Other country alternative learning systems?

The Open Educational Resources University is actually pioneered by Universities in Australia, Canada and New Zealand to provide academic credit or even a degree to anyone around the world with access to the internet. Educational leaders from all over the world are invited to take part in the process of gathering the information and expertise needed for such a program.

The UK has had an accredited Open University since 1969, which currently allows anyone with internet access to take courses independently (a small number of courses can still be taken using other media such as books, cds and dvds with no need for internet access). There are currently about 600 courses available and 250 qualifications can be obtained, 14 fields are covered for undergraduate degrees – Arts and Humanities, Business and Management, Childhood and Youth, Computing and ICT, Education, Engineering and Technology, Environment/Development/International Studies, Health and Social Care, Languages, Law, Mathematics and Statistics, Psychology, Science and Social Sciences - and there are also postgraduate qualifications. Due to the success of this system, it has inspired other nationally supported Open Universities programs in countries such as India, Israel, Netherlands, Vietnam and China.