Page - 2 - in Radical Solutions and Open Science - An Open Approach to Boost Higher Education

2 M. Weller 1.1.1 Open Universities Open access to education can be dated back to the founding of UNISA in South Africa in1946,whichpioneeredadistanceeducationmodel toopenupeducationto those who could not attend traditional institutions. With the foundation of the open university in the UK (OU) in 1969 this model was expanded, and the open entry aspect made central. Open approaches to education can be traced prior to these two institutions,forexample, throughpubliclecturesandmovementsassociatedwiththe industrial revolution, such as the Workers Educational Association (WEA) which was founded in 1903 to improve the education of the working class. However, it is the establishment of the OU and its model which was widely emulated worldwide thatprovidesa reasonable startingpoint for consideration. Originallyproposedasa ‘wirelessuniversity’ in1926, theideagainedsupport in theearly1960s,andbecame aLabourPartymanifestocommitment in1966.1 Itwasestablished in1969with the mission statement that it is ‘open to people, places, methods and ideas’. The aim of the OU was to open up education to people who were otherwise excluded because they either lacked the qualifications to enter higher education, or their lifestyle and commitments meant they could not commit to full-time education. The university’s approach wasaimed at removing thesebarriers. The need to expand access to higher education to those who could not access the conventional model became something many governments recognised, and the reputationof theOUforhigh-quality teachingmaterialandahighlyvaluedlearning experience made the approach respectable. Tait (2018) notes that this model was replicated globally, with around 60 Open Universities being established, ‘with the largestnumberbeing found inAsia, followedby the regionsofEuropeandAfrica’. Notably, the model was not adopted in some large countries such as Russia and the US. Cormier (2013) suggests the following types of open were important in the OU model: • Open=accessible,‘supportedopenlearning’,interactive,dialogue.Accessibility was key. • Open= equal opportunity, unrestricted by barriers or impediments to education and educational resources. • Open= transparency, sharing educational aims and objectives with students, disclosing marking schemes and offering exam and tutorial advice. • Open=open entry, most important, no requirement for entrance qualifications. All that was needed were ambition and the will/motivation to learn. Inthis interpretation,openeducationwaspart-time,distance,supportedandopen access.Significantly, thereisnoparticularstressoncost,sofinanciallyfreeaccessto educationisnotemphasisedinthisinterpretation.Educationwastobepaidforbythe respectivegovernment,andopenuniversitieswerecloselyalliedtowhateverformof wideningparticipation theywished toadopt.Theemphasiswasoftenon affordable 1http://www.open.ac.uk/about/main/the-ou-explained/history-the-ou.