Learning technology praised for being ’at the heart of University strategy’

The University of Nottingham has once again been recognised for its ground-breaking work in online learning at the Learning Technologist of the Year awards.

By sealing the runners up prize for their Open Nottingham project, the University’s Learning Technologies team has now been shortlisted at the awards four times in the last five years, taking the top prize in 2009.

This year Open Nottingham, which provides students and staff with course materials from over 70 per cent of schools within the University, was chosen by judges at the Association for Learning Technology’s conference for putting “learning technology at the heart of the institution’s strategy”.

The way the services have been developed and are used within the university, the extent to which the team’s work is influencing academic practice and the relevance of the team’s work to the University’s activities in China and Malaysia, were also commended following a year of much development.

In addition to a 500% increase in the University’s own content over the last academic year, Open Nottingham now includes ground-breaking websites with proven global impact.

One of these websites – the Xpert repository – boasts the largest collection of open learning resources in the world, while the pioneering Xpert Attribution service tackles two of the biggest barriers to the wide spread use of openly available learning materials – time and confidence surrounding the reuse of third party material.

After collecting the award, Open Learning Support Officer Steve Stapleton, revealed that as an established part of the University’s five year plan, work will continue to expand Nottingham’s online teaching, drawing on resources from all over the globe.

He said: “Open Nottingham can help promote the excellent teaching and learning activities on offer at the University and also help promote schools and individual academics who release content.

“It can also help to broaden the educational experience of students, by helping them tap into a significant amount of openly available material on the internet. This award really helps to show that both students and academic staff believe in the principles of access to education for all.”

To access Open Nottingham, please visit www.nottingham.ac.uk/open