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Open Universities

Open access to education goes back beyond the foundation of the Open University (OU), with public lectures, but let us take the establishing of the Open University as the start of open access education as it is commonly interpreted. Originally proposed as a ‘wireless university’ in 1926, the idea gained ground in the early 1960s, and became Labour Party manifesto commitment in 1966 (http://www.open.ac.uk/about/main/­the-­​­ou-​­explained/­history-­​­the-​­ou). It was established in 1969 with the mission statement that it is ‘open to people, places, methods and ideas’. The aim of the OU was to open up education to people who were otherwise excluded because they either lacked the qualifications to enter higher education, or their lifestyle and commitments meant they could not commit to f­ull-​­time education. The university’s approach was aimed at removing these barriers. Cormier (2013) suggests the following types of open were important:


 * Open = accessible, ‘supported open learning’, interactive, dialogue. Accessibility was key.


 * Open = equal opportunity, unrestricted by barriers or impediments to education and educational resources.


 * Open = transparency, sharing educational aims and ­objectives with students, disclosing marking schemes and offering exam and tutorial advice.


 * Open = open entry, most important, no requirement for entrance qualifications. All that was needed were ambition and the will/motivation to learn.

In this interpretation, open education was ­part-​­time, distance, supported and open access. The OU model was very successful and a number of other open universities were established in