Open Learning Initiative (OLI)¶
Product or Programme · All products and programmes
Evidence · 6 claims (3 for, 3 mixed) · 9 studies (7 causal, 2 quant-synthesis),q2–q4· 3 of 9 report an effect size · 4 claims rest on one study
Description¶
Open Learning Initiative is Carnegie Mellon University's online courseware and learning-platform project, offering openly available and credit-bearing courses with automated instructional and assessment features.
Components¶
- OLI cost structure: low or no cost courses with per-student maintenance fees for credit delivery: The report details OLI's cost components for implementers. OLI "does not incur any personnel costs beyond those normally associated with teaching a course"; most courses are free to independent learners, though a few charge a $10 maintenance fee. For credit-bearing delivery, "Most OLI courses delivered for credit will charge students a maintenance fee of $25, with fees ranging from $10 to $80 per student." Development was funded by the Hewlett, Gates, Kresge, Lumina, NSF, Spencer, and Walter S. Johnson foundations, with ongoing support from Carnegie Mellon University. (Open Learning Initiative (OLI))
- Open Learning Initiative (OLI) online courseware with embedded feedback activities and instructor dashboard: OLI is Carnegie Mellon University's online course platform providing "online courses and learning materials to instructors and learners at low or no cost" in blended or purely online formats. Its components include learning objectives on every course page, expository materials, two embedded activity types — "Learn by Doing activities" for practicing skills and "Did I Get This?" self-assessments — with immediate feedback addressing misconceptions, checkpoint quizzes, a Learning Dashboard giving instructors real-time student-level progress and accuracy data, and a gradebook. Instructors may optionally add one to two hours of weekly face-to-face reinforcement. (Open Learning Initiative (OLI))
Claims¶
- OLI has mixed effects on academic achievement among postsecondary students [~M]
- OLI has potentially positive effects on credit accumulation and persistence among postsecondary students [+M]
- Only three of twelve identified OLI studies met WWC group design standards [~W] — (also cited [-W])
- OLI statistics students completed the semester's material in approximately half the regularly scheduled time [+W]
- OLI evidence base covers community college and postsecondary students across diverse racial and ethnic groups [+W]
- Suh et al. (2019) found a positive but non-significant effect on course passing rate (effect size 0.80) and a negative non-significant effect on final exam score [~W]
Related Products and Programmes¶
-
Key Sources¶
- What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. (2020, January). Supporting Postsecondary Success intervention report: Open Learning Initiative (OLI). https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/InterventionReport/698
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
product |
id |
open-learning-initiative-oli |
title |
Open Learning Initiative (OLI) |
description |
Open Learning Initiative is Carnegie Mellon University's online courseware and learning-platform project, offering openly available and credit-bearing courses with automated instructional and assessment features. |
status |
review |
moved_from |
element/oli-cost-structure-maintenance-fees, element/oli-online-courseware-element |
product_kind |
software |
generated |
by process:sweep-kinds on 2026-10-10 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — what-works-clearinghouse-institute-of |
Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.