Education & Development

Open Pathways

Updated Wednesday 24th April 2019

Open Pathways is a resource for people who are thinking about getting back into learning.

Open Pathways can get you started on your learning journey, helping you navigate your way through OpenLearn to find something that interests you, while building your confidence learning online. Where your journey takes you is up to you.

OpenLearn has so many resources it can be difficult to know where to start. Open Pathways is a route into OpenLearn that starts with ideas for short resources you can explore on OpenLearn. If you want to challenge yourself, the next step is to take a short course before moving on to gain a badge on one of our badged open courses. You decide the pace and level you want to learn at.

Open Pathways is also available as guide for learners (pdf). The guide contains a learning log for you to keep track of what you’re learning, ideas for reflecting and planning your next steps, study tips, and pathways from informal into formal learning.

Learners in Scotland can also request a paper version, contact: Scotland-engagement@open.ac.uk

Open Learning Champions

There is also an Open Learning Champions guide which offers information and suggestions for facilitators using Open Pathways and other OpenLearn resources with learners. Open Learning Champions can come from community and voluntary organisations, colleges, libraries and others. What they have in common is an interest in using open learning to widen opportunities for their learners. Find out more.

Getting Started:

1) Explore

To help you get started on OpenLearn, we’ve suggested a few short resources (less than 1 hour), such as videos, quizzes and animations. They are all at introductory level so should be suitable for most learners.

2) Challenge yourself

If you’ve enjoyed exploring and feel ready for something more challenging, try one of our short courses (less than 6 hours).

3) Gain a badge

When you feel more confident and would like some recognition for your learning, try one of our badged open courses (24 hours long). Start at Level 1 (introductory level).