Open Education 2013

The NGLC-funded Bridge to Success project (http://bridge2success.aacc.edu/) reworked successful developmental courses in mathematics and learning development for use in US community colleges. This paper seeks to answer the question, how have the Bridge to Success courses continued to be used and what has been their impact? During the project, the material transcended the remit of its intended audience to impact non-governmental organisations, reaching under-served groups outside of formal education with considerable success. The courses evolved throughout the project?s duration, responding to student and instructor feedback and independent analysis as well as introducing motivational ?challenges? to Learning to Learn as the first step towards the content being badge-ready.

Whilst the project formally ended December 2012, the OER created as part of the Open University (OU)-led project remain available for use by educators and independent learners alike. In the US there is continued use of the material in both the charity and college sectors and analytics show that the materials are also being accessed at significant levels by non-US users. In the UK, the OU is further modifying the courses as part of Adult Education Week and releasing them as MOOCs where the motivational challenges are now fully functioning badges.

Building from data that showed benefits through a comparative study in the college context, this paper will consider what we can tell from a more holistic view of the impact of releasing OER and examine the signs of sustainabililty. We reflect on the advantages of whole course, remixable OER (a strategy recently advocated by Susan Badger as a way forward for the OER movement). Comparing similar types of complete offerings to Bridge to Success, such as OpenStax College, who offer remixable coursebooks, the study presents stakeholder perspectives and the challenges and benefits to those producing and using this type of OER.