It is no wonder that the OU sees itself in the forefront of Open Media public broadcasting, freely providing educational materials to the public. Before the arrival of the internet it was noted for its television broadcasting which now seems very dated, but these programmes had a following outside of the OU’s student population. Even from the start the OU was making material freely available.
The arrival of the internet offered even more opportunity to reach its audience, not only in the UK but worldwide. The internet was also available as a media tool for other educational institutions, so it was essential that the OU provided a unique service. As media was the main public face of the OU, it was essential that it remained distinctive in its media usage. Having provided educational materials to the public for forty years, and through the BBC, also supported online activities, the OU had a head start in its experience of utilising media opportunities. However, there have been many changes over the years and the OU has had to adapt to new technologies and cope with many financial fluctuations.
The changes in funding are of course in the forefront of issues the OU is addressing. The development of Open Media is now essential to promoting the OU brand and fulfilling the commitment to education in its charter, which states that through ‘means such as broadcasting’ (and other technologies) it will, ‘promote the educational well-being of the community generally’. For this reason one of the chief roles of Open Media channels is to support this mission.
Open Media offers greater public awareness of the OU, hopefully making it one of the obvious considerations for those who wish to continue their education. It would be helpful to know from you as OU graduates, if you are aware of the OU’s role in Open Media. Perhaps you have noticed it mentioned in a number of television programmes, or discovered OpenLearn.
As a graduate, did you know for example that you could also access OU materials through YouTube, iTunesU or Google Book store and Apps store? If this is all new to you then it would be great if you could let us know. It would be helpful, for example, to know what percentage of the 6-8 million visitors who engage with OU educational materials through Open Media, are OU graduates.
Those of you who have accessed these sites, you may like to tell us if this engagement encouraged you to take on further courses with the OU. It is hoped that the taster material offered will encourage some ‘conversion’ to courses, especially for graduates and alumni,
but if you are unaware of its availability then the opportunity is lost.
As usual I haven’t given you much time to respond, so apologies, but this is due to the fact that the minutes cannot of course be available until close to the meeting date, to ensure they have the latest information available. Further comment on this subject by the end of Tuesday 24th January would be gratefully appreciated, however, the discussion is on-going, so even if the date has passed your contributions will be really appreciated.
Any other issues on which you wish to comment are also very welcome. I suggest you join Graduates’ Forum in Platform and then we can have a good debate!
