COROUS
This page shows information for both the 'Departmental functions and objectives' class from the 'Operations and services' section and the 'Departmental working processes' class from the 'Policies and procedures' section of our publication scheme. You can follow these links to see other information in these classes and information for the other classes in these sections:
Operations and services
Policies and procedures
The information describes the functions and objectives and working processes of the COROUS division of The Open University Worldwide and includes a link to our services document and our procedure documents. You can find more information by visiting our web site:
COROUS @ The Open University
You can also use this link to see how the COROUS operational area fits into the structure of The Open University Worldwide:
Organisation diagram
Departmental functions and objectives
COROUS is a company wholly owned by the Open University (OU), and dedicated to the development and delivery of blended learning solutions to large organisations. This work includes advice and consultancy on strategic, educational and technical issues.
The COROUS core team draws on the unparalleled research, instructional and academic resources of the OU. We use the expertise of the Institute of Educational Technology which specialises in research into learning design and the effectiveness of teaching and learning strategies.
The OU has over 30 years experience of distance teaching and 13 years experience of researching, developing and delivering online courses, including providing consultancy, preparation and support to online learners. Currently, the OU supports 250,000 students in some aspect of online learning.
The COROUS mission is:
To work with organisations to blend online learning into their structure to achieve higher individual and corporate performance and to grow their intellectual capital.
To work with clients to establish:
customised learning content
effective learning strategies
innovative and user-friendly interactive learning environments
appropriate learner support
the necessary technical infrastructure
This document describes the services available from COROUS:
COROUS was established by The Open University in 2000 in response to increasing demand from businesses for short, online staff development and training programmes. It soon became apparent that more was required than simply repackaged OU courses -
The three key areas that COROUS has provided necessary support with are:
identifying strategic organisational objectives
establishing an environment conducive to growth of e-learning
the provision of objective technical advice and support
COROUS benefits from relationships with established centres of excellence within The Open University, including the Knowledge Media Institute, The School of Health and Social Welfare and The Open University Business School. COROUS can also offer validation and accreditation of courses and institutions through The Open University Validation Services.
Departmental working processes
We offer a consultancy service to organisations that are considering or implementing e-learning. We begin by establishing that the e-learning strategy to be adopted is consistent with your organisation's overall goals. As experienced business people ourselves, we make sure that any recommendations are consistent with your commercial and training objectives and will help you to move your business forward.
Any proposals that we make are designed to add value to your business system. To achieve this, we are able to call on all the resources of The Open University as well as our own specialist expertise in the development of Total Learning Programmes specifically matched to your needs.
Procedure Documents:
This page was last updated on 15th April 2005