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At the Open University, we have 40 years of experience meeting new technologies with curiosity and interest. New solutions enable learning in diverse situations and for diverse needs.

We have been making flexible learning and personalised study options a reality for a long time: In the 1990's, it was the internet, email and our online learning environment that revolutionised the way open university studies were delivered and made accessible. In the 21st century, digital solutions have made it possible to craft an even better learning, guidance and service experience, regardless of the student's location.

We made use of new solutions, combined them with our pedagogical expertise, and brought opportunities for learning from research within our students' reach.

You can start studying almost whenever you want and study remotely at a pace and scale that suits you. So many lifelong learners are now able to combine studies that support their career or match their interests with their everyday life, for example work and family, from wherever they are.

Ever better teaching and learning

Personalisation is a broader issue than the choice of studies or the opportunities for completing them. Learning is always personal, even when the topics and learning objectives of the courses are uniform. Even when the criteria for an exam answer or a learning task are clearly defined, the path to the learning outcomes is individual for each learner.

Our backgrounds and ways of learning vary, as do as our goals and life circumstances. The things we learn are linked in the mind to what has been learnt before, which is different for each learner.

It is precisely the fact that new knowledge and perspectives are linked to previous knowledge, experiences, and ideas that makes learning fruitful and meaningful. Learning expands, and provides tools and confidence for working in different fields.

Could AI be a sparring partner for learning?

Teachers are experts in pedagogy. They design, among other things, content and tasks to achieve competency goals in the curricula, and they guide, support, and assess students along their learning path.

No technology can fully replace the human. But learning analytics and artificial intelligence can in the future provide new tools for ever more efficient learning and teaching.

What things need to be learned before moving to the next level? What kind of feedback would help to develop what needs to be developed? How does the student in question get motivated? What is meaningful to them ? How can learning challenges be overcome? And how can the most suitable tasks be chosen for each student, and how do the tasks fit into their everyday schedule?

Artificial intelligence and its use are evolving at a rapid pace. Learning analytics should be exploited and introduced also in universities – the open university at the forefront.

JYUOpen has an eye on the future – still

There is no shortcut to knowledge and understanding. Academic learning always requires work, dedication, and time. But would it still be worth choosing the smoothest, most appropriate route? What will be the learning environment of the future?

These are stimulating questions to which we want to find solutions. In four decades, we have come a long way. Our anniversary is a milestone from which we continue looking ahead, with the best interests of our students in mind.