[jvvw]

It's worth saying that the OU model partly works because of an economy of scale (a small module for the OU probably has a couple of hundred students, many have thousands).

A huge amount of work is put into making the modules high quality. Modules are written by teams not individuals and there is a specific process with reviewing etc involved which includes modules going through 'developmental testing' where they basically pilot the whole module with students (who I believe do the module for free) before releasing it properly. Having worked at traditional universities, the different in effort involved is orders of magnitude.

The modules generally use the 'flipped classroom' model to some extent. Students have a tutor who supports them and there are tutorials (all online at the moment obviously) and although there is teaching in tutorials, they is an expectation that they support the course content - perhaps explaining key ideas or addressing common misconceptions - rather than being the central means of delivering course content.

Also worth mentioning that the OU has invested hugely over the years into research into what works and doesn't work in terms of remote education and compared with traditional universities where I have worked, teaching is more valued.