pro-active approach to monitoring to minimise downtime. Commercial s/w always creates more problems than in-house s/w E-TMAs Marking Tool: Problems have included bugs, non-standard desktop configurations, usability issues and user antipathy to onscreen marking; A lot of effort has gone into helping those with problems; Rigorous testing and de-bugging underway in LTS for November version planned to improve performance; Recent evaluation of current version of software: Indicates that majority of users find the current software easy to use and reliable; Small but significant minority (less than 15%) experiencing considerable difficulties; Electronic TMAs 1999: 1.5% of TMAs processed electronically 2000: 9% (60k to date); due to increase further 2001 Processed @ 400 per hour at peak System availability Jan - June 2000 Average 98% JANET network principal cause of disruption Pro-active approach to monitoring to minimise downtime. Commercial s/w always creates more problems than in-house s/w E-TMAs Marking Tool: Problems have included bugs, non-standard desktop configurations, usability issues and user antipathy to onscreen marking; A lot of effort has gone into helping those with problems; Rigorous testing and de-bugging underway in LTS for November version planned to improve performance; Recent evaluation of current version of software: Indicates that majority of users find the current software easy to use and reliable; Small but significant minority (less than 15%) experiencing considerable difficulties;

62. The Trunk is one instantiation of a generic shell called The Elicitation Engine. The Elicitation Engine is being used as a core application on a TLTP3 project called 'SoURCE: Software Use, Re-use and Customisation in Education' (on the internet you can find more information. It is currently being used in areas such as Architecture, Education and Ocean Sciences.  The Trunk is one instantiation of a generic shell called The Elicitation Engine. The Elicitation Engine is being used as a core application on a TLTP3 project called 'SoURCE: Software Use, Re-use and Customisation in Education' (on the internet you can find more information. It is currently being used in areas such as Architecture, Education and Ocean Sciences.