Are you considering broadening your field of expertise in key areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, and cybersecurity in an effort to be more prepared for the current and future workplace?
The Open Institute of Technology (OPIT) offers both BSc and MSc degrees in areas such as Modern Computer Science, Digital Innovation, Applied AI, and Data Science that are designed to be dynamic and practical, constantly responding to advances in the field. And all OPIT courses are fully remote, attracting students from around the globe and providing asynchronous learning opportunities. This creates a flexibility that allows you to coordinate your studies around your other commitments, whether that be a challenging job or a busy family. So you can study when it’s convenient for you.
But what is it truly like to study online? Lucas Tecchio, head of Digital Content Creation at OPIT, recently took us on a deep dive into how OPIT’s courses are designed and delivered to help you understand what to expect from earning an OPIT degree.
Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Learning
Tecchio explained that OPIT’s courses combine synchronous and asynchronous content elements to create a dynamic learning environment that is both flexible and keeps students on track.
There are live sessions with professors, as well as content that is released in weekly modules to maintain the pace of the course. This is paired with videos, readings, practice tasks, and discussion forums that can be accessed at any time based on module release. Recordings of live sessions are also made available, so you don’t miss anything.
You can also choose to study at your own pace, through either the regular track – usually three years – or the fast track, in which you complete the course in two years. You receive the same quality education if you select the fast track, which is merely more intensive and requires additional time. But you get to select which track of study works best for you.
PERES Methodology
All OPIT course content is designed according to the PERES Methodology to optimize quality and engagement. Tecchio explained that the PERES Methodology means:
- Practicality – All theoretical concepts are reinforced with practical application
- Elegance – Learning material is well-presented for enhanced engagement and clarity
- Rigor – Content is academically rigorous
- Energy – Course content is delivered with an energy that keeps students engaged
- Simplicity – Materials are designed to make content accessible
Online Portal
All OPIT’s courses are delivered through its online portal called Canvas, where all course material can also be accessed.
According to Tecchio, when you log in, you can access all the individual courses that make up your program. You can also receive a general overview of your current stage in the program and what you need to do for all your courses, thanks to calendar and to-do list options.
When you select individual courses, you will see live weekly modules with links to the relevant content, including live sessions, videos, reading materials, and more.
Canvas is a self-contained and highly navigable portal that helps you stay organized and on track.
Competence-Based Learning and Progressive Assessment
Tecchio explained that OPIT’s courses are designed to teach both theory and competency, ensuring you can put what you have learned into practice. In the case of MSc courses, this culminates with the Capstone Project, which lets you apply everything you have learned to real business challenges.
In fact, every stage of the course follows the same philosophy – you will find yourself conducting practice tasks, performing live coding, and analyzing real study cases.
This philosophy carries through to assessment, which is progressive, rather than based on final exams and projects. This ensures that you are on track throughout the course, rather than left struggling at the end of the course.
For example, if you take the web development course, your main task will be to develop a website or app, and there are three stages to the project. By week four, you’ll be required to produce a prototype for your project. By week eight, you will produce a working version, and by the end of the course, you will have a fully tested and optimized version. These types of assessments can be done individually or as a group project, reflecting real workplace dynamics.
Professional Certifications
Many courses prepare you for professional certifications that are desired by many workplaces. Tecchio explained that while you still need to be tested and apply for the official certification, OPIT will fully prepare you to pass the testing without additional study.
You can receive professional certification in:
- Computer networks: CompTIA Network+
- Project management and quality assurance: Prince2Foundation, CAPM
- Cloud computing infrastructure: AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials
- Network security and intrusion detection: CISSP
- AI-Driven forensic analytics in cybersecurity: GCFA
Student Support System
While studying online can sometimes feel like an isolated journey, Tecchio explained that OPIT does everything it can to build a dynamic community where you can receive significant student support to keep you connected and on track.
There are four main sources of student support.
The program coordinator helps with administrative issues. They handle onboarding, assist with the learning platform, organize additional events, and have virtual office hours that you can take advantage of whenever you need support.
Our team of 50+ academic and professional tutors not only delivers live lectures but is also an accessible source of knowledge and guidance. The faculty is a mix of experienced professors and active professionals who are leaders in their field and possess active real-world experience they can share with students. The faculty includes leaders like Zorina Alliata, Principal AI and Generative AI Strategist at Amazon, and Sylvester Kaczmarek, a former AI expert at NASA and WeSpace.
The Career Services team can assist with the transition from study to the workplace. The team delivers career coaching, organizes masterclasses with industry experts, and facilitates internship opportunities.
OPIT AI Copilot
This support team is now joined by OPIT AI Copilot, an AI agent that is specifically designed to be a personal learning companion. Unlike most generative AI agents, OPIT AI Copilot is trained on OPIT’s extensive range of learning materials, so it is highly fit for purpose. It also knows where students currently are in their course and can focus on the competencies that they are on track to master.
You can use OPIT AI Copilot to get immediate answers to questions based on OPIT’s course materials. It can also help students locate relevant resources, summarize the key takeaways from lectures to facilitate revision. Additionally, it can create practice tests based on the course materials, and prepare students for assessments through simulations.
OPIT Degrees
Online learning is often perceived as a lesser substitute for live learning experiences. But OPIT has superseded this by designing a dynamic online, asynchronous learning environment that promotes personalized education that works for individual students based on their lifestyle, time commitments, and learning style. It is not a substitute, but a new way of learning that represents the future of education.
Learn more about OPIT’s programs and courses and whether OPIT might be the right learning option for you.
Related posts
2025 has come to a close, with 2026 already underway. There are many exciting events ahead and future milestones to aim for and look forward to. But it’s also the ideal time to look back over the last 12 months, exploring the most notable achievements we’ve made, lessons we’ve learned, and important moments to reflect on as the new year continues for OPIT’s staff, students, and broader community.
1. Student Commitment
Studying isn’t always easy. It involves long days, and even long evenings sometimes, with a seemingly never-ending series of tasks to accomplish and goals to aim for. It can take a lot out of even the most hard-working and dedicated individuals.
Yet, despite the hardships and challenges, OPIT students demonstrated remarkable resilience, continuous curiosity, and indefatigable determination throughout 2025. Looking back on the year, students at all levels of the OPIT community should feel proud and celebrate their accomplishments.
2. Podcast Launch
2025 saw a lot of new arrivals at OPIT, with fresh projects and innovations arriving on the scene. Chief among them was the OPIT EDGE Podcast, an exciting addition to the institute’s ever-expanding multimedia offerings.
There have already been several episodes of the podcast for students and technology enthusiasts in general to enjoy, with the first episode of this student-driven project involving an in-depth discussion with industry expert Matteo Zangani on the potential of quantum AI technology.
3. Success Stories
While many new students have joined the OPIT ranks in 2025 and will also do so in 2026, others have now achieved their educational objectives and are already moving on to the next exciting steps and chapters in their personal and professional lives.
There are so many inspiring success stories from the last 12 months, it’s impossible to list them all. But just one notable example has to be Maria Brilaki, who recently concluded her Master’s in Responsible AI, defending a powerful thesis related to non-invasive glucose monitoring through near-infrared spectroscopy and machine learning.
4. Graduation in Malta
2025 was a big year of firsts for OPIT, including the institute’s first official graduation ceremony, which took place on March 8 at a grand ceremony in Malta, honoring the achievements of dozens of applied data science and AI graduates.
The hybrid event was open to both in-person and virtual attendees, bringing together members of the OPIT community from across the world. It was a huge moment for the graduates themselves and a thrilling milestone for OPI – a testament to all the hard work that has gone into building this institute.
5. OPIT AI Copilot
Artificial intelligence is the technology of the moment, and OPIT isn’t just dedicated to teaching the next-generation of technology leaders how to work with AI responsibly and efficiently; it’s also interested in harnessing the powers and potential of AI to improve its educational offerings, too.
This culminated in the development and release of OPIT AI Copilot in 2025. This groundbreaking AI tool now provides real-time, personalized learning support, along with contextual assistance, and is available on a round-the-clock basis for students to turn to, as and when they feel the need.
6. Hackathons
2025 also saw OPIT students and faculty take more active roles in various events, including hackathons. In November, for example, OPIT got involved with the 6th edition of the ESCP Hackathon, with several students entering as developers.
This was an exciting and unique opportunity for those students to meet up in person, put the skills they’ve honed during their time at OPIT to the test in a challenging environment, and learn from one another. OPIT will surely participate in more hackathons in the years to come, so stay tuned for more details on upcoming events and how you can play your part.
7. Strengthening Collaboration
From day one, OPIT has focused on building a strong network of established technology and business partners, opening doors and providing opportunities for both education and employment for its students.
This continued throughout 2025, with OPIT strengthening its connections with a number of world-leading organizations, including Accenture, AWS, Hype, Buffetti, and more. Through events like hackathons, career fairs, and more, OPIT makes the most of its ever-expanding and increasingly impressive professional network.
8. Online Career Fair
Another big first for 2025 was the inaugural OPIT Online Career Fair, an event that was held on November 19 and 20, with more than a dozen established and emerging companies from around the world in attendance, including the likes of Deloitte, Tinexta Cyber, Datapizza, RWS Group, Planet Farms, and Nesperia Group.
The only nature of this event ensured that students all enjoyed equal access, no matter where they were based, and everyone was able to hear from industry experts and enjoy the unique array of opportunities on offer, forging their own connections and learning more about brands they might like to work with or for in the future.
9. Education Innovation
OPIT has always been about innovating, delivering newer and smarter ways to learn for students across the globe, no matter their background, budget, or social class. And the institute has continually innovated over the course of 2025, helping students learn skills and broaden their knowledge efficiently and intuitively.
As we enter 2026, OPIT’s innovation is set to be on full display once more, with no less than two new courses for new applicants to choose from: AI-Driven Software Development (Elective) and Business Intelligence and Decision Making (Elective).
10. The Power of the OPIT Community
Perhaps the crowning achievement for OPIT in 2025 was the demonstrable success of not just individual students or faculty members, but the entire OPIT community, as a whole. Everyone, from alumni to new students and seasoned staff members, played their part in the institute’s success, paving the way for more great things and major milestones in 2026 and beyond.
As OPIT Rector and former Italian Minister of Education, Francesco Profumo, puts it:
“What inspires me most is the mindset of our students: forward-looking, responsible, and driven by a desire not just to succeed, but to contribute. Their dedication reminds us why education remains one of the most powerful forces for shaping the future.”
Bring talented tech experts together, set them a challenge, and give them a deadline. Then, let them loose and watch the magic happen. That, in a nutshell, is what hackathons are all about. They’re proven to be among the most productive tech events when it comes to solving problems and accelerating innovation.
What Is a Hackathon?
Put simply, a hackathon is a short-term event – often lasting just a couple of days, or sometimes even only a matter of hours – where tech experts come together to solve a specific problem or come up with ideas based on a central theme or topic. As an example, teams might be tasked with discovering a new way to use AI in marketing or to create an app aimed at improving student life.
The term combines the words “hack” and “marathon,” due to how participants (hackers or programmers) are encouraged to work around-the-clock to create a prototype, proof-of-concept, or new solution. It’s similar to how marathon runners are encouraged to keep running, putting their skills and endurance to the test in a race to the finish line.
The Benefits of Hackathons
Hackathons provide value both for the companies that organize them and the people who take part. Companies can use them to quickly discover new ideas or overcome challenges, for example, while participants can enjoy testing their skills, innovating, networking, and working either alone or as part of a larger team.
Benefits for Companies and Sponsors
Many of the world’s biggest brands have come to rely on hackathons as ways to drive innovation and uncover new products, services, and opportunities. Meta, for example, the brand behind Facebook, has organized dozens of hackathons, some of which have led to the development of well-known Facebook features, like the “Like” button. Here’s how hackathons help companies:
- Accelerate Innovation: In fast-moving fields like technology, companies can’t always afford to spend months or years working on new products or features. They need to be able to solve problems quickly, and hackathons create the necessary conditions to deliver rapid success.
- Employee Development: Leading companies like Meta have started to use annual hackathons as a way to not only test their workforce’s skills but to give employees opportunities to push themselves and broaden their skill sets.
- Internal Networking: Hackathons also double up as networking events. They give employees from different teams, departments, or branches the chance to work with and learn from one another. This, in turn, can promote or reinforce team-oriented work cultures.
- Talent Spotting: Talents sometimes go unnoticed, but hackathons give your workforce’s hidden gems a chance to shine. They’re terrific opportunities to see who your best problem solvers and most creative thinkers at.
- Improving Reputation: Organizing regular hackathons helps set companies apart from their competitors, demonstrating their commitment to innovation and their willingness to embrace new ideas. If you want your brand to seem more forward-thinking and innovative, embracing hackathons is a great way to go about it.
Benefits for Participants
The hackers, developers, students, engineers, and other people who take part in hackathons arguably enjoy even bigger and better benefits than the businesses behind them. These events are often invaluable when it comes to upskilling, networking, and growing, both personally and professionally. Here are some of the main benefits for participants, explained:
- Learning and Improvement: Hackathons are golden opportunities for participants to gain knowledge and skills. They essentially force people to work together, sharing ideas, contributing to the collective, and pushing their own boundaries in pursuit of a common goal.
- Networking: While some hackathons are purely internal, others bring together different teams or groups of people from different schools, businesses, and places around the world. This can be wonderful for forming connections with like-minded individuals.
- Sense of Pride: Everyone feels a sense of pride after accomplishing a project or achieving a goal, but this often comes at the end of weeks or months of effort. With hackathons, participants can enjoy that same satisfying feeling after just a few hours or a couple of days of hard work.
- Testing Oneself: A hackathon is an amazing chance to put one’s skills to the test and see what one is truly capable of when given a set goal to aim for and a deadline to meet. Many participants are surprised to see how well they respond to these conditions.
- Boosting Skills: Hackathons provide the necessary conditions to hone and improve a range of core soft skills, such as teamwork, communication, problem-solving, organization, and punctuality. By the end, participants often emerge with more confidence in their abilities.
Hackathons at OPIT
The Open Institute of Technology (OPIT) understands the unique value of hackathons and has played its part in sponsoring these kinds of events in the past. OPIT was one of the sponsors behind ESCPHackathon 6, for example, which involved 120 students given AI-related tasks, with mentorship and guidance from senior professionals and developers from established brands along the way.
Marco Fediuc, one of the participants, summed up the mood in his comments:
“The hackathon was a truly rewarding experience. I had the pleasure of meeting OPIT classmates and staff and getting to know them better, the chance to collaborate with brilliant minds, and the opportunity to take part in an exciting and fun event.
“Participating turned out to be very useful because I had the chance to work in a fast-paced, competitive environment, and it taught me what it means to stay calm and perform under pressure… To prospective Computer Science students, should a similar opportunity arise, I can clearly say: Don’t underestimate yourselves!”
The new year will also see the arrival of OPIT Hackathon 2026, giving more students the chance to test their skills, broaden their networks, and enjoy the one-of-a-kind experiences that these events never fail to deliver. This event is scheduled to be held February 13-15, 2026, and is open to all OPIT Bachelor’s and Master’s students, along with recent graduates. Interested parties have until February 1 to register.
Have questions?
Visit our FAQ page or get in touch with us!
Write us at +39 335 576 0263
Get in touch at hello@opit.com
Talk to one of our Study Advisors
We are international
We can speak in: