Manage the course.
Organise courses, resources, assessments, administration and communication.
What is OpenStudios?
A place where learning becomes practice.
A digital environment designed to support inquiry, creativity, collaboration and project-based learning.
Why it was created
Bridge the gap between understanding an idea and applying it.
Many educational environments are highly effective at delivering information but less effective at helping people apply that knowledge in meaningful ways. Learners read content, watch videos, complete activities and submit assessments, yet the connection between understanding an idea and applying it to a real challenge can feel fragmented.
OpenStudios was developed through years of teaching and observing how people learn. It helps learners actively work with ideas, develop projects, explore possibilities and create responses to real-world challenges. The goal is not simply to learn about innovation. The goal is to practise innovation.
More than content delivery
Not another Learning Management System.
OpenStudios is not intended to replace a Learning Management System. It serves a different purpose.
Support the learning process.
Create environments where people inquire, make decisions, test ideas, collaborate, reflect and develop work.
01Explore challenges
02Build understanding
03Develop ideas
04Prototype solutions
05Document learning
06Collaborate with others
07Reflect on progress
A studio-based approach
Learn by doing.
The studio has a long history in design, architecture and the creative arts. It is a place where ideas are shared, work becomes visible, feedback occurs continuously and projects evolve through discussion, experimentation and refinement.
OpenStudios adapts this philosophy for contemporary learning environments. Individuals and teams can learn through active participation and project development, regardless of discipline or location.
Collaboration as a learning practice
Understanding develops through interaction with others.
OpenStudios was designed on the belief that meaningful learning often emerges through interaction with others.
Ideas become stronger when they are shared, questioned and refined. Different perspectives reveal assumptions, uncover opportunities and introduce ways of thinking that may not have been considered by an individual working alone. For this reason, collaboration is not treated as an optional activity that sits alongside learning. It is embedded within the learning process itself.
Participants can contribute ideas, share evidence, document discoveries, provide feedback and build upon the work of others. Individual contributions remain visible while collective understanding develops through discussion, reflection and ongoing inquiry.
This approach supports more than teamwork. It encourages learners to engage in shared sensemaking, where knowledge is actively constructed through conversation, critique and exploration. Learners gain opportunities to explain their thinking, challenge assumptions, learn from alternative viewpoints and develop greater confidence in working with complexity.
For educators and facilitators, collaborative activity provides valuable insight into how learning develops within groups. Decisions, disagreements, emerging ideas and moments of discovery become visible, creating opportunities for meaningful feedback and support.
Whether used by students, educators, professionals or organisational teams, OpenStudios helps transform learning from an individual activity into a shared process of inquiry, creation and continuous improvement.
OpenStudios and the framework
The framework offers the map. OpenStudios provides the workspace.
OpenStudios and the 5E Design Thinking Framework were developed together. Both emphasise learning through action, human-centred inquiry, continuous reflection, evidence-informed decision-making, collaboration, experimentation and iteration.
The 5E Design Thinking Framework provides a way of understanding innovation and problem solving. OpenStudios provides an environment in which those practices can occur.
Explore the 5E Design Thinking Framework →Designed for learning, innovation and collaboration
One environment. Many ways to learn through action.
Design thinking
Explore problems, engage stakeholders, generate ideas and develop responses.
Innovation
Investigate opportunities, test assumptions and reduce uncertainty.
Entrepreneurship
Develop concepts, validate customer needs and refine value propositions.
Project-based learning
Connect theory and practice through inquiry-driven learning experiences.
Professional development
Help individuals and teams explore challenges and create meaningful change.
Organisational learning
Support reflection, experimentation and knowledge sharing.
Making thinking visible
Ideas become more useful when people can see, discuss, challenge and refine them.
OpenStudios encourages learners to externalise their thinking through maps, frameworks, notes, visual representations, prototypes and collaborative artefacts. This visibility supports learning and innovation by making it easier for people to develop shared understanding, build upon ideas and recognise how their thinking changes.
Learning is not treated as a linear sequence of completed tasks. People move forwards and backwards, new information changes understanding, projects adapt and questions generate new questions. OpenStudios provides room for that ongoing exploration, reflection and development.
A growing ecosystem
Where understanding becomes action.
OpenStudios continues to evolve alongside the learners, educators, innovators and organisations who use it. Its purpose is to provide a place where ideas become tangible and learning becomes a process of exploration, creation and continuous improvement.