The University of Wollongong has signed a five-year agreement with OpenLearning to supply a technology platform to underpin a range of short courses and so-called micro-credentials.
The deal is worth at least $624,250 and covers access to OpenLearning’s software-as-a-service educational technology platform.
It will assist the university to develop and bring to market a variety of courses offered on a fee-for-service basis.
The agreement comes as the university expressed a strategic ambition [pdf] to “embrace the changing landscape of learning for life to ensure students and our alumni continue to have access to a personalised supportive learning environment wherever they are in the world.”
OpenLearning already collaborates with 143 education providers including UNSW and University of Technology Sydney.
Just last year the Australian Catholic University signed onto the service during Covid-19 as a way to shift learning online during the pandemic.
OpenLearning said it views the UoW agreement as “strategically important” given the institution’s international footprint, with campuses in Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Dubai.
“Both the university and OpenLearning have a global outlook, a passion for increasing access to quality education, and a focus on designing transformative learning experiences that prepare people for the future of work,” OpenLearning group CEO and managing director Adam Brimo said in a statement.
“We look forward to working closely with the University of Wollongong and all of our partners in the years to come.”
UoW currently offers one free nutrition course via OpenLearning with 97 online students enrolled.
