Join in

Using the forums

What are the forums for?
The aim of these forums is to provide a virtual common room for all Platform users: to link up, compare notes, offer support and share views.

Contributing
The same code that operates in any university common room applies here: we welcome all contributors – whether or not they have a direct connection with the OU. We only ask that anyone contributing to the forums does so in a spirit of respect for other users. Inflammatory or defamatory comments, flaming, taunting, abuse or harassment of other forum members or the moderators is not allowed.  Nor is sexually explicit or offensive language, advertising or copyrighted materials. For the detailed small print, including our right to remove posts which breach this code, see the conditions of use at the foot of this page. Please note the moderator's decision is final. In the case of a dispute, this may not be carried out in the public forum.

Thread titles
When you start a new thread please take care to ensure your title will make sense to other forum users. Single words are unlikely to attract people in to read your post; questions or statements that make it clear what the discussion is about make it much easier for other users to see at a glance whether a thread is of interest to them.

Getting more traffic
You can use the tools at the foot of each comment box to attract more responses, either by emailing the comment out to others or sharing it on any other social networks - such as Twitter or Facebook – to which you belong.