Internationalisation

• In general
• Flanders
• EADTU
• European Union projects
• South Africa
• International companies

In general

In 2002, the Open University took its first steps towards implementation of its internationalisation policy. Contrary to most institutions for higher education, the exchange of students or attracting them to come is not is a prime focus here.

This is less relevant for the Open University since it does not have a traditional campus. It offers only limited contact education, and its students usually combine their study with work and family.

Open Universiteit Nederland especially concentrates on activities that strengthen and expand its role as an international frontrunner in e-learning. Its ties with Flanders, which belongs to the Dutch language area, are also of importance.

Flanders

Flanders does not have its own institution for distance education. To provide Flemish students the opportunity nonetheless to follow distance education, our institution has worked jointly with Flanders since 1984.
The responsibility for the administrative process lies with the Flemish universities. A total of 1,936 students were enrolled in the Flemish study centres during the year 2002, which meant a steady growth over the years.

The Open University also co-operates with specific Flemish educational institutions, including the Catholic University of Louvain, the University of Ghent and the Free University of Brussels. This relationship involves the support and hosting of Mercator, a design and development environment for electronic learning materials that has been produced by us.
Consultations with the department of education of the Ministry of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Interuniversity Council have been intensified. Discussions have dealt with structural cooperation, which the parties wish to structure in e-learning projects.

EADTU

The principal objectives of the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU), an umbrella organisation of eighteen European distance learning universities, with its secretariat at the Open University, are:

• increasing the accessibility of distance education,
• spreading the academic and educational expertise and programmes of its members, and
• contributing to the European integration process.

To be able to play an even more active role in the formation of digital universities, the Open University decided in 2002 to increase its contribution to EADTU.
In June 2002, the EADTU organised a special meeting for presidents of the European open universities, namely FernUniversität in Germany, the Britsh Open University, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia in Spain, Universidad Aberta in Portugal and Centre National dEnseignement à Distance in France.
The participants confirmed their intention to join forces. The first joint activity involved the preparation of a research proposal, for submission to the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Union.

European Union projects

Applying funds from the Seventh, Sixth, and Fifth Framework Programme of the European Union, the institution started a number of projects (as from 2002). Read more...

South Africa

Since several years we have been working together with the University of South Africa (UNISA), one of the worlds largest institutions for higher distance education. This gives UNISA access to support methods for e-learning that have been developed by us.

The South African distance university wants to increase the accessibility of its educational offering through e-learning. In October 2002 the two institutions ratified their intention to collaborate and also to broaden this collaboration. A declaration of intent was also signed to work jointly towards increasing the accessibility of higher education in the southern part of the African continent.

Joining forces with international companies

The international activities of the Open University are especially focused on creating a relations network that includes all components that are needed to achieve e-learning, from computer hardware and networks to educational materials and technical expertise.

The Open University is convinced that this requires co-operation with internationally operating companies. In 2002 the institution renewed its strategic alliance with Perot Systems, an international ICT company. It also extended its collaboration with Cisco Systems, worldwide market leader in electronic networks, among other things toward the exchange of expertise in research and development.