We are the Open Universiteit
Academic education and research
The Open Universiteit is a non-traditional, public university with a special mission: to develop, innovate and provide open higher education.
Activating academic distance education
The Open Universiteit has a high-quality educational offering for those who cannot (or do not want to) study at another Dutch or Flemish university. For undergraduate education, there are no prior education requirements and the education is designed for part-time study. The educational model of the Open Universiteit stands for activating academic distance education, with much flexibility for students. The academic programs receive high appreciation from students and experts, for example in the annual national student survey.
The OUNL educational model: activating academic distance education
An evaluation of the educational model of Open Universiteit (introduced in the master's programs in 2014 and the bachelor's programs in 2016-2018) can be found in the paper below. It concentrates on three indicators of study success: study pace, satisfaction of students and drop out.
Activating academic distance education, some empirical results about a new approach of the Open Universiteit (OUNL) by R. van den Munckhof and J. Winkels (2022)
Key areas of research
The Open Universiteit has the statutory task of contributing to the innovation of Dutch higher education through educational research. It has therefore developed into the leading expert in the field of learning and teaching in an environment enriched by technology. In addition, research is conducted in several other areas of science. Within the National Science Agenda, the Open Universiteit focuses on three themes: 'digital learning', 'criminal law' and 'learning, resilience and innovation'.