OpenLearning and UNSW Sydney have signed a licensing agreement in order to facilitate the delivery of a new program. This Transition Program will be based online and is mainly for international students. The purpose of the new program is online delivery amid the novel COVID-19 pandemic. This will replace the ‘lift-and-shift’ implementation of an on-campus program.

The program will combine OpenLearning’s innovation in the space of online delivery along with UNSW’s academic expertise to help create a learning community that is student-centric.

Edtech firm OpenLearning & UNSW’s Transition Program

 UNSW will open doors to its first batch of students of the new online Transition Program, that has been developed in partnership with OpenLearning, in early 2021. The program will be four-months long and will be delivered by OpenLearning. It will utilize OpenLearning’s customized purpose-built platform for international students who wish to be admitted to UNSW. At present, UNSW is a top 50 global university.

The new Transition Program (Online)  from the edtech is based on a pre-existing on-campus program, which offers the same learning and pathway outcomes as its face-to-face counterpart. However, the delivery style will be completely different. 

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OpenLearning CEO Adam Brimo’s Statement

In a statement, Adam Brimo, the CEO of OpenLearning, gushed that the company is   excited to partner with UNSW Global. He stated that they aim to set a new standard for online education by reimagining the UNSW Transition Program. This will be the first time that OpenLearning’s socially constructive and community-driven approach will be combined with a teaching model that integrates personalised coaching in a small group, along with continuous portfolio-based assessment and interviews instead of exams.

Brimo believes that this will enable the creation of a superior learning experience to prepare students to succeed at Australia’s top universities. He also thinks that edtech such as this online Transition Program offers students more feedback from teachers along with never before peer interaction. This is a progressive shift from teacher-led to student-led sessions that provides accountability for students along with support. This online portfolio is automatically generated to help teachers track their students’ progress during the program. As per Brimo’s statement, this arrangement makes it possible to customize coaching and support for every student and monitor academic integrity.

OpenLearning’s activity-based learning philosophy has been inspired by both Co-Founder David Collien and CEO Brimo’s personal experiences as undergraduates at UNSW’s School of Computer Science and Engineering. According to UNSW Global CEO Laurie Pearcey, the success of UEEC 10 made it clear that the OpenLearning team knew how to deliver an engaging and community-driven online program to impart skills and confidence to its students and guide them in their journey to university.

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