Open University in the Netherlands
| Open University of the Netherlands | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Established | 1984 |
| Type | University for distance learning |
| Academic staff | 700 |
| Students | 19,064 |
| Location | Heerlen, Netherlands |
| Website | www.ou.nl |
The Open Universiteit Nederland is a Dutchuniversity or institution for distance learning for higher education at university level (both professional and scientific). This means that students do not attend classes but study at home. The Open Universiteit uses a variety of methods for distance learning, including written materials, the internet, and occasional evening seminars or day sessions.
History
The Open Universiteit Nederland was founded in 1984, welcoming its first students in September 1984. It is an independent government-funded institute. The administration is based in Heerlen, in the province of Limburg, in the very south of the Netherlands. Dispersed over the Netherlands, the Open Universiteit has 12 study centres and 3 support centres, as well as 6 study centres in Dutch-speaking Flanders (Belgium) and 1 study centre in the Netherlands Antilles.
29,104 students are enrolled (in 2007) at all study or support centres in the Netherlands, including students who live in other parts of the world; in 2003, 1,991 students were enrolled at a Flemish study centre. Since the Open Universiteit had been founded, over 250,000 students have taken part in its courses.
Institution Info
The Open Universiteit in the Netherlands, which welcomed its first students in September 1984, is an independent government-funded institute for distance learning at university level. The Dutch government's purpose in founding the Dutch Open Universiteit was to make higher education accessible to anyone with the necessary aptitudes and interests, regardless of formal qualifications.
Mission
The Open Universiteit in the Netherlands develops, provides and promotes innovative higher distance education of top quality, in collaboration with networks and alliances. As the prime university for lifelong learning, it addresses the wide-ranging learning needs of people during their course of life, plus the need to achieve a considerable increase of the knowledge level of the community at large.We seek to be an institution that is strongly anchored in the Dutch higher education system through its educational, research and innovation activities, and that also operates successfully in the field of lifelong learning. We consider our institution to be a pioneer in open higher distance education and a leader in educational innovation, both in the Netherlands and internationally. In the market of lifelong learning, we wish to establish firm footing.With a scope of activities that links up well with the needs of the community, we can count on broad interest, as reflected in the significant enrolment number for its educational offerings. We also offer a professional and result-oriented work climate that activates the competencies of its staff toward joint realization of objectives.
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.
Organisation
Governance
Chairman of the Open Universiteit is Theo Bovens, a former wethouder (alderman) of Maastricht. Theo Bovens succeeded Thijs Wöltgens, who retired in 2005.
Departments & faculties
The Open Universiteit consists of seven faculties:
- School of Management,
- School of Cultural Studies,
- School of Informatics,
- School of Natural Sciences,
- School of Psychology,
- School of Law.
- School of Education
Each faculty is headed by a dean of studies, who supervises teams of subject specialists and educational technologists engaged in developing courses and programmes, often in co-operation with specialists from other universities or from trade and industry.
In addition to this, the university has two expertise centres: The Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies (CELSTEC), which develops innovative teaching methods for distance education and higher education in general, and The Ruud the Moor Centre, which seeks to support professionals in secondary education. CELSTEC consists of three Research and Development programmes covering the topics of Learning & Cognition, Learning Networks for Professional Development, and Learning Media.The School of Education staff are all CELSTEC staff members. CELSTEC's Research and Development work is also aimed to support the Schools of the Open Universiteit.
Furthermore, the Open Universiteit has two support staff departments. They are the department of Business Services and the department of Support Services. Together they provide operational services, ranging from student administration to the distribution of course materials.
School and Departments
The Open Universiteit in the Netherlands is organised into three departments, seven schools and a network of twelve regional study centres and three support centres in various parts of the country. It also has six study centres in Belgium (Flanders).
Schools
We have seven Schools, which develop and provide educational materials and conducts educational programmes:- School of Management
- School of Cultural Sciences
- School of Computer Science
- School of Science
- School of Psychology
- School of Law
- Education & Training Institute.
Each school 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.
Departments
- Expertise- and trainingcentres:
- Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies (CELSTEC)
- Scientific Centre for Teacher Research (LOOK)
- NEtherlands Laboratory for Lifelong Learning (NELLL)
- Lex, The Learning Experience (LEX) (information in Dutch only)
- Department of Educational Support Services
This department provides operational services, ranging from staff administration to the distribution of course materials. - University Office.
Boards and councils
Furthermore, the Open Universiteit has several boards and councils.Study centers
- Alkmaar
- Amsterdam
- Breda
- The Hague
- Eindhoven (at the Eindhoven University of Technology)
- Emmen, support centre
- Enschede
- Groningen
- Heerlen, also main office
- Leeuwarden, support centre
- Nijmegen (at the Radboud University Nijmegen)
- Rotterdam
- Utrecht
- Vlissingen, support centre
- Zwolle
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, Psychology and Education. 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.
Most course-material is in Dutch, but more and more material is becoming available in English. Examinations are in general in Dutch and have to be taken at one of the locations of the Open Universiteit, that is, either at a study centres or at a support centres in the Netherlands, Flanders or the Netherlands Antilles. For individuals there are possibilities to have (under strict supervision conditions) an exam taken at an alternative location, such as at Dutch embassies, in prisons or on a ship.
Programme Committee
Conference chair
- Prof. dr. Gerrit van der Veer, Open University in the Netherlands, School of Computer Science
- Prof. dr. Peter Sloep, Open University in the Netherlands, The Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies (CELSTEC)
- Prof. dr. Marko van Eekelen, Open University in the Neterhlands, School of Computer Science
Programme committee
- Erik Barendsen, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Jos Beishuizen, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Mordechai Ben Ari, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
- Anders Berglund, Uppsala University, Sweden
- Adriana Berlanga, Open University, the Netherlands
- Paul de Bra, Technical University Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- Patrick Brézillon, Université Paris, France
- Licia Calvi, University of Leuven, Belgium
- Michael Caspersen, Aarhus University, Denmark
- Martyn Clark, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
- Nell Dale, University of Texas, United States of America
- Mats Daniels, Uppsala University, Sweden
- Hendrik Drachsler, Open University, the Netherlands
- Jon Dron, Athabasca University, Canada
- Sally Fincher, University of Kent, United Kingdom
- Ralf Klamma, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
- Andrew Luxton-Reilly, The University of Auckland, New Zealand
- Arnold Pears, Uppsala University, Sweden
- Simos Retalis, University of Piraeus, Greece
- Guido Rößling, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany
- Ingrid Russell, Hartford University, United States of America
- Henry Walker, Grinell College, USA
- Mary Webb, Kings College London, United Kingdom
- Bert Zwaneveld, Open University, the Netherlands
Expertise centres
Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies
To fulfill its mission of encouraging innovation in higher education the Open Universiteit in the Netherlands channelled its expertise through the Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies (CELSTEC).
NEtherlands Laboratory for Lifelong Learning
The NEtherlands Laboratory for Lifelong Learning (NeLLL) is the research institute of the Open Universiteit in the Netherlands specializing in research on lifelong learning.
LOOK
LOOK (Scientific Centre for Teacher Research) is focussed on ‘informal learning at the teachers' workplace'. Knowledge on effective and scientifically proven methods and tools developed, is contributed by four research programmes: teacher motivation, social learning and school organisation and leadership. The centre works in close collaboration (so called co-creation) with teachers and schools on projects with an aim to stimulate the professional development of teachers. The centre also works closely together with different institutes in education and other departments within the Open Universiteit.
Courses in English and international programmes
The Open Universiteit in the Netherlands (OU) offers a number of courses in English and provides several international programmes in co-operation with other educational organisations.Courses in English
The Open Universiteit in the Netherlands offers a number of courses in English. However, this only means that the course materials are in English. Registration, tutoring and/or examinations are in Dutch. These courses are intended for students who are enrolled in a regular programme and therefore read and write Dutch fluently. This means that the Bachelor and Master Degrees of the Open Universiteit are out of reach for those without a good command of the Dutch language.There is an exception, the School of Science offers four courses that are completely in English, including registration, tuition and examination:
- Energy Analysis
- Environmental Problems: crossing boundaries between science, policy and society
- Ecosystems and Human Well-being (enrollment only open to students following the Maastricht University Bridging Program Master Sustainability Science and Policy)
- Scientific and Professional Publishing on Environment and Sustainability (enrollment only open to a limited number of PhD students of Research School SENSE)
- Free Technology Academy
Courses on open source software and open standards (in collaboration with the Open University of Catalunia (Spain), University of Agder (Norway) and the Free Knowledge Institute. - European Virtual Seminar
The aim of the EVS is to foster an international, multidisciplinary dialogue on sustainable development among students from all over Europe by using modern ICT and the internet.
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.
Research and development
Most members of the academic staff of the Open Universiteit are engaged in some form of research and development.Educational sciences and technology
One category of research focuses specifically on educational technology, i.e. the use of innovative methods and technologies at Open Universiteit and other institutions of higher education. Most of this research takes place in the Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies (CELSTEC). CELSTEC research is focused on educational innovation and technology. The projects are directed towards competency-based learning in higher education, using educational technology. The activities in the field of R&D are structured in three programmes:
- Learning & Cognition
- Learning Networks for Professional Development
- Learning Media
CELSTEC is also responsible for evaluation research within the Open Universiteit.
The programmes are periodically revised and actualised, following worldwide developments. CELSTEC collaborates with other institutions for higher education, with institutions for adult education, companies and governments. CELSTEC participates in European and other projects in the field of innovation of education.
The programmes are periodically revised and actualised, following worldwide developments. CELSTEC collaborates with other institutions for higher education, with institutions for adult education, companies and governments. CELSTEC participates in European and other projects in the field of innovation of education.
Subject Specific Research
The other category is subject-specific research carried out by members of the various schools. Photo of University
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