The courses on OpenLearn are designed for independent study, but they are more than suitable to be used within a classroom environment or as part of a pupil’s wider education.

When considering using an OpenLearn course, please note the length of the course: they tend to run between 5 and 48 hours before the course is complete.

Use OpenLearn as homework

OFSTED’s report on parental views of homework can help us frame how to use OpenLearn to support homework:

·        87% of parents found homework was helpful to their children in secondary school.

·        72% believed allowing pupils to use homework to prepare for their lessons through research was a better alternative to homework itself.

Helpful Homework

Taking the first example, you could support student learning by assigning an OpenLearn course as homework in a related topic that you may struggle to cover in depth during the time allocated. For example, you may wish to complement your initial teaching of languages with the Why study languages? course, or add interactivity and real-world application later in a languages course with A trip to Avignon, which features audio clips, photos and maps to bring learning to life.

Putting some expectations around OpenLearn courses as homework may help, depending on their length: pupils could complete 5 of the 15 study hours contained within A trip to Avignon, for example, with stretch goals added for pupils who want to explore this topic further.

Research as Prep

Thinking of the second example, OpenLearn is ideally suited as a research platform: a flipped classroom approach could be undertaken where an OpenLearn course is integrated into your curriculum, or the onus could be placed on the pupil to find a suitable, related course and subsequent homework time dedicated to completing a set amount of hours (please be aware that parental permissions apply to accounts for pupils under the age of 13).

For example, a term’s worth of homework could look something like this:

Homework 1: Pupils create an OpenLearn account and locate a related course. The Schools Hub has categories corresponding to school subjects which will make narrowing down a relevant course easier. After finding a relevant course, pupils should write down the name and length of the course in their homework planner. As their teacher, you could make some suggestions for pupils who may benefit from being guided.

Homework 2 to 6: Pupils spend their homework allocation on the OpenLearn course of their choosing. They should write a one paragraph summary in their exercise book at the end of each session to consolidate their learning and to reflect:

·        What was the most interesting piece of information you learned?

·        Why did you find it interesting?

·        Did it relate to your lessons in school? If so, how?

This may help you to judge the relevance of their chosen courses. Depending on your assessment, you could record any that would be suitable for future recommendation, or suggest pupils try a different course if they are not engaging with it as anticipated.

OpenLearn also has many interactives, such as videos, games and more: pupils could be encouraged to take part in these too to supplement their learning.