All forms of open learning involve periods of individual or self learning where a learner will work with a package of learning materials. The length of time an individual spends working with materials will vary. In some settings, it may be a few hours to update a skill, in others it may be hundreds of hours over several years to gain a qualification. Although most organisations will provide support in the form of tutoring, links to face-to-face sessions, monitoring or support from line managers, a significant proportion of the programme or course will be spent working on an individual basis. To learn effectively without the continual personal presence of a trainer or tutor, places a high demand on the learning materials.

The learning materials need to play a number of roles to be fully effective. They have to provide content - the coverage of the subject - but this alone will not guarantee their success. In addition, materials need to perform some of the roles which may have been provided by a trainer or tutor in face-to-face group learning.

In the box below, spend a few minutes writing down the roles you would expect open learning materials to fulfil in your organisation. Consider everything you feel materials need to do to make learning effective.

Materials need to play several roles. These can be grouped into five main categories:

• help learners understand and apply the material

• make learning as straightforward and pleasurable as possible

• help organise and plan learning

• provide an indication of progress

• assist individuals in resolving problems and queries with the subject

The effectiveness of learning materials is one of the cornerstones of a successful open learning scheme. If the materials work well, they not only ensure the individual learns, but they also ensure that the role of those involved in support can be concentrated on guiding and assisting progress. If materials are ineffective, supporters will spend more time filling gaps and troubleshooting. When they are effective, supporters can spend time on extending, applying and developing open learning.

The simple diagram below illustrates the differences in support needed in effective vs ineffective material:

Where materials are ineffective:

• learning is impaired

• support will need to be increased to overcome the shortfall in learning

• costs will increase (support = people = cost)

• time learners invest will increase (including peer contracts to overcome difficulties)

• cost effectiveness will decrease

To be effective, open learning materials need to be:

• matched to learner and organisational needs

• contain a range of features to ensure individuals can learn

The special nature of open learning materials means that they are often more complex to produce than other types of material. The range of skills required is considerable and should be a factor in both decisions to produce materials and in your initial planning. It is one of the issues you will be able to consider in the remainder of this unit and in Unit 8 : Managing Production.

This section enables you to consider some of the issues which will influence the development of open learning materials by your organisation. There are five aspects to examine:

• skill

• cost and investment

• the needs of the organisation including:

- organisational culture

- past experience of materials development

- resources

Your initial planning for materials development, particularly if it is a new activity, needs to include assessment of these factors.

To develop open learning materials needs a number of distinct skills. As a minimum, it will require:

• subject matter expertise

• learning methodology

• expertise in producing materials

In many instances a number of skills or inputs will be required in each of these categories.

• experts from other organisations

• trainers or tutors skilled in presenting the subject

This may need to include:

• expertise in open learning methods

• skills in the design of open learning materials

• knowledge of evaluation methods to test materials

• writing

• programming

• video or audio production

• design

• project management

1. Subject matter
expertise

2. Learning methods

3. Development and
production

This activity provides only an outline of the skills involved. If you feel there is a serious shortfall of the expertise available to you in-house or readily accessible from other organisations, then you need to consider whether materials development is viable. There are several examples of successful one-person production teams, but there are far more unsuccessful cases. Except for small scale development where the producer is also the subject matter expert, this scenario is often unrealistic. It enables only a relatively small amount of material to be produced and places severe limits to the scope of what can be developed. In most situations, a number of different people are required although it is not uncommon to find this centred on one or two people who call on and subcontract others to provide the contributions needed.

If your organisation is considering developing more than a single set of materials, this will be a significant and possibly long term investment. The issues you need to consider are:

Level of costs - it is difficult to answer the question 'how much will it cost?'. There are an increasing number of options in most media. Printed material can range from photocopied resources produced in-house by trainers to colour printed workbooks authored by external specialists. Video material may vary from a simple sequence shot on a single 'home' camera to a fully fledged production. Multimedia may vary from relatively simple assembly of screens to complex, programmed simulations. Within all media there are choices on:

• production values

• level of complexity

• extent - how long?

You will need to take account of:

• external costs e.g. video production

• number of people and time involved

• the scale and extent of the materials

• updating requirements

• cost of any additional equipment e.g. upgrading PCs

• copying, printing, duplication etc.