Photo of Prof Martin Weller

People

Prof Martin Weller PFHEA

Professor of Educational Technology

About

I'm a Professor of Educational Technology and my interest has always been in the application of new technology to academic practice. I lead the OER Hub research team, running a portfolio of projects examining the impact of open educational practices.

I joined the OU in 1995, as a Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence. I chaired the OU's first major elearning course, T171, in 1999 with nearly 15,000 students. This involved a number of strategic shifts in the OU to make in an online provider. I was the first director of the VLE, recommending the adoption of Moodle. I am currently academic director for the Learning Design project and also Director of the OER Hub.

My research area is in open education and digital scholarship - I blog about this, and have authored two books, The Digital Scholar and the Battle for Open (both available under open licence).

I'm a regular and reasonably well known blogger at Edtechie.net

Biography

Martin Weller is Professor of Educational Technology at the Open University. He chaired the OU's first major elearning course in 1999 with 15,000 students and has led many of the strategic technology developments at the University, including being the first VLE Director. He is currently the Director of the OER Hub research team, which examines the impact of open educational practices.

His interests are in the changing nature of open education, digital scholarship and open educational practice. He blogs at edtechie.net

 

Publications

2023

Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes; Bossu, Carina; Charitonos, Koula; Coughlan, Tim; Deacon, Andrew; Deane, Nawaal; Ferguson, Rebecca; Herodotou, Christothea; Huang, Cheng-Wen; Mayisela, Tabisa; Rets, Irina; Sargent, Julia; Scanlon, Eileen; Small, Janet; Walji, Sukaina; Weller, Martin and Whitelock, Denise (). Innovating Pedagogy 2023: Open University Innovation Report 11. The Open University, Milton Keynes.
Bozkurt, Aras; Gjelsvik, Torunn; Adam, Taskeen; Asino, Tutaleni I.; Atenas, Javiera; Bali, Maha; Blomgren, Constance; Bond, Melissa; Bonk, Curtis J.; Brown, Mark; Burgos, Daniel; Conrad, Dianne; Costello, Eamon; Cronin, Catherine; Czerniewicz, Laura; Deepwell, Maren; Deimann, Markus; DeWaard, Helen J.; Dousay, Tonia A.; Ebner, Martin; Farrow, Robert; Gil-Jaurena, Inés; Havemann, Leo; Inamorato, Andreia; Irvine, Valerie; Karunanayaka, Shironica P.; Kerres, Michael; Lambert, Sarah; Lee, Kyungmee; Makoe, Mpine; Marín, Victoria I.; Mikroyannidis, Alexander; Mishra, Sanjaya; Naidu, Som; Nascimbeni, Fabio; Nichols, Mark; Olcott, Don; Ossiannilsson, Ebba; Otto, Daniel; Padilla Rodriguez, Brenda Cecilia; Paskevicius, Michael; Roberts, Verena; Saleem, Tooba; Schuwer, Robert; Sharma, Ramesh C.; Stewart, Bonnie; Stracke, Christian M.; Tait, Alan; Tlili, Ahmed; Ubachs, George; Weidlich, Joshua; Weller, Martin; Xiao, Junhong and Zawacki-Richter, Olaf. (). Openness in Education as a Praxis: From Individual Testimonials to Collective Voices. Open Praxis, 15 (2) pp. 76-112.
Farrow, Robert; Weller, Martin; Pitt, Rebecca; Iniesto, Francisco; Algers, Anne; Almousa, Samia; Baas, Marjon; Bentley, Penny; Bozkurt, Aras; Butler, Walter; Cardoso, Paula; Chtena, Natascha; Cox, Glenda; Czerwonogora, Ada; Dabrowski, Michael T.; Darby, Robert; DeWaard, Helen; Kathy, Essmiller; Johanna, Funk; Jenni, Hayman; Emily, Helton; Huth, Kate; Hutton, Sarah C.; Iyinolakan, Olawale; Johnson, Kathryn R.; Jordan, Katy; Kuhn, Caroline; Lambert, Sarah; Mittelmeier, Jenna; Nagashima, Tomo; Nerantzi, Chrissi; O'Reilly, Jessica; Paskevicius, Michael; Peramunugamage, Anuradha; Pete, Judith; Power, Virginia; Pulker, Hélène; Rabin, Eyal; Rets, Irina; Roberts, Verena; Rodés, Virginia; Sousa, Lorena; Spica, Elizabeth; Vizgirda, Vidminas; Vladimirschi, Viviane and Witthaus, Gabi (). The Go-GN Open Research Handbook. Milton Keynes: Global OER Graduate Network.
Weller, Martin (). The Rise and Development of Digital Education. In: Zawacki-Richter, Olaf and Jung, Insung eds. Handbook of Open, Distance and Digital Education Springer, pp. 75-91.
Weller, Martin. (). Microcredentials: Why, what and how – Editorial. Journal of Interactive Media in Education.

2022

Weller, M.; Pitt, B.; Iniesto, F.; Farrow, R. and Bossu, C. (). Annual Review 2022. Global OER Graduate Network.
Farrow, Robert; Baas, Marjon; Cardoso, Paula; Cox, Glenda; Czerwonogora, Ada; DeWaard, Helen; Essmiller, Kathy; Helton, Emily; Huth, Kate; Iniesto, Francisco; Johnson, Kathryn; Peramunugamage, Anuradha; Pitt, Rebecca; Sousa, Lorena; Vizgirda, Vidiminas and Weller, Martin (). GO-GN Research Review 2022. Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN). The Open University (UK).
Weller, Martin (). Metaphors of Ed Tech. Canada: Athabasca University Press.
Weller, Martin (). The Rise and Development of Digital Education. In: Zawacki-Richter, Olaf and Jung, Insung eds. Handbook of Open, Distance and Digital Education Singapore: Springer, pp. 1-17.
Iniesto, Francisco; Ferguson, Rebecca; Weller, Martin; Farrow, Robert and Pitt, Rebecca. (). Introducing a reflective framework for the assessment and recognition of microcredentials. Open Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association (OTESSA) Journal, 2 (2) pp. 1-24.
Iniesto, Francisco; Pitt, Rebecca; Weller, Martin; Farrow, Robert; Cronin, Catherine; Funk, Johanna; Lambert, Sarah; Nerantzi, Chrissi; Paskevicius, Michael; Pete, Judith; Roberts, Verena; Rodes, Virginia and Vladimirschi, Viviane (). The GO-GN Fellowship reflections report. Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN). The Open University (UK).

2021

Weller, Martin; Pitt, Rebecca; Iniesto, Francisco; Farrow, Robert; Bossu, Carina and Vladimirschi, Viviane (). GO-GN Annual Review 2021. Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN). The Open University (UK).
Farrow, Robert; Iniesto, Francisco; Weller, Martin; Pitt, Rebecca; Algers, Anne; Bozkurt, Aras; Cox, Glenda; Czerwonogora, Ada; Elias, Tanya; Essmiller, Kathy; Funk, Johanna; Lambert, Sarah; Mittelmeier, Jenna; Nagashima, Tomo; Rabin, Eyal; Rets, Irina; Spica, Elizabeth; Vladimirschi, Viviane and Witthaus, Gabi (). GO-GN Guide to Conceptual Frameworks. Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN). The Open University (UK).
Farrow, Robert; Ferguson, Rebecca; Weller, Martin; Pitt, Rebecca; Sanzgiri, Janesh and Habib, Mustafa. (). Assessment and Recognition of MOOCs: The State of the Art. Journal of Innovation in Polytechnic Education, 3 (1) pp. 15-26.
Iniesto, Francisco; Weller, Martin and Roberts, Sarah. (). Lessons learnt from the Cardiff CPD development programme. In: EDEN 30th Annual Conference 2021, 21-24 Jun, Madrid.

2020

Weller, Martin; Pitt, Rebecca; Iniesto, Francisco and Farrow, Robert (). GO-GN Annual Review 2020. Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN).
Farrow, Robert; Iniesto, Francisco; Weller, Martin and Pitt, Rebecca (). GO-GN Research Methods Handbook. Milton Keynes: Global OER Gradate Network.
Weller, Martin (). Open and Free Access to Education for All. In: Burgos, D eds. Radical Solutions and Open Science Singapore: Springer, pp. 1-15.
Weller, Martin (). 25 Years of Ed Tech. Canada: Athabasca University Press.
Pitt, Rebecca; Jordan, Katy; de los Arcos, Beatriz; Farrow, Robert and Weller, Martin. (). Supporting open educational practices through open textbooks. Distance Education, 41 (2) pp. 303-318.

2019

Coughlan, Tim; Lister, Kate; Seale, Jane; Scanlon, Eileen and Weller, Martin (). Accessible Inclusive Learning: Foundations. In: Ferguson, Rebecca; Jones, Ann and Scanlon, Eileen eds. Educational visions: The lessons from 40 years of innovation London: Ubiquity press, pp. 51-73.
Coughlan, Tim; Lister, Kate; Seale, Jane; Scanlon, Eileen and Weller, Martin (). Accessible Inclusive Learning: Futures. In: Ferguson, Rebecca; Jones, Ann and Scanlon, Eileen eds. Educational visions: The lessons from 40 years of innovation London: Ubiquity press, pp. 75-91.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Coughlan, Tim; Egelandsdal, Kjetil; Gaved, Mark; Herodotou, Christothea; Hillaire, Garron; Jones, Derek; Jowers, Iestyn; Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes; McAndrew, Patrick; Misiejuk, Kamila; Ness, Ingun Johanna; Rienties, Bart; Scanlon, Eileen; Sharples, Mike; Wasson, Barbara; Weller, Martin and Whitelock, Denise (). Innovating Pedagogy 2019: Open University Innovation Report 7. The Open University, Milton Keynes.
Pitt, Rebecca; Farrow, Robert; Jordan, Katy; de los Arcos, Beatriz; Weller, Martin; Kernohan, D and Rolfe, V (). The UK Open Textbooks Report. Open Education Research Hub.
Weller, Martin; Farrow, Robert and Pitt, Rebecca. (). GO-GN: Lessons in Building an Open Research Community. In: Pan Commonwealth Forum 9 (PCF9), 9-12 Sep 2019, Edinburgh, Scotland.

2018

Weller, Martin; van Ameijde, Jitse and Cross, Simon. (). Learning Design for Student Retention. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice.
Weller, Martin. (). Twenty Years of Edtech. Educause Review Online, 53 (4) pp. 34-48.
Weller, Martin. (). The Digital Scholar Revisited. The Digital Scholar: Philosopher’s Lab, 1 (2) pp. 52-71.
Weller, Martin; Jordan, Katy; DeVries, Irwin and Rolfe, Viv. (). Mapping the open education landscape: citation network analysis of historical open and distance education research. Open Praxis, 10 (2) pp. 109-126.
de los Arcos, Beatriz and Weller, Martin (). A Tale of Two Globes: Exploring the North/South Divide in Engagement with Open Educational Resources. In: Schöpfel, Joachim and Herb, Ulrich eds. Open Divide: Critical Studies on Open Access Sacramento, CA: Litwin Books, pp. 147-155.

2017

Jordan, Katy and Weller, Martin (). Openness and education: a beginner’s guide. Global OER Graduate Network.
Weller, Martin (). The development of new disciplines in Education – the Open Education example. In: dos Santos Ferreira, Giselle Martins; da Silva Rosado, Luiz Alexandre and de Sá Carvalho, Jaciara eds. Education and Technology: critical approaches Rio de Janeiro: Universidade Estácio de Sá, pp. 464-486.
Weller, Martin; de los Arcos, Beatriz; Farrow, Robert; Pitt, Rebecca and McAndrew, Patrick (). What Can OER Do for Me? Evaluating the Claims for OER. In: Jhangiani, R. S. and Biswas-Diener, R. eds. Open: The Philosophy and Practices that are Revolutionizing Education and Science London, UK: Ubiquity Press, pp. 67-78.

2016

Weller, Martin; de los Arcos, Beatriz; Farrow, Rob; Pitt, Rebecca and McAndrew, Patrick (). Identifying Categories of Open Educational Resource Users. In: Blessinger, Patrick and Bliss, TJ eds. Open Education: International Perspectives in Higher Education Open Book Publishers, pp. 73-92.
Farrow, Rob; Perryman, Leigh-Anne; de los Arcos, Beatriz; Weller, Martin and Pitt, Rebecca (). OER Hub Researcher Pack. Milton Keynes, UK: OER Hub.
Sharples, Mike; de Roock, Roberto; Ferguson, Rebecca; Gaved, Mark; Herodotou, Christothea; Koh, Elizabeth; Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes; Looi, Chee-Kit; McAndrew, Patrick; Rienties, Bart; Weller, Martin and Wong, Lung Hsiang (). Innovating Pedagogy 2016: Open University Innovation Report 5. The Open University.
Pitt, Rebecca; de los Arcos, Beatriz; Farrow, Rob and Weller, Martin (). Open Research. Milton Keynes, UK: OER Hub.
Weller, Martin. (). Different Aspects of the Emerging OER Discipline. Revista Educacao e Cultura Contemporanea.
Weller, Martin. (). The Open Flip – a digital economic model for education. Journal of Learning for Development - JL4D, 3 (2) pp. 26-34.
Brasher, Andrew; Weller, Martin and McAndrew, Patrick. (). How to design for persistence and retention in MOOCs?. In: MOOCs in Europe, EADTU, 179-187.
de los Arcos, Beatriz; Farrow, Robert; Pitt, Rebecca; Weller, Martin and McAndrew, Patrick. (). Adapting the Curriculum: How K-12 Teachers Perceive the Role of Open Educational Resources. Journal of Online Learning Research, 2 (1) pp. 23-40.

2015

Farrow, Robert; de los Arcos, Beatriz; Pitt, Rebecca and Weller, Martin. (). Who are the Open Learners? A Comparative Study Profiling non-Formal Users of Open Educational Resources. EURODL (European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning), 18 (2) pp. 50-74.
Weller, Martin; de los Arcos, Bea; Farrow, Rob; Pitt, Beck and McAndrew, Patrick. (). The Impact of OER on Teaching and Learning Practice. Open Praxis, 7 (4) pp. 351-361.
Farrow, Robert; Pitt, Rebecca; de los Arcos, Beatriz; Perryman, Leigh-Anne; Weller, Martin and McAndrew, Patrick. (). Impact of OER use on teaching and learning: data from OER Research Hub (2013–2014). British Journal of Educational Technology, 46 (5) pp. 972-976.
Weller, Martin. (). MOOCs and the Silicon Valley Narrative. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2015 (1) pp. 1-7.
de los Arcos, Beatriz; Farrow, Robert; Pitt, Rebecca; Perryman, Leigh-Anne; Weller, Martin and McAndrew, Patrick (). OER Research Hub Data 2013-2015: Educators. Open Education Research Hub.
de los Arcos, Beatriz; Farrow, Robert; Pitt, Rebecca; Perryman, Leigh-Anne; Weller, Martin and McAndrew, Patrick (). OER Research Hub Data 2013-2015: Formal Learners. Open Education Research Hub.
de los Arcos, Beatriz; Farrow, Robert; Pitt, Rebecca; Perryman, Leigh-Anne; Weller, Martin and McAndrew, Patrick (). OER Research Hub Data 2013-2015: Informal Learners. Open Education Research Hub.

2014

de los Arcos, B.; Farrow, R.; Perryman, L.-A.; Pitt, R. and Weller, M. (). OER Evidence Report 2013-2014. OER Research Hub.

2013

Weller, Martin. (). The Battle for Open - a perspective. Journal of Interactive Media in Education.
Weller, Martin and Anderson, Terry. (). Digital resilience in higher education. European Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 16 (1) pp. 53.

2012

Weller, Martin. (). Digital scholarship and the tenure process as an indicator of change in universities. RUSC. Universities and Knowledge Society Journal, 9 (2) pp. 347-360.
Weller, Martin (). The Virtues of Blogging as Scholarly Activity. Chronicle of Higher Education, US.
Weller, Martin. (). The openness-creativity cycle in education: a perpsective. Journal of Interactive Media in Education.

2011

Weller, Martin. (). A pedagogy of abundance. Spanish Journal of Pedagogy, 249 pp. 223-236.
Siemens, George and Weller, Martin. (). Higher education and the promises and perils of social network. Revista de Universidad y Sociedad del Conocimiento (RUSC), 8 (1) pp. 164-170.

2010

Weller, Martin. (). Big and little OER. In: OpenED2010: Seventh Annual Open Education Conference, 2-4 Nov 2010, Barcelona, Spain.
Weller, Martin. (). The centralisation dilemma in educational IT. International Journal of Virtual and Personal Learning Environments, 1 (1) pp. 1-9.

2009

Weller, Martin and Dalziel, James (). Bridging the gap between Web 2.0 and higher education. In: Hatzipanagos, Stylianos and Warburton, Steven eds. Handbook of Research on Social Software and Developing Community Ontologies PA, USA: IGI, pp. 1659-1671.

2008

Conole, Grainne; Brasher, Andrew; Cross, Simon; Weller, Martin; Nixon, Stewart; Clark, Paul and Petit, John. (). A new methodology for learning design. In: Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications (EDMEDIA), 30 Jun - 4 Jul 2008, Vienna.
Cross, Simon; Conole, Grainne; Clark, Paul; Brasher, Andrew and Weller, Martin. (). Mapping a landscape of learning design: Identifying key trends in current practice at the Open University. In: 2008 European LAMS Conference, 25-27 Jun 2008, Cadiz, Spain.
Conole, Grainne; Brasher, Andrew; Cross, Simon; Weller, Martin; Clark, Paul and Culver, Juliette. (). Visualising learning design to foster and support good practice and creativity. Educational Media International, 45 (3) pp. 177-194.
Conole, Grainne and Weller, Martin. (). Using learning design as a framework for supporting the design and reuse of OER. Journal of Interactive Media in Education.
Brasher, Andrew; Conole, Gráinne; Cross, Simon; Weller, Martin; Clark, Paul and White, Juliette. (). CompendiumLD – a tool for effective, efficient and creative learning design. In: Proceedings of the 2008 European LAMS Conference: Practical Benefits of Learning Design, 25-27 Jun 2008, Cadiz, Spain.

2007

Weller, Martin. (). Learning objects, learning design, and adoption through succession. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 19 (1) pp. 26-47.

2006

McAndrew, Patrick; Weller, Martin and Barret-Baxendale, Mark. (). Learning Design and Service Oriented Architectures:a mutual dependency?. Journal of Learning Design, 1 (3) pp. 51-60.
Weller, Martin; Little, Alex; McAndrew, Patrick and Woods, Will. (). Learning Design, generic service descriptions and universal acid. Educational Technology and Society, 9 (1) pp. 138-145.

2005

Weller, Martin; Mason, Robin and Pegler, Chris. (). Students’ experience of component versus integrated Virtual Learning Environments. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 21 (4) pp. 253-259.
Mason, R D; Pegler, C A and Weller, M J. (). A learning object success story. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 9 (1) pp. 97-105.
Weller, Martin; Pegler, Chris and Mason, Robin. (). Use of innovative technologies on an e-learning course. The Internet and Higher Education, 8 (1) pp. 61-71.

2004

Mason, Robin; Pegler, Chris and Weller, Martin. (). E-portfolios: an assessment tool for online courses. British Journal of Educational Technology, 35 (6) pp. 717-727.

2003

Weller, Martin (). E-learning. In: Jones, D. C. eds. The New economy handbook San Diego, USA: Academic Press, pp. 1044-1068.

2002

Weller, Martin and Robinson, Ley. (). Scaling up an online course to deal with 12,000 students. Education, Communication and Information, 1 (3) pp. 307-323.
Weller, Martin. (). Assessment issues on a web-based course. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 27 (2) pp. 109-116.
MacDonald, Janet; Weller, Martin and Mason, Robin. (). Meeting the assessment demands of networked courses. International Journal on E-Learning, 1 (1) pp. 9-18.

2000

Media appearances

Google and friends put the ‘open’ back into MOOCs

The Conversation | 9th December 2013

MOOCs and the battle to open up higher education

The Conversation | 5th July 2013