Universities Week is a national campaign demonstrating the benefits of universities within UK society and aims to increase public awareness of the wide and varied role of the UK’s universities.
In 2012, Universities Week - from 30 April to 7 May - will mark the third annual national campaign of its kind and will this time incorporate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games as its overarching theme.
And this is where you'll find the OU's contribution to the week's activities and themes during Universities Week 2012 and 2011. Feel free to make your own!
It's Universities Week - get involved!
Universities including the OU have a high level of involvement in the Games or activity in relation to them. A recently published impact report shows just some of the great things which are being achieved.
Some famous Olympians including Open University Honorary Graduate; Dame Kelly Holmes share stories of their university days and say why they are supporting Universities week 2012.
The week will culminate in the BUCS Outdoor Athletics Championships, which will be held in the Olympic Stadium as part of the London Prepares series.
This is the third annual national campaign of its kind and it is supported by universities across the UK and a wide range of organisations including Podium, the National Union of Students (NUS), Research Councils UK, GuildHE, the Universities Marketing Forum, Higher Education Funding Council for England and many more. The campaign is being coordinated by Universities UK and British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS).
Find out more:
- Join and share your comments in the Universities week 2012 group
- Are you involved in the Olympics? - volunteering then tell us more in the Olympics group
- What kind of sport would you do in the Olympics? try Olympisize me on OpenLearn
- Study a sports course with the OU
Picture credit: SportsBusiness' photostream
Universities Week 2012 (30 April–7 May) aims to increase public awareness of the wide and varied role of the UK’s universities. The theme this year is the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Universities including the OU have a high level of involvement in the Games or activity in relation to them. A recently published impact report shows just some of the ...
Conference: Athletic foundations: identity, heritage and sport (London)
A half day interdisciplinary conference exploring the uses of heritage in the construction and consolidation of identities through modern sports events. Organised in association with the Olympics 2012 Humanities programme.
Everybody welcome. If you would like to attend, please make sure you register by 13 June.
Date: June 18 2012, 5pm to 8pm
Venue: The Open University in London, 1-11 Hawley Crescent, Camden, Conference Room 2.
Conference abstract
Modern athletic events, and in particular the Olympic Games, are rich in references to heritage. Opening ceremonies, the presentation of awards and the structure and rhythm of the competitions themselves provide communities with opportunities to express shared values, showcase achievements and articulate aspirations. The manifestations of identity that result from these events are often linked with references to ancestral cultural traditions. Activities like the reading of Pindaric odes in the Athens 2004 Olympics, the planting of the spear in Florida’s American football games or the performance of Haka pre-match dances in New Zealand serve as emotive symbols and ritualise forms of behaviour that are frequently cemented in the perception of a shared past.
Sporting contexts are powerful media for the manifestation of identity. Representations of shared traditions and common origins are combined with strong feelings of affiliation aroused by the performance of individual athletes in competition. Sporting prowesses become social projections of collective pride, inspiring reactions that range from banal nationalism to controversial cries of protest from sectors of the community that regard themselves as under-represented or oppressed. Television and streaming online video take the live images of these events (and the reactions that they generate) across the globe, enabling dialectical relations at an international level.
This half-day conference explores how athletic events draw influence from heritage, thus allowing modern individuals and groups to construct, reinvent, consolidate and project their identities by establishing links with their past. The approach is multi-disciplinary, combining contributions from history, sociology, classics, anthropology, archaeology and political sciences.
Find out about the conference programme or email a.alzola-romero
open.ac.uk
A half day interdisciplinary conference exploring the uses of heritage in the construction and consolidation of identities through modern sports events. Organised in association with the Olympics 2012 Humanities programme. Everybody welcome. If you would like to attend, please make sure you register by 13 June. Date: June 18 2012, 5pm to 8pm Venue: The Open University in London, 1-11 ...
Excellence award for Ancient Olympics learning unit
A learning unit about the Ancient Olympics hosted on the OU's free educational resource website OpenLearn has been recognised internationally with an award for excellence.
One of five global winners in the multimedia category, the award for Ancient Olympics: Bridging Past and Present was announced at the OpenCourseWare Consortium’s OER12 Conference in Cambridge on Monday (16 April 2012), with the unit’s use of multimedia highly praised.
The Ancient Olympics: Bridging Past and Present learning unit helps users explore the differences between ancient and modern games with maps, timelines and video materials. An unusual element of the unit is the use of animation videos illustrating how athletes in ancient Olympic Games were naked, partly in order to compete equally – a long way from today’s high-performance ergonomic kit.
The academic behind the unit, Lecturer in Classical Studies Dr Aarón Alzola Romero, said: “It is tremendous news that the Ancient Olympics unit has attracted recognition from such a large global community and it is a unit that we are very proud of producing. Sharing learning materials via our OpenLearn website is a key way that The Open University stays true to its mission of extending education to all. With less than 100 days to go to the London Olympics we expect this unit to prove increasingly popular, as part of our dedicated Olympics portal.”
“We’re very pleased to honour these courses,” said OCW Consortium Executive Director Mary Lou Forward. “They are truly outstanding examples of the amazing educational resources being shared openly by the members of the OpenCourseWare Consortium.”
The Awards for OpenCourseWare Excellence provide annual recognition to outstanding courseware and OpenCourseWare sites created in the OCW Consortium community. They also recognise individual leadership in moving the ideals of OpenCourseWare and Open Educational Resources forward. The awards were judged by the OCWC Board, including Anka Mulder, the President of OCWC and were presented at an event attended by academics from around the globe.
A screencast giving an overview of the unit is available here. The Open University’s Olympics Portal contains a breadth of resources and interactives around the Games, including video interviews with academic experts and athletes including Usain Bolt and Matthew Pinsent. A fun online game, Olympicize Me, gives people a way to get their own personal experience of the Olympics – the interactive assesses physical, psychological and social factors to help determine which sport people should compete in and what medal they would win.
A learning unit about the Ancient Olympics hosted on the OU's free educational resource website OpenLearn has been recognised internationally with an award for excellence. One of five global winners in the multimedia category, the award for Ancient Olympics: Bridging Past and Present was announced at the OpenCourseWare Consortium’s OER12 Conference in Cambridge on Monday (16 April ...
Former Olympic cyclist and OU graduate on why sport and art can coexist
Caroline Boyle has competed in cycling events in two Olympic Games but now the Open University graduate – who’s currently studying Latin – faces a new challenge, to find a career which combines her sporty experience and classical qualifications.
But the difficulty she now faces, is carving a career out of her unique combination of skills. “My life experience is diametrically opposed to my academic qualifications. It will be a real challenge to find a profession which will accommodate what I have to offer particularly as my personnel circumstances restrict me to distance learning. But I am equally passionate about both sport and the arts and I want if I can to help diffuse the tension between the two which the forthcoming Olympics has undoubtedly spotlighted. There seems to be a myth that art and sport cannot coexist in harmony but for me they are inextricably linked.”
When Caroline left school she went to work at the local shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness. Along with many of her peers she studied towards a foundation degree in Engineering. “I found school pretty uninspiring which is perhaps why I opted for an apprenticeship underpinned by the subjects I had found more challenging.
"Likewise, it was this nascent desire to be pushed beyond my comfort zone that led me enter a triathlon when I was 20 on a borrowed bike … and I won it. I’d been a county level swimmer and middle distance runner in my teens, but surprisingly I posted the fastest time in the cycling element of the event. Instead of being average at three sports I decided to try to excel at one and chose to focus on cycling. So after finishing my apprenticeship I gave up my job to train full time.”
And the training paid off. Caroline had a fantastic cycling career under her maiden name of Alexander, competing in the Olympic Games in 1996 and 2000 and in the first ever mountain bike race in the Commonwealth Games in 2002. She also excelled in the World Cup finishing second overall on two occasions and won the European Championships. But the Olympic medal she coveted so much eluded her as she encountered mechanical problems in both Atlanta and Sydney, as well as crashing heavily in the 1996 Olympic road race.
Representing Scotland in the Commonwealth Games, she finished fifth in the road race and was cruelly denied victory in the mountain bike event when a slashed tyre forced her to withdraw despite having built up a commanding lead. “It was one of the few times in my sporting career that I’d managed to peak on the right day – an art form in its self!
'The OU was a great option for many of us here on the Furness peninsula when the shipyard downsized so I feel a certain degree of loyalty. In fact I can’t praise the OU enough'
"I had started to think about life after cycling and because I’d always been interested in antiquity, I had begun studying with the OU, initially to convert my foundation degree from Engineering to Humanities. I soon discovered that training and study really complemented each other, as the latter gave me something else to focus on, and helped me to keep my mind agile while my body was recovering.
“Scotland allowed me complete autonomy over my Commonwealth Games preparation, the bulk of which was spent at high altitude, and I had won a number of international races both on and off road in the build up, therefore I knew I was close to my best physically as well as mentally. A few days before my event Paula Radcliffe, who had so often been the bridesmaid, won the Commonwealth title, an achievement which I considered significant – I truly believed it would be my turn too!”
For the first year after she retired Caroline continued to train while studying 120 points with the OU. “Although I didn’t race I wanted to keep my options open and be fit enough to compete if I decided to make a comeback. The following year earning a living intervened and I only managed 60 points at Level 3 instead of the 120 I’d intended. Kids were the next obstacle to academia, Felicity in the summer of 2006 and Penelope at the close of 2009, before I finally took up the reins again in 2010 and graduated with a BA (Hons) in Humanities with Classical Studies and Literature in 2011. “
“Next on the agenda is postgraduate study," she added. "However, sadly the OU’s MA in Classical Studies is problematic for me as the most heavily weighted assignment is due in at the end of the school holidays - two young children and 60 points at postgraduate level is an excluded combination for me! The powers that be threw me a lifeline when they decided to postpone the final presentation of A860 until 2013 by which time Penelope will be old enough to go to Kindergarten, but whether further study in this field will enhance my employment prospects is open to debate.
“The OU is a fantastic institution and I’ll be loathed to go elsewhere. It’s reliable, superbly organised and you know exactly what you’re getting, plus I’ve had some fantastic support from my tutors. It was a great option for many of us here on the Furness peninsula when the shipyard downsized so I feel a certain degree of loyalty. In fact I can’t praise the OU enough, I’ve had such a positive experience. So much so that I decided to sign up for A397 Continuing classical Latin in 2012. Although a mere 30 pointer it has been quite an undertaking given that I had no previous Latin until last summer when I embarked on a correspondence course! But then I do like a challenge!”
Caroline will be attending London 2012’s mountain biking events, to enjoy the sport and meet up with friends who still race.
Caroline Boyle has competed in cycling events in two Olympic Games but now the Open University graduate – who’s currently studying Latin – faces a new challenge, to find a career which combines her sporty experience and classical qualifications. “The skills I gained as an athlete are directly transferable to study – discipline, drive and the ...
GB hockey player says OU is 'best fit' as new sport and coaching degree is launched
Great Britain Olympic hockey squad member and OU student Alex Danson has labelled the OU “the best fit for my sporting career” ahead of London 2012 and her graduation next year.
The 26-year-old, who is expected to compete in the GB women’s hockey team at London 2012 this summer, says the OU’s degree course fitted flexibly around her sporting commitments meaning she had time for both study and sport.
Alex has been studying since 2008, while keeping up an international sporting career and says she always packs both her hockey stick and her study books when she travels with the team to competitions. Her time as a student has even seen her fit in an exam while at the Commonwealth Games in India.
“Being a full time sports woman is extremely demanding and in a different way studying with the OU is a challenge too, but the tutor support is great and studying is something I really enjoy. After lots of hard work I hope to eventually pick up my OU degree – in some way that will feel a bit like a podium moment.”
Alex, who graduates next year and hopes to go into teaching, is just one of a number of high achieving sports people who are currently studying with The Open University.
“The OU is the best fit for my sporting career – it means that I can study whilst continuing to commit fully to GB Hockey. I can study whenever and wherever it suits me due to the incredible flexibility of the modules and the resources being available online.”
The BSc (Hons) Sports, Fitness & Coaching aims to address these needs by offering a relevant degree which can ultimately improve employability. The undergraduate course – aimed at both those who practise sport to a high level and those who want to teach or coach - develops an understanding of sports science, training, coaching and leadership principles as well as improving work effectiveness and enhancing existing skills in these areas.
The OU’s head of Sport and Fitness Ben Oakley, a former Olympic windsurfing coach who has been to two Olympic Games, says the degree offers a valuable insight into the psychology and science of sport, with an opportunity to enhance careers in teaching and coaching.
“The emphasis of the degree course is in applying science and psychology. To be effective, coaches have to understand the mental aspect of their sport. You study how your own body works to gain more understanding of how to apply this knowledge when you teach others.”
The new course expands the existing Foundation Degree in Sport & Fitness to full honours and is enhanced by a rich source of online material, including BBC documentaries and OU short films.
Great Britain Olympic hockey squad member and OU student Alex Danson has labelled the OU “the best fit for my sporting career” ahead of London 2012 and her graduation next year. The 26-year-old, who is expected to compete in the GB women’s hockey team at London 2012 this summer, says the OU’s degree course fitted flexibly around her sporting commitments ...
Professor of Philosophy on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport
Professor Tim Chappell, Director of the OU Ethics Centre, writes about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport. Is there a place for them? Should athletes be putting their health at risk to achieve medals? And will competing become more about the size of your wallet than your physique?
With the Olympics bearing down on us, and with the sprinter Dwain Chambers and the cyclist David Millar appealing their lifetime bans in order to be eligible for the London 2012, perhaps it's time to have a think about the place - if any - of performance-enhancing drugs in sport.
Before we look at these arguments more closely, I think we should step back to ask ourselves - what are we doing in sport anyway?
Whether as competitors or as spectators, we're looking for glorious, exceptional, superlative physical performances. But that doesn't mean that we want to see (or run) the fastest 100m sprint that anything can do. (If it did, we'd go and watch a jaguar, or get in a Jaguar.) It means that we want to see the fastest 100m sprint that a human can do.
With drugs in the picture, is it really about what humans can do any more? I'd say not. I'd say watching a drugged performance is more like watching what drugs can do, and the money that buys them. I'd say it’s about taking things away from the competitors and giving them to the market. Where's the glory in that?
Or think of it another way. Remember when you were two, and your game was to try and jump across a puddle two feet wide? This game is fine if you’re toddler sized, boringly easy if you’re an adult-sized adult. The logical conclusion of enhancing athletes' performance is that at least some of our games will go the way of the toddler's puddle game. Do we want that? Do we want to outgrow the games we play?
Climbing is a case in point here. If you stick bolts in it, you can get up any rock. This is what makes climbers get so angry on the subject of bolts. If you want to rattle a climber's cage ask him what his favourite climb is, then tell him you think it should be bolted. Provided it hasn't been already, of course.
Of course, if we did outgrow our current games by drugs or magic or whatever, no doubt we’d invent some other games. Fine. No more football - time to switch to quidditch... But the point for the moment is just this: athletics with drugs is, at best, a different game from athletics without. And when some of the competitors are playing one game and others the other, the whole activity gets into hopeless confusion.
Not just confusion, though; corruption as well. It's quite easy for the participants in a sport to be fairly severely exploited. Here's something that can happen: a naïve young boy from the slums with no prospects at all is taken up by a rich promoter and turned into a boxer. The boy makes some money, sure. The promoter makes more. And the promoter doesn't end up brain-damaged. If this happens (and I'm not saying it does, just that it can), then it seems to me that the boy has been pretty severely exploited for the enrichment of the promoter, and the entertainment of those who like watching boxing.
'In practice, if there is no regulation, individuals will not be free to decide. They will have no choice but to take the drugs because everyone else is taking them'
So compare the case in athletics where someone achieves fantastic performances by taking steroids for 20 years. Think about the kind of horror-stories we used to hear regularly from the Soviet Union about 50-year-old steroid-raged moustachioed ex-shot-putters with cataracts, duodenal ulcers, and severe weight problems. These people have been sacrificed for our entertainment. Are we happy with that? I don't think we should be.
Of course, athletes in the Soviet Union were forced to take performance-enhancing drugs. That doesn't mean it's a whole lot better to “leave individuals free to decide” what drugs they take. In practice, if there is no regulation, individuals will not be free to decide. They will have no choice but to take the drugs because everyone else is taking them. Here as elsewhere, by regulating the state serves the role that it's there for in a genuinely liberal settlement. It can regulate in a way that actually increases citizens' freedom, rather than decreasing it.
Also of course, not all performance-enhancing drugs are bad for you. Or like caffeine, they're a bit bad for you, but not very. Or their long-term effects are unknown. And there are drug therapies which involve not taking things rather than taking them, which seems just like giving up alcohol to perform better... surely some of these therapies must be all right?
Yes, there are grey areas. But there are often are grey areas in life. The fact that some things are grey doesn't mean that nothing is black or white. We can be quite clear about the kinds of performance-enhancing drugs that we most want to eradicate, and work backwards from those cases to the less obvious ones.
I suggest that the two things most worth eradicating are really harmful drugs and really expensive drugs. We should ban the harmful ones because, well, because they're harmful; we should ban the expensive ones because they turn what ought to be a competition between physiques into a competition between wallets. And once we know what we think about the clear and easy cases, we may find ourselves in a better position to think about the marginal and difficult ones.
Find out more:
- Professor Tim Chappell
- The OU Ethics Centre
- Free study unit: The Ancient Olympics: Bridging past and present
- More about philosophy on OpenLearn
- Study with the OU: Philosophy
Picture credit: Thinkstock
Professor Tim Chappell, Director of the OU Ethics Centre, writes about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport. Is there a place for them? Should athletes be putting their health at risk to achieve medals? And will competing become more about the size of your wallet than your physique? With the Olympics bearing down on us, and with the sprinter Dwain Chambers and the cyclist ...
Universities Week launches competition to be an Olympic Stadium commentator
In an exclusive competition for students only, Universities Week is offering three lucky winners the chance to be a commentor at the BUCS Visa Outdoor Athletics Championships, a London 2012 test event as part of the London Prepares Series.
Flex your sports reporting skills and simply upload a 90-second audio or film clip of yourself commentating at a local sports event to YouTube. Students are asked to film university sporting events but for distance learners, a local sporting event will do.
On Saturday 5 May 2012, three lucky finalists will get coaching from Britain’s best known sports commentators John Inverdale and Paul Dickenson before competing in the commentary box during the Outdoor Athletics Championship's morning heats. The winner will be selected by the stadium’s sports presentation team to commentate in the evening finals in front of spectators at the Olympic Stadium.
See here for full details of the competition and how to enter. Please note the competition closes on 1 April 2012.
Fancy yourself as an Olympic Stadium commentator? Then here's your chance... In an exclusive competition for students only, Universities Week is offering three lucky winners the chance to be a commentor at the BUCS Visa Outdoor Athletics Championships, a London 2012 test event as part of the London Prepares Series. Flex your sports reporting skills and simply upload ...
OU student Nicci chosen to carry the Olympic Torch
Action for Children worker Nicci was selected by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) after being nominated by her manager, Eve Chinnery.
Nicci is looking forward to her Olympic role, which will see her carry the torch along a part of the 70-day Olympic Torchbearer Relay around the UK. Nicci said: "I don't know where I will be carrying it yet, but I have been told I will have it on May 27th somewhere between Swansea and Aberystwyth. It could be anywhere on the route, but I hope it's close to home!"
She added that when she received the confirmation email from LOCOG, she couldn't believe it. “I was gobsmacked but absolutely delighted to be chosen as I thought the chances of actually being picked were so minimal. I couldn't be more pleased.”
The keen runner has raised hundreds of pounds for charity by completing the Cardiff Half Marathon and is set to compete in this year’s London Marathon. Eve Chinnery, Action for Children Service Manager, said: “Nicci thoroughly deserves to take part in this historic sporting event. She is a hardworking and dedicated member of the team at Powys Community Support Service and also dedicates her spare time to the disabled children outside of working hours, as well as studying for an Open University degree and bringing up to two teenage sons.”
Nicci certainly has some exciting times ahead. “2012 is going to be a good year with my Graduation, the London Marathon and of course being a torch bearer which I am very honoured to be doing, and to top it all I was one of the lucky people to get Olympic tickets so will be going to the stadium with my sons to watch the Athletics on 10th August too.”
With such a busy lifestyle the OU’s study path was the best option for Nicci who is currently studying for an Open Degree.
“I am very excited to be attending my graduation ceremony in the Barbican at the end of March! I really enjoyed my studies with the OU, I like the flexibility, the support was excellent and I could fit it in around everything else to suit my schedule. I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone.”
Find out more:
OU student Nicci Shrimpton has been selected as one of the 8,000 runners who will be carrying the Olympic torch on its nationwide tour ahead of the games in London. She was chosen for her work with disabled children as well as many extra fundraising efforts for a variety of charities. Action for Children worker Nicci was selected by the London Organising ...
What sort of Olympian would you be?
As we count down to London 2012, give yourself a special insight into the world's most exciting sporting event with The Open University's collection of exciting interactives, academic insights and lots of free opportunities to take your learning even further in the world of sport.
Find out more:
- Olympics 2012
- Y164 Exploring sport online (OpenLearn free material)
- Sport and Fitness modules at the OU
What does it take to be a top Olympian or Paralympian? OpenLearn have created a game that will let you discover your perfect sport - Try Olympisize Me. As we count down to London 2012, give yourself a special insight into the world's most exciting sporting event with The Open University's collection of exciting interactives, academic insights and lots of free ...
OU Professor of Computer Science is helping shape the future internet
With two billion people online, the internet today is an essential infrastructure which underpins the economy and society - but it was designed in the 1970s for purposes which bear little resemblence to those of today.
John Domingue, Professor of Computer Science with The Open University's Knowledge Media Institute, delivered an inaugural lecture at the OU's HQ in Milton Keynes in which he stressed the social and communicative power of the internet - so much so that governments have sought to shut it down - and an overview of the reasearch he's been leading to define the future of the internet, the semantic web.
He told the audience in the Berrill Lecture Theatre that there is a huge amount of data available online - expected to reach 767 exabytes by 2014, which is the equivalent of 32 million people continuously streaming Avatar in 3D. But the mismatches between original design goals and the way the internet is currently being used could hamper it's potential.
Professor Domingue's research is focused on semantic web services, helping the future development of the internet to sustain the networked society of tomorrow.
John describes his work as the "magic mirror" inbetween the user needs and the information discovery, helping to match the two. The main problem? Ambiguity in meaning, he says. When you search for Paris do you mean the French city, the socialite, the Star Trek character, the James Bond character, the song, the astroid, mythical character or plant?
And herein lies the future of the internet, and the semantic web - matching needs with the relevant data and distinguishing meaning along the way, using the magic mirror, or more formel term - service brokering.
But writing good software is a slow process. It's easy to write code, he says, but to write code that works, with no bugs, you could only write around 10 lines of code per day. Lots of code is needed everywhere, for example, did you know a car has two million lines of code, so would effectivley take 8,300 person years to creat? And Windows XP has 45 million lines of code which translates to 19,000 person years?
Professor Domingue's work to date has included the development of the SOA4ALL Real Estate Finder app for the iPhone and iPad which allowes users to search for properties and define their search in terms of proximity to bus stops, schools, and railway services, pulling data from mumerous sources.
With around 80 per cent of under 25s having some sort of online connection while they're watching TV, "social connections through the TV is part of the future internet landscape, says John. "We're contributing to the software layer of the future internet and the goal is to create a future internet specific to the needs of the people using it."
Watch or listen to John Domingue's inugural lecture in full here.
John Domingue is Professor of Computer Science and Deputy Director of the Knowledge Media Institute (KMi). He first came to the OU as a PhD student the 1980s studying Artificial Intelligence within the Psychology department and later moved to KMi when it was setup in 1995. His recent work has focused on the EU Future Internet Initiative, where he co-ordinates over 150 EU projects with a combined budget of over half a billion Euros aiming to develop a new global communications platform fit for Europe’s societal and economic requirements.
With two billion people online, the internet today is an essential infrastructure which underpins the economy and society - but it was designed in the 1970s for purposes which bear little resemblence to those of today. John Domingue, Professor of Computer Science with The Open University's Knowledge Media Institute, delivered an inaugural lecture at the OU's HQ in Milton ...
How the OU helps in business...
Did you know that 40 per cent of business students studying at The Open University are being sponsored by their companies?
As part of Universities Week today (Tuesday) the focus is on the relationships between businesses and universities which help to boost local economies across the UK. Universities support start-up organisations through tailored programmes, as clients, and as suppliers of their local workforce.
Here are just some of the ways the OU is helping in business...
- OU launches business-led IT degrees
- OU Professor helps write The Future of Business 2011 report
- OU's Quarterly Survey of Small Business in Britain
- How Danny's using business studies to change career
- Continue your professional development with a professional skills course
- Open University Business School a 'superbrand'
- Key facts about OUBS
- Business and Management news on Platform
Did you know that 40 per cent of business students studying at The Open University are being sponsored by their companies? As part of Universities Week today (Tuesday) the focus is on the relationships between businesses and universities which help to boost local economies across the UK. Universities support start-up organisations through tailored programmes, as clients, and ...
What university means to me...
I was watching a popular BBC dance competition programme (I refuse to call it a ‘show’, that’s such an Americanism) last week and the presenter asked each of the budding finalists in turn as they finished their solo routines “so, what does it mean to you to get through next week’s final” and each of them, obviously reading from the same script, said “oh, it means the world to me, this is the best experience of my life!” I listened to their pleas with a suspicious raised eyebrow and thought to myself, what a crock.
University doesn’t mean the world to me – The OPEN University, however, does. I have my entire future to thank it for. I began my studies with no previous qualifications other than GCSEs and the OU welcomed me with open arms. It gave me the opportunity to discover that I’m a capable and intelligent person, that even when you think you have no free time at all, if you want to achieve something you MAKE time. It has given me the opportunity to study single modules of subjects I find interesting but wouldn’t have wanted to commit an entire degree to but which still count towards a degree. I’m thinking in particular of philosophy which when I was at school everyone told me would be a pointless subject to study at degree level and wouldn’t be useful in any way. Oh how wrong they were.
University has given me a new identity. Instead of just being a student for three or four years at a traditional brick uni I get to be a student for the rest of my life, and being able to call myself a mature student fills me with pride because it says to the world that I’m not complacent about my life; I want to improve it and I want to continue improving it (and people always think you must be really clever being a mature student through CHOICE!). University was originally just a way to prove to myself and my family that I was capable of doing a degree but as I progressed it turned into something entirely different and it suddenly became a way of changing my future into something enjoyable and worth getting out of bed for. At 18 years old I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life so studying later in life gave me the opportunity to figure that out and now my plans extend far beyond the BSc/BA I originally longed for.
Now you tell me; would you meet such a diverse range of characters at a brick uni when you’re 18 years old? I think not.
Of course that’s just the academic side of university. I can’t write a blog about what university means to me without mentioning the other ways it has affected me. On the social side of things the OU isn’t exactly conventional but over the last year that’s proven to be such a massive plus point. I’ve met people of all ages, from all ends of the country and beyond, studying every different subject imaginable; some still working on their first degree, some on their fifth or sixth, some even studying just for the heck of it to stop the old grey matter disintegrating. Now you tell me; would you meet such a diverse range of characters at a brick uni when you’re 18 years old? I think not. The very nature of The Open University also means they’re uber eager to get students involved in every area possible so the opportunities to meet and work with the staff of the university are practically endless, and everyone is willing to give you the time of day if you’re willing to donate your time. I think they appreciate that their student body isn’t made up of 18-year-olds still wet behind the ears; we’re a fairly intelligent bunch and our opinions are incredibly valuable.
To sum up my experience of university and what university means to me I can say only one thing: The Open University has changed my life. I know, I know, I sound like a right cheese ball, but you know what, I can’t help the truth.
I was watching a popular BBC dance competition programme (I refuse to call it a ‘show’, that’s such an Americanism) last week and the presenter asked each of the budding finalists in turn as they finished their solo routines “so, what does it mean to you to get through next week’s final” and each of them, obviously reading from the same script, said ...
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Happy Universities Week!
Today is the launch day of Universities Week 2011, celebrating the benefits of universities within UK society and highlighting the impact universities have on individuals, local communities, business and the future of the UK.
There are five themes to Universities Week 2011 - sharing big ideas, big ideas for business, big ideas for society, big ideas for the future and inside big ideas. This week we'll be following the themes and signposting you to relevant OU articles, videos and blog posts including one from Platform's student blogger Carrie Walton on what university means to her.
To help celebrate, you can get involved by sharing the successes and contributions of your own university – the OU. And there are several ways you can do this…
- Add your thoughts to the forum - what does university mean to you?
- Vote in the poll - who influenced you to study with the OU?
- Take a look at Universities Week on Facebook
- Join #UniWeek on Twitter
- Find out more about Universities Week
- Share your graduation day experiences or what you're most looking forward to about getting your degree
Today is the launch day of Universities Week 2011, celebrating the benefits of universities within UK society and highlighting the impact universities have on individuals, local communities, business and the future of the UK. There are five themes to Universities Week 2011 - sharing big ideas, big ideas for business, big ideas for society, big ideas for the future and inside ...
What does university mean to you?
In celebration of Universities Week, what does uni mean to you? Is it just about gaining a qualification or is there more to it than that? Share your thoughts here...
In celebration of Universities Week, what does uni mean to you? Is it just about gaining a qualification or is there more to it than that? Share your thoughts here...
Ben Hunt-Davis: ‘Will it make the boat go faster?'
During the Learning At Work week, Olympic gold medallist rower Ben Hunt-Davis (MBE) came to the OU campus in Milton Keynes to deliver a talk entitled ‘Will it make the boat go faster?’. Here we offer you the thrust of his talk...
The question was always ‘Will it make the boat go faster?’ if the answer was no then it didn’t happen. The strategy was simple and used by the mens-8 rowing team as part of their two-year training plan in the run up to the Sydney 2000 Olympics. It meant personal sacrifice and missing spectacular events, including taking part in the Opening Ceremony.
Ben Hunt-Davis spent seven years rowing and competing for team GB without achieving a win. But in 1998 something clicked for the team and instead of just going back and working harder, they decided they would "learn faster than anyone else". Ben suggests businesses can employ the same strategy to help motivate staff and work towards a shared goal.
The preparation for a task is different for everyone. Just before the final of the Olympics the men’s 8 team had a 90-minute wait. One paced up and down, one listened to a song over and over again, and some just lay on the floor.
Every time the men trained or raced their strategy was to change one thing. The aim was to improve and develop every day. After each race the team discussed if it worked and what they learned: good or bad. If it was a bad, for example they hadn’t won a race, then they would look at what could be changed next ‘to make the boat go faster’.
In the two-year build up to the Olympic Games there were 16 rowers competing for the final eight places. The final team was only chosen 12 weeks in advance of the games. This meant not only were the team competing against each other for their place on the boat but they also had to support each other during all the training. In a squad this size there will always be someone you don’t get on with so well, but the key is to always keep the overall objective in mind.
The team were important to Ben. He said “there were good days and bad days.” On the good days you would bring your ‘colleagues’ up and on bad days your colleagues would improve your performance by pushing you.
Ben says he now lives by a phrase to make success happen: “today is going to be a good day because I’m going to make it a good day.” With a gold medal from the Olympics as proof, it is definitely a motto to adopt.
Listen to Ben talk about the importance of continuous development...
During the Learning At Work week, Olympic gold medallist rower Ben Hunt-Davis (MBE) came to the OU campus in Milton Keynes to deliver a talk entitled ‘Will it make the boat go faster?’. Here we offer you the thrust of his talk... The question was always ‘Will it make the boat go faster?’ if the answer was no then it didn’t happen. The strategy was simple and ...
Olympic gold medallist offers motivation tips for you!
He revealed how he and the 2002 coxed eights Great Britain Olympic team were able to raise their game and focus on achieving their gold-winning goal in Sydney, and how we can all use similar lessons to succeed.
Ben is now a speaker and performance coach, having worked with sports teams including the British Olympic Association, the England Women's Rugby Team, individual sportsmen and women, and wider businesses. He is currently designing a programme to help members of Team GB perform on the most pressurised sporting stage of all, the London Olympic Games.
Here he talks to Platform on how to stay motivated during difficult study periods...
Image:Telestar Logistics
As part of the Learning At Work week, Olympic gold medallist rower Ben Hunt-Davis (MBE) visited the OU campus to deliver a talk entitled ‘Will it make the boat go faster?’. He revealed how he and the 2002 coxed eights Great Britain Olympic team were able to raise their game and focus on achieving their gold-winning goal in Sydney, and how we can all use similar ...
GB badminton player still finds time for OU study
Jillie Cooper, 21, is training with the Great Britain Badminton Squad with high hopes of competing in the Olympics in London 2012. She’s also an OU student...
How did you get a place in the GB badminton squad?
The GB badminton squad was set up in 2007 with different levels of entry. There is the podium group, international player and talent pool. Currently I am sitting on international player. I got on the programme when it first started and I managed this because I had met the set criteria for my specific age. I did this by gaining certain level of results in specific tournaments. The more I progress and the older I get, the harder the criteria gets.
You’re 21, playing badminton at international level and also studying for a degree. How do you fit it all in?
I have to be well organised and plan ahead with my schedule. It is difficult at times but I always make time to see my best friends and family. I do have a social life, sometimes it’s not as often as I would like and is definitely not as regular as most normal 21-year-olds but that’s just the way it is and I suppose I have become used to it.
I have become used to missing big events because of my sport and because I have done it for so long I guess it’s just normally now. For example, I spent my 21st birthday in China representing Scotland at the world team championships. At the time it was difficult not being with my friends and family on the big day but at the same time the badminton team is also like my family and to represent my country on my 21st birthday was an honour. I also enjoy my studies and I know that badminton will not last forever so it’s important to have something to fall back on when it does all come to an end.
How important is it to make social time in between your sporting and studying commitments?
Very important. At times you can get bogged down in all of it and although I am focussed and dedicated to my sport I do think it’s very important to be able to have some free time and relax with friends and family. When I am with them I can fully switch off and be free from badminton and studying for that period. For me to perform at my best I need to be relaxed and chilled and I do this by spending time with my friends, otherwise you can just get wrapped up in it all and not switch off which I find hampers my performance.
What’s the best and worst thing about studying with the OU?
The best thing is that I can fit it in around my sport, without a doubt, and study when and where I want with all the materials. I wouldn’t be able to study if it wasn´t for the OU, or it would mean not being able to train full time at the national centre. My tutors have always been very flexible and understanding because if I have a heavy competition period whereby I haven´t been able to study much and will struggle to get an assignment in, they have always granted me an extension. For this alone I am extremely grateful. The worst thing is that I would like to attend lectures and meet my fellow students in person but then again I understand you can´t have everything so I am grateful to be able to play my sport full time while also gaining a degree.
Are the things you’re learning through OU study helping with your badminton?
Yeah, definitely. I have just finished a topic on communication within the workplace and I have found it very useful. I can relate a lot to the topics I have studied but I suppose they are just a bit more in depth in certain areas.
There are other OU students also competing at international level. Do you know them? Do you share study tips?
Yeah, there are three other badminton players on the GB programme who are also studying with the OU. They are all also Scottish and are my team mates so yes I know them very well. We don´t share study tips as we all just do it in our spare time. Being athletes we have to be quite organised with our life anyway so we all have no problem in fitting it in even though sometimes we do find ourselves leaving it to the last minute!
How easy is it for people to get into badminton?
Very easy. Badminton is a sport that most people will play growing up but it is mainly played at club level and not many people know that you can play the sport professionally. By contacting their National Governing body they will be able to provide a list of clubs which will be in their area. Most local leisure centres also offer badminton coaching groups.
Would you recommend sport as a way to stay fit? What are the added benefits?
Of course anything that raises your heart rate will help keep you get fit and sport certainly does that! There is a very big social aspect and I have met a lot of my best friends through playing badminton. As a junior I think this is why I liked badminton so much as I was always travelling up and down the country with a group of people the same age. Now, as an international player, I have travelled the world and been to places I would never have gone to if I had not played badminton.
What are your plans for two years time, fives years time, 10 years time and 20 years time?
In two years I will hopefully have competed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games for Scotland and be on team GB for 2012. In five years I am hoping to win a Commonwealth Games medal in Glasgow and hopefully be a well established world class player with aspirations of medalling in the 2016 Olympics. I also hope to have gained my degree by this time. In 10 years time I might still be playing but I suppose it all depends on how my body holds up and how my career results have been to that date. Hopefully I’ll be be engaged too! In 20 years… I don´t really want to think that far ahead as I will be 41! But I guess I will definitely be in the real world working, hopefully working in the sporting sector or business in a job that takes me places around the world. I am so used to travelling I think I would get bored staying in the same place all the time. I would also hope to be settled with a family.
Jillie Cooper, 21, is training with the Great Britain Badminton Squad with high hopes of competing in the Olympics in London 2012. She’s also an OU student... How did you get a place in the GB badminton squad? The GB badminton squad was set up in 2007 with different levels of entry. There is the podium group, international player and talent pool. Currently I am ...
OU Week on Wordia: the playlist
Check out this collection of videos created for OU Week on Wordia.com. Academics, TV presenters and singer/songwriters explainwords which have some meaning to The Open University...
Check out this collection of videos created for OU Week on Wordia.com. Academics, TV presenters and singer/songwriters explainwords which have some meaning to The Open University... 2 Average: 2 (2 votes)
Day seven of OU Week on Wordia
Collaboration is a key part of what The Open Univerity does - working with others to make education accessible to all. On day seven of OU Week on Wordia, honorary graduate and singer/songwriter Joan Armatrading defines the word collaborate.
Wordia.com, the online visual dictionary, is hosting an OU-themed week with seven Word of the Day videos defining a word that links to The Open University.
On Monday TV presenter Nick Barratt defined the word evolution, on Tuesday TV presenter Kate Humble defined the word literacy, on Wednesday Janet Sumner defined the word inspiration, on Thursday Gary Slapper defined the word education, on Friday OU honorary graduate Deborah Bull defined innovative, yesterday TV presenter and historian Dan Cruickshank defined pedagogy and today Joan Armatrading defines the word collaborate.
Useful links
Collaboration is a key part of what The Open Univerity does - working with others to make education accessible to all. On day seven of OU Week on Wordia, honorary graduate and singer/songwriter Joan Armatrading defines the word collaborate. Wordia.com, the online visual dictionary, is hosting an OU-themed week with seven Word of the Day videos defining a word that ...
Day six of OU Week on Wordia
What is pedagogy? Well, it´s the science of teaching, as historian Dan Cruickshank explains as part of OU Week on Wordia.
Wordia.com, the online visual dictionary, is hosting an OU-themed week with seven Word of the Day videos defining a word that links to The Open University.
On Monday TV presenter Nick Barratt defined the word evolution, on Tuesday TV presenter Kate Humble defined the word literacy, on Wednesday Janet Sumner defined the word inspiration, on Thursday Gary Slapper defined the word education, on Friday OU honorary graduate Deborah Bull defined innovative and today TV presenter and historian Dan Cruickshank defines pedagogy.
Useful links
What is pedagogy? Well, it´s the science of teaching, as historian Dan Cruickshank explains as part of OU Week on Wordia. Wordia.com, the online visual dictionary, is hosting an OU-themed week with seven Word of the Day videos defining a word that links to The Open University. On Monday TV presenter Nick Barratt defined the word evolution, on Tuesday TV ...
