About

The partnership with Open Universities Australia was established in 2021 following the strategic vision to provide education to a growing community of learners from a greater diversity of backgrounds and needs. This vision included pathways to high-quality online study.

“We see a desire from students not only to study through a world-class institution, but to incorporate their studies into everyday life – around work commitments, geographic locations, or even through less traditional pathways into study.”

— Jennie Shaw, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic)

The project was established to design, develop and deliver two new fully online undergraduate programs for the University of Adelaide. The programs developed were a Bachelor of International Business and a Bachelor of Health Service Management.

Courses would be studied asynchronously over a 12-week trimester and students would be provided with an hour of face-to-face time with teaching staff each week to facilitate discussion, answer questions, explore assessments and create opportunities for formative feedback and evaluation. A timetable was developed to ensure that development kept pace with students' study, and 36 courses were developed over nine development cycles of 16 weeks.

The central task was to build the university’s internal capacity for online course development, which required not only the delivery of course artefacts but also the creation of sustainable processes, frameworks, and team practices.

A learning design team was established to work across the project and work with staff from two faculties to develop the courses.This central team were supported by a project team, media team and staff from the learning futures portfolio.

This video is full of reflection and insights by the team into the work involved across the project and the methods developed to get the job done. We discuss the importance of teamwork and creating a team culture that fosters collaboration and learns in order to adapt and change when required.

All of this work was always about the student – and it was with great pride we welcomed our first graduate, Owen, in 2025.