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
Iniesto, Francisco; Pitt, Beck; Farrow, Rob; Bossu, Carina and Weller, Martin. (). The Global OER Graduate Network: an example of a Community of Care - La Red Global de Estudiantes de Doctorado en Educación Abierta: un ejemplo de una Comunidad de Cuidado. In: 9° International Conference On Education Innovation, Jan 16-18, Monterrey, Mexico.
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; 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).
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.
Weller, Martin. (). The UK Open University COVID Response: A Sector Case Study. OTESSA Journal, 2 (1) pp. 1-13.
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.
Farrow, Robert; Pitt, Rebecca and Weller, Martin. (). Open Textbooks as an innovation route for open science pedagogy. Education for Information, 36 (3) pp. 227-245.
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.
Orr, Dominic; Weller, Martin and Farrow, Robert. (). How is Digitalisation Affecting the Flexibility and Openness of Higher Education Provision? Results of a Global Survey Using a New Conceptual Model. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2019 (1) pp. 1-12.
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.
Orr, Dominic; Weller, Martin and Farrow, Rob. (). How is Digitalisation Affecting the Flexibility and Openness of Higher Education Provision? Results of a Global Survey Using a New Conceptual Model. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2019 (1) pp. 1-12.
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.
Orr, Dominic; Weller, Martin and Farrow, Robert (). Models for online, open, flexible and technology enhanced higher education across the globe – a comparative analysis. International Council for Distance Education.
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.
Jordan, Katy and Weller, Martin. (). Communication, collaboration and identity: factor analysis of academics’ perceptions of online networking. Research in Learning Technology.
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.
Jordan, Katy and Weller, Martin. (). Academics and Social Networking Sites: Benefits, Problems and Tensions in Professional Engagement with Online Networking. Journal of Interactive Media in Education.
2017
Ferguson, Rebecca; Barzilai, Sarit; Ben-Zvi, Dani; Chinn, Clark A; Herodotou, Christothea; Hod, Yotam; Kali, Yael; Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes; Kupermintz, Haggai; McAndrew, Patrick; Rienties, Bart; Sagy, Ornit; Scanlon, Eileen; Sharples, Mike; Weller, Martin and Whitelock, Denise (). Innovating Pedagogy 2017: Exploring new forms of teaching, learning and assessment, to guide educators and policy makers. Open University Innovation Report 6. The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.
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
Weller, Martin (). The Battle for Open: How openness won and why it doesn't feel like victory. London: Ubiquity Press.
de los Arcos, B.; Farrow, R.; Perryman, L.-A.; Pitt, R. and Weller, M. (). OER Evidence Report 2013-2014. OER Research Hub.
Lane, Andy; Caird, Sally and Weller, Martin. (). The potential social, economic and environmental benefits of MOOCs: operational and historical comparisons with a massive ‘closed online’ course. Open Praxis, 6 (2) pp. 115-123.
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
Cross, Simon; Galley, Rebecca; Brasher, Andrew and Weller, Martin (). OULDI-JISC Project Evaluation Report: the impact of new curriculum design tools and approaches on institutional process and design cultures. OULDI Project (Open University).
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 (). The Digital Scholar: How Technology Is Transforming Scholarly Practice. Basingstoke: Bloomsbury Academic.
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.
Pearce, Nick; Weller, Martin; Scanlon, Eileen and Kinsley, Samuel. (). Digital scholarship considered: how new technologies could transform academic work. In Education.
Weller, Martin. (). The centralisation dilemma in educational IT. International Journal of Virtual and Personal Learning Environments, 1 (1) pp. 1-9.
2009
Weller, Martin. (). Using learning environments as a metaphor for educational change. On the Horizon, 17 (3) pp. 181-189.
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. (). The distance from isolation: Why communities are the logical conclusion in e-learning. Computers and Education, 49 (2) pp. 148-159.
Weller, Martin (). Virtual Learning Environments: Using, Choosing and Developing your VLE. Oxford, UK: Routledge.
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 (). Delivering Learning on the Net: the why, what and how of online education. London, UK: RoutledgeFalmer.
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
Weller, Martin J.. (). The use of narrative to provide a cohesive structure for a web based computing course. Journal of Interactive Media in Education.
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
Projects
Research programmes
Professional memberships
- Principal Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy