When Candice Whitaker left school at 16, she thought she would never study again. Now she is entering the final stage of a psychology degree and hopes to become a counselling psychologist.
With three children under three and a busy husband, Whitaker realised conventional university wouldn't work, so she turned to The Open University (OU). She began her degree in psychology in 2011 and starts her final module this October.
She's a fan of a new OU app that allows her to download and access all course materials offline. "It's really helpful when we go away in our campervan – we're full to the brim without all the books," she says.
"The three-year degree at a face-to-face university is becoming an impossible dream for many," says Niall Sclater, director, learning and teaching at the OU.
Degrees at the OU often cost less than at their bricks-and-mortar counterparts.
The OU is increasingly popular with school leavers and young professionals; the average student is 30 and utterly at home online. "For many, sitting in a lecture theatre being spoken at by an expert and taking notes is an alien experience," he says.
Technology plays a role in the OU's online learning revolution, but equally important are the traditional university values of meticulously prepared resources and solid support from tutors and academics.
Of course, face-to-face meetings haven't gone away, says Sclater; they've just become more convenient. "We might schedule a whole day for students to attend, rather than a seminar here or there."
The OU is busy creating study methods that build upon students' workplace skills and introducing these across all courses.
"The ability to interact with colleagues online is exactly what employers are looking for," says Sclater. "Students also develop skills such as retrieving and synthesising information from many sources." Sophisticated software enables the OU to keep tabs on students' engagement with the course and will flag up if an individual is struggling. "Often what's required is just a little human input – a tutor picking up the phone at the right time might be what gets you through the course."
Rather than dumping written resources into an online setting, the OU has rewritten degree courses from scratch to suit an interactive environment, says Sclater. "That's how to make the most of technology and create a much more fulfilling, successful experience."
'OU anywhere' app makes distance learning simple
An increasing number of students use mobile devices as their main means of accessing the internet – writing on a laptop, but using a tablet or smartphone to take part in group discussions, browse course material and learn on the move.
The OU's new app, OU Anywhere, has been a phenomenal success, with some 43,200 downloads since its launch last year. It allows students to download digital material and access it offline, meaning they can study anywhere without needing to be connected.
"The fact that I can access everything on my smartphone (including media clips) means I don't waste any of those 15-minute gaps I find during the day," says OU student Candice Whitaker.
