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I received this media release from OpenLearning this morning. Seems like potential good news on the horizon

OpenLearning confirms its platform is accessible in mainland China and has over 10,000 unique registered learners from the country

Highlights

▪ OpenLearning’s platform is fully accessible to people in mainland China

▪ OpenLearning’s platform is capable of delivering courses developed in Chinese

▪ Total of 10,470 unique users from mainland China have used OpenLearning

▪ OpenLearning is in a strong position to support universities and higher education providers as they explore online learning as a means of teaching international students globally

Sydney, Australia, February 13, 2020: Higher education software as a service (SaaS) company OpenLearning Limited (‘OpenLearning’ or ‘the Company’)has received a number of enquiries from new and existing clients concerning the accessibility and usage of its platform in mainland China and whether it is able to assist universities who are impacted by COVID-19, the novel coronavirus.

OpenLearning is pleased to confirm that its platform is fully accessible by students in mainland China, including its full range of project-based learning and collaboration tools, as well as the ability to upload videos directly to the platform and for students in mainland China to watch the videos.

The OpenLearning platform is actively used by students in mainland China, with a total of 10,470 registered users accessing the platform since it was launched. The top 5 cities in mainland China by the number of registered students on OpenLearning are: Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chongqing, which together account for 31.67% of the total.

OpenLearning may help education providers reach students unable to enter Australia

The travel restrictions put in place by the Australian Government in an effort to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus have prevented a significant number of international students from entering Australia. This has the potential to negatively impact universities and private higher education provider’s revenue in the short and medium-term.

Recent media reports have indicated that universities are exploring the feasibility of offering online courses to students who are currently in mainland China for the upcoming semester and as a ‘backup’ option in the event of natural disasters or health emergencies.

OpenLearning’s combination of a scalable cloud learning platform, professional services and education marketplace targeting Australia and Southeast Asia, enables it to provide universities and higher education providers with a range of solutions that can:

• Deliver their undergraduate and postgraduate courses online via its scalable cloud learning platform to international students to continue with their studies as planned;
• Diversify their revenue streams through the delivery of university-branded online short courses and micro-credentials to bridge the skills gap for working professionals;
• Diversify their sources of international students by raising their brand awareness in Southeast Asia by leveraging OpenLearning’s database of 1.74m learners;
• Secure the pipeline of international students in 2021 by offering university foundation year programs online, offshore and in-country through partners; and,
• Increase engagement of international students by offering large-scale language and enrichment courses to support students at both regional and urban university campuses.

OpenLearning Group CEO & Managing Director Adam Brimo said: “We are pleased to confirm that the OpenLearning platform is fully accessible to learners in mainland China.In addition, OpenLearning is confident in its ability to partner with higher education providers across Australia to enable them to get through these challenging times, diversify their revenue and strengthen their businesses in the long term by delivering quality online education.”