For centuries, new technologies have pushed school systems to evolve at an increasingly rapid pace around the world. Thomas Edison, a pioneer of motion picture technology, once said:
It is possible to teach every branch of human knowledge with the motion picture. Our school system will be completely changed in ten years.
Thomas Edison, 1913
I'm with Edison on that last part: technological change is inevitable. Many educational and private sector groups have adopted new technology to deliver fully online courses, flipped classrooms, blended learning and many more fantastic learning experiences.
As inevitable as it is, change can still be intimidating.
If you’re an educator who's just starting out on OpenLearning, perhaps you’ve already invested years of learning and practice in your current LMS—only to find out that you have to use something new. Or, perhaps you’ve never used one till today.
My advice? Don't panic! You're in good company. In this blog post, we'll take a reassuring look at what OpenLearning is all about and why it has become the platform of choice for online course creators in many parts of the world. To begin with:
OpenLearning is an online learning solution that gives you everything you need to run your course under one roof. The platform offers plenty of options and features that will enable you to:
You may be thinking, “Yeah, all LMSs do that. What makes OpenLearning any different?"
Well, LMSs are typically seen as delivering content in a lecture-notes-quiz format. While it's true that OpenLearning can be used for that too, OpenLearning also goes one step further to focus on student empowerment, connectedness and authentic learning experiences—all while making your life a little easier. What do I mean by that?
It's easy to create and deploy your existing content. It is as simple as using a drag-and-drop editor to arrange the different bits of content, using the appropriate widgets, without requiring you to know anything about coding. You have 100% freedom to use a variety of media types in your courses, including text, video, image, audio, and PDF files.
Log in using OpenLearning's friendly course creator and learner dashboard which is incredibly easy to use and constantly upgraded with the users’ experience at its core. You can manage your learners with announcement emails and progress-checking tools, then reuse the same content for multiple cohorts in just a few clicks.
Social learning fosters deep learning. You can provide social learning experiences by using the OpenLearning chat feature, interactive widgets, comments, likes, kudos, and gamification metrics such as badges. These features help you as an educator to support collaboration, encourage student sharing and facilitate student rapport. By doing this, you are empowering the students to be self-directed and take the initiative in their own learning experiences.
OpenLearning is a cloud-based platform. This means that you and your learners can access it from anywhere and at any time using a computer or mobile. There’s no need to install any software, upload any plugins, or tinker with HTML or CSS coding. You can simply focus on designing great learning experiences.
Each user has an OpenLearning Portfolio which automatically showcases evidence of the learning experiences they have had in each course. This does the essential work of recognising all forms of learning, adding an extra layer of motivation for learners to complete your course.
With a suite of powerful features, you now have a virtual space to manage your content and learning while providing a complete social learning experience for your learners. How cool is that?
Changing to a new online learning platform is not easy and sometimes it takes months to master the new tools and layout. You’re not alone in this, though. There are a few resources to help you in this transition. Every course creator on OpenLearning receives the following support:
A customer success team that is accessible via the in-platform chat, on the Help forum, and on the phone. They are concerned with providing technical support, documentation and solving issues as they arise.
Written guides and video walkthroughs, as well as useful templates, which you can use as inspiration to build and facilitate your online courses.
In addition to this, our premium users enjoy one-on-one support from a dedicated onboarding specialist. From training course creators to offering consultation, this onboarding specialist will be there to help you along the way. To find out more about this service, get in touch with us below:
That's the million ringgit question. In the end, it's all about our learners. They are our end goal.
In today's tech-driven society, learners have more freedom than ever to take charge of their own learning. Over 3 billion people around the world are accessing social technology through their mobile phones, according to the latest Digital 2019 report by Hootsuite and We Are Social. In this kind of always-on climate, keeping your learners engaged becomes a top priority.
With all of the tools on offer, you can be extra diligent about designing your courses so that your learners can pay full attention and have fun learning.
OpenLearning is a social online learning platform that can help you and your team to achieve your institution's goals. 
Topics: Course Design Tips
