ROU offers a future-focussed approach to learning, with a growing number of fully online undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, to make quality education accessible to a wider student audience. Completing your accredited qualification from an accredited and internationally recognised university, means you don’t need to travel to classes or pay for extra accommodation. Online studies provide you with the freedom to continue your education and your normal employment. The online modules allow you to study anytime, anywhere, and on any device with the support and motivation of call centre staff and online facilitators. A further benefit of enrolling for the ROU programmes is that you only need to pay for one module at a time.
Quality Education
You will, therefore, enrol for a single module at a time and only pay for the module that you are busy with. You will be assessed continuously throughout the module, accumulating your grades as you progress. At the end of the 8 (or 16) week module, upon successful completion, you will register and pay for your next module.
The quality of, and recognition for the fully online qualifications, is the same as with all other programmes, in the traditional face-to-face/contact mode of delivery. All of ROU’s academic programmes are accredited by the International Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (QAHE)through a rigorous approval process. The benefit of the fully online study option is that students are not required to attend lectures or write exams on campus. Students can conduct their studies online from anywhere, and engage in diverse assessment opportunities throughout the module such as projects, assignments, quizzes, discussion forums, and journals.
What is unique about ROU offerings?
You can expect a number of unique features when you enrol in a ROU programme.
- In a ROU programme, there is no physical face-to-face component, although there could be a virtual face-to-face contact. All interactions with staff and students, educational content, learning activities, assessment, and support services are integrated and take place online.
- Online programmes allow access to programme material on any device provided that a stable internet connection is available.
- Whilst certain online programmes are offered on a full-time basis, most are offered part-time.
- The online programmes are structured with 6 enrolment opportunities per year.
- You enrol for a single module at a time. Modules are either 7 or 14 weeks in duration.
- Throughout the year modules are structured as 7 weeks of learning, with 1 week recess in-between modules. At the end of the year there is an additional recess period.
- Payment can be made per module, or in full upfront.
- Coursework is offered semi-synchronously, meaning that you will do some parts of a module at your own pace, but others on a fixed schedule. Typically, new content and assignments are released on a weekly basis. Note, you may still connect synchronously in “real-time” via a virtual medium with your fellow students and online facilitators if there is a need to do so.
- In addition to the online facilitators, ROU programmes have dedicated call centre staff who motivate and support you with any queries you may have.
- ROU programmes have been designed to provide a highly engaging and interactive learning experience, through features such as interactive videos, discussion forums, drag and drop activities, check-your-knowledge quizzes, and much more.
Computer Literacy
Royal Open University makes use of Moodle, branded as MyROU, which is an online system that acts as a virtual classroom. Moodle is also supplemented by Canvas to allow more student engagement. MyROU contains your study material as well as a simple, convenient, and reliable web conferencing and virtual classroom solutions specifically built for education and training.
MyROU and Canvas are accessible via a web browser on any computing device, e.g. a laptop, tablet or smartphone, and a useful student guide is available. Students are required to have some technical and digital literacy skills before enrolling, such as the ability to:
- navigate the University’s eLearning environments (MyROU, Canvas);
- use the email service in the learning management service (LMS);
- manage digital files – create, store, upload and attach files to assignment submissions using applications such as MS Word, MS Excel, MS Powerpoint and others;
- use the Library or Library databases for research and make use of proper referencing techniques;
- use a webcam, upload videos or audio files, use social media for communication or to collaborate electronically; and
- download and install software and applications.