OpenLearning announces Australia’s first ever hackathon for teachers

SYDNEY, Australia – 14 July 2015 – OpenLearning,  Australia’s leading Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) provider and social learning platform, has launched Australia’s first ever Teach-a-thon – a hackathon for educators who desire to learn about how they can run their own successful and creative online courses. The event will officially launch OpenLearning’s new Future Educators Program, which will be available to over 80,000 full-time and student teachers through partnerships with Class Cover, Electroboard and Learning Links.
 
The Future Educators Program has been launched as part of OpenLearning’s vision to promote online and social learning to current and future teachers. The program will assist teachers in building their skills for teaching in an online learning environment. This four month program is complimentary for all teachers who will get to learn how they can create their own four to six week online learning courses that will be hosted on OpenLearning.
 
Embracing the spirit of a hackathon (an intensive, short term collaboration with software designers), OpenLearning will kick off the Future Educators Program with a Teach-a-thon. Educators interested in developing their online education skills will collaborate over a two day workshop at OpenLearning’s Sydney office. This complimentary, hands on workshop will equip attendees with a passion for teaching with the skills they need to set up and run their own online courses.
 
Adam Brimo, CEO and Co-founder of OpenLearning said, “One of the barriers we have found in bringing more educators into online learning is a fear of the unknown. Some of the most prolific educators whom we have reached out to have never taught through online platforms. We want to show them the advantages of using a social learning platform like OpenLearning over a traditional learning management system.”
 
OpenLearning is actively involved in shaping the changing role of online educators as Australian universities adapt to students’ desires for a more engaging and collaborative online learning experience. This will complement their tertiary studies as current and future educators embrace methods to adopt the best practices in preparing for the online components of their courses. This trend is already reflected in high school and primary school education as more learning is conducted collaboratively and in an online environment.
 
Led by Brooke Hahn, OpenLearning’s Chief Learning Officer, the Future Educators Program provides educators with access to instructional design and developing resources to support the creation of new online courses.
 
Australia’s first ever Teach-a-thon will take place on August 8-9 from 10am-6pm at the OpenLearning Sydney office, Level 2, 332 Kent St. Interested educators can reserve their complimentary ticket through https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/teach-a-thon-tickets-17526088001

http://www.cso.com.au/mediareleases/25161/openlearning-announces-australias-first-ever/