University College Falmouth has made a selection of courses and taster sessions from its prestigious MA Professional Writing programme available online free of charge through its pilot open-education platform openSpace.

From budding scriptwriters to those wanting to learn the fundamentals of how to research and write successful fiction series like the Harry Potter and Twilight series - people will find the tools they need to learn the foundation of good writing. openSpace features a complete screenwriting unit, as well as introductory lessons covering how to write non-fiction books, business writing, and how to produce effective features for print and online publications.

Professional Writing's lessons on openSpace are accredited at the Masters level and are the same as those taught to Professional Writing students by industry professionals who teach the course. While there isn't direct communication between the site's users and UCF's tutors, there are forums for registered openSpace users to post their assignments or projects, communicate with one another, and collaborate.

After completing a simple and free registration process, users can provide feedback to their peers, adhering to the feedback protocols provided on the site. To ensure a safe and supportive learning environment, UCF has provided all manner of support information: how lessons work, aims and objectives for each lesson, lecture notes, responsible behaviour guidelines ('Netiquette'), and feedback guidelines. This community approach to open education is key to making openSpace both innovative and exciting.

Other higher-education institutions can also use the lessons to supplement their own curriculum. Through openSpace, UCF's courses can create international partnerships with institutions where a traditional relationship wouldn't ordinarily be possible. These mutually advantageous partnerships are important. While UCF's open education partners benefit from UCF's sharing course materials, UCF gains access to thinking and experiences not traditionally found in the UK. People can bring new ways of examining the concepts and themes based on their own cultures and contribute.

The openSpace pilot was made possible through a £20,000 grant from The Higher Education Academy/JISC Open Educational Resources Programme. JISC and the Higher Education Academy are collaborating on the Open Educational Resources programme, aiming to support UK higher-education institutions in sharing their teaching and learning resources freely online across the world.


These resources showcase the high quality of UK higher education, and the vision is that they will be used, reused, and repurposed globally. Such resources might include full courses, course materials, complete modules, videos, assessments, tests, simulations, or worked examples. The lessons and their supporting materials are shared under a Creative Commons license.