Comments for History of the OU

Comment on OU staff debate the history of the OU by funeral home in San Francisco

funeral home in San Francisco — Sat, 27 Jul 2013 07:27:21 +0000

Thanks for sharing this.

Comment on An inaugural fanfare for the common man by History of the OU » Blog Archive » ...

History of the OU » Blog Archive » ... — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 10:15:23 +0000

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Comment on Thinking outside the socks by lowest credit cards

lowest credit cards — Sat, 25 May 2013 02:53:01 +0000

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History of the OU » Blog Archive » Thinking outside the socks…

Comment on Decades of impact: TAD292 lives on by Gay Slade

Gay Slade — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 11:04:57 +0000

This was my first OU course, as an associate before my A101. It was a true inspiration that has stayed with me ever since.

Comment on Political bias in course materials? by Prof. Harry Torrance responds to Michael Gove | ESRI Blog

Prof. Harry Torrance responds to Michael Gove | ESRI Blog — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:58:05 +0000

[...] “In 1984, after being told that a social science course showed a Marxist bias and offered a critique of monetarism, the Secretary of State for Education, Keith Joseph read ‘all the relevant teaching materials’. .. Interviewed in 1995…Anastasios Christodoulou, the University Secretary, 1968-1980, recalled that Keith Joseph ‘didn’t like the OU at all ─ it was politically motivated, ideologically unsound and its standards suspect ─ and I’m almost quoting.’…In the 1990s the Daily Mail columnist Melanie Phillips expressed her concerns about bias. She described Open University course books for a post-graduate teaching qualification as: ‘not so much educational texts as ideological tracts’ [...]

Comment on Finnish link by Dominic Newbould

Dominic Newbould — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 13:10:25 +0000

When I joined the OU in 1978, some colleagues used to say – wryly, I thought – that they were working in “an education factory”. For academics from traditional and conventional campus universities, the idea of intensive teamwork, against real deadlines and with strict budgets, to create courses that might have students registered and studying, while the later parts of the courses were still being designed and written – this idea was painful and there were many teething problems before it was fully accepted.
The pressure of deadlines was difficult for many, who were used only to delivering lectures, often the same series of lectures, repeated with little modification every year. Writing course “units”, having them critiqued by your peers as well as external assessors, and then having the whole lot picked over by an editor… these were demanding times and it took time to acclimatise to these new expectations.
Some courses were developmentally tested first, with small groups of students, for credit or not, as the case may be. They were then further refined until they were as good as possible. Coupled with first VC, Walter Perry’s constant urging “Never compromise on quality”, it is easy to understand how the OU quickly gained respect and credibility, to the extent that other universities began to use its materials and imitate some of its methods.

Comment on Finnish link by Daniel Weinbren

Daniel Weinbren — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 08:07:40 +0000

Otto Peters was one of the earliest people to present universities in this way. See his, ‘Theoretical aspects of correspondence instruction’, in O. MacKenzie & E. L. Christensen (eds.), The changing world of correspondence study, Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, 1971 and also Otto Peters, ‘Distance education and industrial production: a comparative interpretation in outline’ in D. Sewart, D. Keegan and B. Holmberg (eds.), Distance Education: international perspectives, Croom Helm, Bechenham, 1983.

The first Dean of Social Sciences was the person who argued that the Open University was ‘the industrial revolution of higher education’. See Michael Drake, ‘The Open University concept’, Studies. An Irish Quarterly Review, Summer 1972, 61, 242, p.158.

Greville Rumble, who joined the OU in 1970 and was head of the Open University’s corporate planning office in the mid-1970s, and also in the late-1980s, suggested that ‘during the 1970s industrialisation came to be seen by many as a defining feature of distance education’ (see Greville Rumble, ‘labour market theories and distance education: industrialization and distance education’, Open Learning, 10, 1, February 1995, pp.10-20 (p.14)).

Like much associated with that which has been termed Fordism, the OU appeared to thrive in the protected national market, able through the efficiency of a complex organisation, to mass produce standardised products at low cost by fragmenting work tasks.

Comment on Finnish link by Katja Varjos

Katja Varjos — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 18:04:41 +0000

I really like that argument “The OU was the industrial revolution of higher education”. It is just what I am looking for, what to benchmark to.

Comment on Has OU study changed offenders? by Evaluation essay

Evaluation essay — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:25:37 +0000

They are completely changed me as a person. As well as being more knowledgeable about social issues, I am much more confident and optimistic about the website.

Comment on Decades of impact: TAD292 lives on by Tony Whitaker

Tony Whitaker — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 20:14:38 +0000

Wendy, just home from another TADCAMP, about my 25th. There were around 40 at the AGM. Dan Weinbren came for the day and interviewed several ex students.
We agreed to have another camp next year and I continue as the OUSA Rep.
We have a good programme of events planned for the next year.
As the first TAD 292 Unit said “There is no beginning, there is no end”. Tony