The Open University (OU) has secured £50 million investment from the SEEK Group for its FutureLearn social learning platform as it celebrates its 50th birthday this year. Nearly 300 guests including Sir David Attenborough; David Puttnam, Prue Leith and Robin Wilson (son of Prime Minister Harold Wilson who helped to found the university), joined Chancellor of the Open University Baroness Martha Lane-Fox CBE and Vice Chancellor Mary Kellett at Gibson Hall in the City of London on 15th May 2019 to mark the OU’s birthday. As well as hearing from graduates of the OU, guests also heard from OU partners and supporters. The event is one of several planned throughout the year to celebrate 50 years of the OU revolutionising access to higher education.
SEEK Group investment in FutureLearn
In a deal thought to be the largest ever private-sector EdTech investment in Europe, SEEK Group (ASX: SEK) will invest £50m to become a joint, 50% owner of The Open University’s FutureLearn social learning platform, it was announced on April 29th, 2019. The platform offers short online courses right through to postgraduate diplomas and certificates and fully online degrees, all designed around social learning.
The Open University launched FutureLearn, which is based in London, in December 2012 with a dozen UK university partners to test opportunities offered by digital learning and massive open online courses (known as MOOCs). Rapid growth means that FutureLearn now has over nine million learners.
FutureLearn partners with over a quarter of the world’s top universities, as well as organisations such as Accenture, the British Council, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Raspberry Pi and Health Education England (NHS).
Welcoming the announcement, The Open University’s Vice Chancellor Mary Kellett said: “Our new partnership is a fantastic opportunity to change more lives around the globe through flexible lifelong learning. The Open University is rightly known for pioneering new approaches to education and for our academic excellence.
Today’s announcement shows this is as true today as when we started fifty years ago. It represents one of the most exciting educational prospects in modern times.
Our partnership with SEEK and the investment in FutureLearn will take our unique mission to make education open for all into new parts of the world. Education improves lives, communities and economies and is a truly global product, with no tariffs on ideas.
The new partnership with SEEK will have contractual arrangements in place to protect the University’s academic independence, teaching methods and curriculum.”
About the SEEK Group
The SEEK Group is a market leader in the creation and management of online education and employment businesses. SEEK are well-established across Australia, New Zealand, China, South East Asia, Brazil and Mexico. Commenting on the investment, SEEK Co-Founder and CEO Andrew Bassat said: “This investment follows the same logic applied to IDP and Online Education Services ‘OES’ in that we like to invest in disruptive business models that provide world class student education outcomes. Technology is increasing the accessibility of quality education and can help millions of people up-skill and re-skill to adapt to rapidly changing labour markets. We see FutureLearn as a key enabler for education at scale. FutureLearn’s reputation is strong and it has attracted leading education providers onto its platform. We are excited to come on as a partner with The Open University.”
Addressing skills gaps
FutureLearn is involved in UK government-backed initiatives to address skills gaps including The Institute of Coding and the National Centre for Computing Education. It currently has six university partners offering full, online degrees on the platform, and has most recently launched Unlimited, a new business model allowing learners access to most courses for a one-off annual payment.
For further information visit https://www.futurelearn.com/
About the OU
The Open University was one of the world’s first successful distance teaching universities, founded on the belief that communications technology could bring high quality degree-level learning to people who had not had the opportunity to attend traditional campus universities.
For further information visit http://www.open.ac.uk/
Exhibition: The OU Story
This exhibition is a brief journey through the history of the University, using materials held in The Open University Archive to look at some of the main events and developments – from Harold Wilson’s initial plans in 1963, the creation of the University in 1969 and developments through to the present day.
For further information https://www.open.ac.uk/library/digital-archive/exhibition/53
BBC Radio 4, The University of the Air
Marking this milestone, BBC Radio 4 is exploring the remarkable story of how the UK’s largest university came into existence, the impact it has had since 1969 and why it is continues to be vital to the fabric of society today.
The hour-long programme looks back at the creation of the OU in 1969; examines how this unique institution has changed over the last 50 years, weathering challenges in the sector, whilst keeping up an unrelenting momentum of innovation. The programme also highlights why the OU is still as relevant today as it was 50 years ago, with society faced with the need to upskill, reskill and often take on multiple careers in a lifetime.
The unique story will be brought to life through archive clips, interviews and conversations with early academics, staff, students, graduates and others connected with the University. There are notable contributions from Professor Robin Wilson, Chancellor Martha Lane-Fox, Vice- Chancellor Mary Kellett, Professor Steven Rose, Anant Agarwal, CEO of EdX, Willy Russell and Sir Lenny Henry. The documentary is narrated by former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who’s first job was as a part-time tutor to several of The Open University’s first students. He shares some of his own experiences and talks to several contributors connected with the University.
For further information visit https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00055r6