{"id":2782,"date":"2018-06-04T00:01:02","date_gmt":"2018-06-03T23:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/?p=2782"},"modified":"2018-06-15T09:02:54","modified_gmt":"2018-06-15T08:02:54","slug":"urgent-educational-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/?p=2782","title":{"rendered":"50 objects for 50 years No 7. Urgent Educational Materials"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/a>It is June and, for many of those studying\u00a060-point modules which started last October, that means final assessment-related gloom and stress. In my household the OU student,\u00a0studying two modules at once, is currently looking a little hollow-eyed and desperate. I am reminded of the donkey unable to decide between the hay of EMA deadline (Aaargg! But is due Tuesday!) and the straw of revision (Yikes the exam\u00a0is on Thursday!) I can see the temptation to be fair and avoid both in equal measure. Moving on from animal fables,\u00a0I’m hoping for a safe passage between\u00a0Scylla and Charybdis.<\/p>\n

In these circumstances it is time to remind ourselves of the pleasures of study.<\/p>\n

For many it starts with the delivery of that parcel marked \u2018Urgent Educational Material\u2019. It was suggested<\/a> that one of our 50 objects be the packaging sent to OU students. It tells the\u00a0recipient\u00a0that learning is so vital that they have immediately to rip open the cardboard and start studying. As this blogger <\/a>noted in 2007:<\/p>\n

\"\"The contents are unknown and there is room for speculation. What is inside? There have been records, cassettes, video disks, computers, models of the human brain and of course study guides. These ones are for U216.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Professor Grainne Conole, formerly of the Open University recalled<\/a>,\u00a0\u2018I did an OU Spanish course and you get this amazing box labelled \u201cUrgent: Educational Materials\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And here is OU student,\u00a0Carolyn Jones,<\/a><\/p>\n

Anyone else studying with the Open University?
\nIf you are, you\u2019ll know that their study packs of books and DVDs arrive in cardboard boxes prominently marked\u00a0Urgent: Educational Materials <\/strong>I\u2019m not making fun. I really do love the idea that education \u2013 of any kind, for anyone \u2013 is urgent, important, worth making way for.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course if you are still in your pyjamas when the postie dashes down the street to give you the parcel, the breathless deliverer might not be fooled by any pretence that you are going to immediately do an experiment, write an essay or complete an iCMA.<\/p>\n

Neil Anderson<\/a>\u2019s reaction was to reach for the alcohol.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Other students have described the moment. Jackie Diffey felt that when mailings arrived it was \u2018like getting a Christmas present\u2019. Vida Jane Platt wrote, \u2018Oh the bliss of waiting for the new year\u2019s course material to drop through the letter box and the pleasure in doing those TMAs\u2019. Elinor Ashby remembered how \u2018I was often so excited by the arrival of my units that I would stand over the cooker stirring home-made soup whilst avidly reading\u2019. Here is Cathy from 2009 recalling the DHL man pounding on the door ‘bearing gifts’.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The object this week is the world of possibilities presented by\u00a0the unopened package. It may even be a ‘digital’. As Jane noted on Twitter.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The act of opening the box will not release evils upon the world, in the manner of Pandora, but will enable me to acquire knowledge. Mysteriously understanding\u00a0will waft out of the parcel and into my\u00a0brain without any hard work from\u00a0me. Having read a bit about how people learn, this might be a bit unrealistic. However, my \u00a0faith might be \u00a0useful model. As exams loom, perhaps what the OU-student-in-the-house needs is the confidence\u00a0to believe\u00a0that this time\u00a0hope will triumph over expectations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is June and, for many of those studying\u00a060-point modules which started last October, that means final assessment-related gloom and stress. In my household the OU student,\u00a0studying two modules at once, is currently looking a little hollow-eyed and desperate. I am reminded of the donkey unable to decide between the hay of EMA deadline (Aaargg! […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[201,67,122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-50-objects","category-methods-history-of-the-ou","category-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2782"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2819,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2782\/revisions\/2819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}