Innovation in Digital Learning
Educational technologies and e-learning are core elements of the Open University’s learning and teaching model. The OUI has been the clear leader in Israeli higher education in the adoption of digital technologies and teaching methods, and has spearheaded cutting-edge research to improve digital technology-based learning. It is worth noting that, for the tenth year in a row, a national student union survey ranked the OUI #1 out of all Israeli universities for its integration of learning technologies in academia.
Educational technologies and E-learning go far beyond simply adding video/zoom to the classroom. OUI experts research the process of analyzing, designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating all the components involved in the instructional environment in order to fundamentally enhance the digital teaching and learning model. These include learning materials, the learning process, and the learners themselves. The OUI has been using digital teaching methods for several decades, and has developed large-scale databases with diverse knowledge on learning strategies and effective teaching methods. In recent years, the OUI has also applied advanced big data methods and AI, informed by the business intelligence and computer science research conducted at the university.
The OUI’s Center for Innovative Technology in Learning Systems (CDILT) is the research body that examines the integration of innovative technologies in teaching and learning processes. Comprised of about fifty faculty members from across several departments, CDILT encourages research to improve our understanding of the teaching-learning processes that take place in high-tech environments, and the integration of innovative technologies in teaching academic courses, particularly those offered by the OUI. It is the CDILT’s mission to improve existing and innovate new technologies in learning systems, lead post-doctoral studies in the field, and act as the central think tank for learning technologies, in cooperation with leading high-tech companies.
The Open University’s expertise and desire to further its research in the field of digital innovation in learning technologies led to the establishment of the Center for Digital Innovation in Learning Technologies (Shoham) in 2004. Shoham explores emerging technologies and develops models and strategies for their practical integration in learning.
CDILT works in close cooperation with Shoham in order to ensure that the OUI’s learning technologies are constantly updated with study material, as well as upgraded to the newest digital technologies. Shoham develops insights and awareness about the pedagogical potential of technologies, and assimilates them in the university’s curricula to ensure an efficient teaching and learning experience for both instructors and students. Moreover, Shoham continually analyzes use of current digital technologies by both students and teachers, analyzes feedback, and regularly updates and advances learning technologies accordingly. While CDILT and Shoham are distinct units, they work together, allowing each unit to stay current and analyze information and feedback in real time in order to improve the learning process.
In early 2022, the Council for Higher Education authorized the Open University to offer a PhD in Education: Technologies and Learning Systems. This was the first PhD program to be offered at the university, and an historic moment for the OUI. The authorization for this program was granted due to the OUI’s outstanding status and its researchers’ many achievements in the field, and is the natural continuation of the Master’s program in Education: Technologies and Learning Systems, which was first offered in 2004 and has since trained many successful academics.
With the newly received authorization to offer the doctoral program, the OUI is rapidly becoming an academic leader in the field of distance teaching and learning in Israel and abroad, with the potential for making groundbreaking progress both in academia and in the corporate world.
Educational technology is one of OUI’s key priorities, as it stands at the core of how our students learn and our lecturers teach. We have made significant financial and strategic investments and are very proud of our digital innovations and the way they constantly improve our educational technologies and e-learning as a whole. While most other institutions are still in the early stages of figuring out how to ensure best digital learning methodologies, the OUI is a frontrunner in the research and usage of digital educational technologies.
Your support is essential for helping us further expand our cutting-edge knowledge and realize our goal of impacting digital learning at the OUI and across academia. Thank you for considering supporting this important cause.