History of the OU

Open universities have engaged in such a wide range of activities besides research and teaching adult higher education that Alan Tait concluded that ‘what remains constant is the development function and I suggest that it is helpful to define the purposes of an open university in this way’ (Alan Tait, ‘What are open universities for?’, Open Learning, 23, 2, 2008, pp. 85 – 93 (p. 93)).  (more…)

Depression, claimed Victoria Wood is ‘when you eat dry Weetabix and watch Open University programmes’ (quoted in Jane Mace, ‘Television and metaphors of literacy’, Studies in the education of adults, 24, 2 October 1992, p172). While this put-down might reflect both the familiarity of the OU’s prgramming and the ways in which it may have alienated women, the issue of women’s engagement with the OU was one of concern to many. (more…)