Open Learning

Summary

Open Learning is the university’s all-in-one learning solution for non-credit continuing education opportunities. The platform is designed to serve current UMD students, staff, and faculty as well as members of the local and state community and beyond. Campus units design non-credit courses that concentrate on professional development, personal enrichment, community engagement, or recruitment.

The Open Learning Catalog is a UMD-branded online collection of non-credit courses where students can browse, search, and enroll in free or fee-based offerings. These learning opportunities can be offered via open enrollment or through closed enrollment (targeted audience). Open Learning features include a registration system, payment gateway, and access to a beta sandbox for testing purposes. ELMS-Canvas is used to create non-credit courses, providing access to static content (syllabi, schedules, announcements, etc.) and more. For additional information, see the Open Learning Overview Presentation.

Benefits and Highlights

• UMD-Branded Catalog of Non-Credit Courses
• Registration System and Payment Gateway
• Unit Self-Administration
• Instant Revenue Collection to Unit Financial Account
• A-La-Carte Courses or Bundled Courses via Programs
• Discounts via Promotional Codes
• Enrollment and Revenue Data Analytics Access and Student Completion Tracking
• Student Dashboard: Course Access and Open Learning Transcript (Note: Non-credit courses do not post on the official University transcript.)

Fee-Based Pricing

• Open Learning courses can be offered free or use fee-based pricing. Such pricing is determined by the campus unit.
• Units may choose to offer courses at a discount by issuing promotional codes. Promotional codes can be a flat dollar amount or percentage.

Expenses

• EXST Administrative Fee. No fee assessed. EXST administers the Open Learning platform as a university service.
• Open Learning Certificate of Completion Fee. No fee assessed. This is a free feature option.
• UMD Continuing Education Units-Certificate Fee. $25.00 per digital certificate. 
• DIT Technology Fee. $10.00 per Open Learning course student enrollment. Fees are assessed quarterly by DIT and billed to campus units by EXST.

Distribution

Course fees collected via Open Learning are instantly routed to campus units via the account provided in the application.

• Subcatalogs (i.e., grouping of courses by campus unit) cannot be tied to more than one payment gateway or account.
• ORA-issued accounts may only be utilized for outgoing payments to cover approved costs of awarded federal grants/funds, and therefore may not be tied to subcatalog payment gateways to collect revenue.

For issues related to offering Open Learning courses, contact Extended Studies: openlearning@umd.edu.