Get started

• Where do I start ?
• Do I need any qualifications to use OpenLearn?
• Can I get any qualifications through OpenLearn?
• How does using OpenLearn differ from studying with The Open University?
• What does level mean?
• Can I speak to a tutor?
• Can I join an online discussion group?
• Why should I register?
• What is my OpenLearn LearningSpace profile and how can I amend it?
• What are forum posts?
• What is a learning journal?
• What are ‘tags’?

Where do I start ?

You can start by searching or browsing the content for subjects that interest you. If you want to go deeper and try some course materials from Open University courses, try our QuickStart Guides for instructions on how to use the LearningSpace and its features.

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Do I need any qualifications to use OpenLearn?

No you don’t need any formal educational qualifications to use OpenLearn. Much of content is designed to be accessible to anyone with a general interest in a subject. In our LearningSpace each of our study units is set at one of four levels – introductory, intermediate, advanced or masters. The level indicates the amount of previous educational experience expected to enable you to study the unit without too much difficulty and within the stated hours of study. If you are new to higher education we recommend that you start with units at introductory level.

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Can I get any qualifications through OpenLearn?

No, it’s not possible to gain any qualifications through OpenLearn. You will need to register for an Open University course if you want to become a student and have the support of a tutor, sit examinations and gain qualifications. For more information visit the Study at the OU section of The Open University’s website. You might want to order a printed prospectus.

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How does using OpenLearn differ from studying with The Open University?

OpenLearn provides online free learning materials taken from Open University courses. It does not require you to become an OU student and does not award credits or grant degrees. It does not provide access to the services provided for registered students of the University. If you are interested in studying with the University please visit the Study at the OU section of The Open University’s website.

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What does level mean?

Much of the content on the OpenLearn website will be accessible to anyone with a general interest in a subject. Each LearningSpace study unit is set at a particular level to indicate the amount of previous educational experience expected for you to be able to study the unit without too much difficulty and within the stated hours of study. There are four levels - introductory, intermediate, advanced and masters - indicated in the summary description of each unit. Find unit descriptions in the topic areas linked to from the LearningSpace homepage. If you are new to higher education we recommend that you start with units at introductory level.

The levels are based on the assumption that you have an interest in the subject of the unit, but not that you have any prior subject knowledge. Another benchmark we used to assign level was reading/study abilities, which we have broadly equated to your previous educational qualifications. You will find below a guide to how these compare, and you may find this helpful when selecting the right level for you to study. To take a full part in the suggested activities and exercises and devote enough time to think through what the unit is about, the previous educational qualifications normally expected for each unit would broadly be as follows:

• for introductory level units, previous educational qualifications would not guarantee higher education entry
• for intermediate level units, previous educational qualifications would guarantee entry to higher education
• for advanced level units, previous educational experience would include study at higher education level.
• for masters level units, previous educational experience would include study at higher education level.

If you come from outside the UK it may be that your reading/study abilities and the type of qualifications you have are not easily assessed along the above lines. If so, our advice to you is to try a lower level unit first, see how that fits with your expectations and confidence to work at that level, and then select any further units accordingly.

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Can I speak to a tutor?

OpenLearn does not provide you with a tutor. Instead you can connect with other learners. Every study unit in the LearningSpace has a discussion forum. Once logged in, you can use these forums to share your ideas, views and questions with others. There is also a  Help and support forum which is the place to post queries and answers if you want help using the LearningSpace or LabSpace.

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Can I join an online discussion group?

Yes. By registering with OpenLearn, you can participate in a range of forums in our LearningSpace, each having an online message board where you can post messages for others to read and respond to. You can also set up a learning club and use free online video conferencing to set-up meetings with other learners.

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Why should I register?

You will get the most from the website if you register (registration is free). Registering will give you full access to a range of features that are not available to guests, such as commenting on articles. Once you have registered you can join any of the study units in the LearningSpace. If you join a study unit you will be able to participate in the activities associated with the unit and receive updates from the associated unit forum. You can easily unenrol from these activities at any time. You do not need to register if you just want to read content without participating in activities and receiving updates.

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What is my OpenLearn LearningSpace profile and how can I amend it?

Your OpenLearn LearningSpace profile contains the information about yourself you have provided on OpenLearn, which you can share with other registered users. Your profile also contains your personal settings for some aspects of your use of the site e.g. subscribing to forums and the newsletter. To amend your profile, click on your name, which is displayed near the top of each page in the LearningSpace. This will take you to your profile which you can then edit by clicking on the Edit profile tab.

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What are forum posts?

If you want to contribute to a LearningSpace forum you will need to complete your message and send it (post it) to the particular forum. A post is a message sent in to a forum, and it can be changed by the writer within a period of thirty minutes of first writing it. If you are registered you will receive email copies of posts written by others. To write and receive posts for any forum you need to be subscribed to the forum. You can say that you don’t want to be emailed copies of posts.

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What is a learning journal?

A Learning Journal allows you, as a registered user of OpenLearn, to keep your own personal notes and reflections on the material you’re studying or on your general study experiences. You can choose to keep the notes to yourself, or to share your entries with other people. All your notes will be stored on the OpenLearn site and are always available for you to review, edit or delete. You can find your learning journal in the LearningSpace.

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What are ‘tags’?

Tags are words or terms that we have assigned to articles or that other users have assigned to study units in the LearningSpace. You will see them on articles pages, the first page of any LearningSpace study unit and on your learning journal pages. On the LearningSpace, any registered user can add a tag using keywords to describe the content of a study unit or their learning journal entry. The tag will act as a hyperlink enabling users to classify and find content based on keywords that are meaningful to them.

Personal tags from all users are combined in to a community tag cloud, allowing you to see the most popular keywords associated with units. Tags are made public so everyone can view them. You will be able to find all OpenLearn resources tagged with a particular keyword such as “graphs” by clicking on that keyword in the tag cloud.

You may add as many tags as you like to units. Each tag must be one word without spaces. If you want to use several words, replace the spaces with underscores. Each tag word may be up to 20 characters long, and all punctuation other than underscores will be stripped. There are many ways to use tags. Here are some examples:

• Find other units with similar tags: Are you a poetry enthusiast? Find a poetry unit that you’ve studied and tag it with the category "poetry." Click on the "poetry" tag you created and see other units that were tagged similarly. Because people's tags are visible to others, you can navigate among units through other people's tags. Add a tag and check out what other items people have tagged as "sociology" or "French" or "computers." Also, you can assign as many tags as you wish to each unit, so tag away!
• Organize your learning: Tag units you've studied in the past to organize your learning in any way you wish. Don't like the way OpenLearn has organized its Science and Nature units? Tag the units you care about with the categories that matter to you.
• Search tags: You can search for units with a given tag from the home page tag cloud.

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