Has an Australian Platform Cracked the MOOCs Code?

- Open2Study completion rates four times higher than global industry standard

MELBOURNE, Australia, May 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Australia's Open2Study announces completion rates above 25 per cent - almost four times higher than the industry average - despite research suggesting average MOOCs completion rates below seven per cent.

The major challenge for MOOCs and free online education is that despite attracting mass volumes of students, most people fail to complete the course and therefore do not achieve the learning objectives.

"With one in five Open2Study students completing their study, we are proud to see that we are really engaging our students," says Mr Paul Wappett, Open Universities Australia's CEO.

"We believe we understand the online student. The results we're seeing at Open2Study prove that we are delivering an outstanding experience compared to other free online education platforms.

Mr Wappett says there are several reasons why Open2Study is different from its competitors: "We attribute our early success to a number of factors including the academic quality of our subjects, high production values and most importantly, our learning, teaching and assessment model which is designed with the online student in mind.

"By creating our own platform, Open2Study also enforces a high quality, consistent learning experience for our students - quality control is proving to be very advantageous.

"Finally, there's our smart classroom design. It leverages social learning and provides an intuitive environment with all the resources students need to successfully complete their study in the one place," says Mr Wappett.

Since it launched in late March 2013, Open2Study has had over 20,000 enrolments and has currently attracted students from over 100 countries.

Open2Study has also identified that approximately 50 per cent of enrolled students do nothing after enrolling. But of those students who start their study, an industry-breaking 51 per cent complete their learning.

As Australia's first free online education platform, Open2Study currently has 14 subjects available online. With new subjects added every month or so, Open2Study anticipates to have at least 40 to 50 free subjects available by the end of 2013.

Visit www.open2study.com for more information.

About Open2Study - Never stop learning
Open2Study delivers free high quality online education. It offers everyone the chance to experience online tertiary and professional learning through a range of subjects, designed for everyday people. Backed by Open Universities Australia, Open2Study is based on the core principle that learning is life-long and should be accessible by all. And did we mention it was free? Access our Media Centre at www.open2study.com/media-centre

For further information, please contact:
Jessica Singh,
Manager, Corporate Communications, PR & Sponsorships
Open2Study
Ph: +61 (0)3 8628 2412
Mobile: +61 (0)419 662 553
E: jessica.singh@open.edu.au