A blog about design at the OU.
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Reflections on Yuval Noah Harari’s London Talk: Storytelling, Technology, and AI Ethics
A few weeks ago, I had a ticket to see Yuval Noah Harari, one of my favourite authors, live on stage in London. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it on the day due to feeling unwell. Thankfully, I received Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI, the book that Harari was promoting […]
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Reclaiming Narratives: The paradox of the camera as a tool for representation and agency
Recently, I co-edited a book that explores the role of the camera in times of crisis in Africa. Within this broad coverage, my contribution focuses on how cameras are used as tools for visual narratives, representation and agency during crises. Interestingly, some weeks ago, I saw the theme for this year’s black history month ‘reclaiming […]
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The Evolution of Barbie: A Design Icon Through the Decades by Tara Duncan
We asked a few of our students about their design inspirations. Our first student is Tara Duncan, who is studying for the OU Open Degree and has just started the third level design module T317, after successfully completing U101 and T217. She explored the design and style icon Barbie. —- The Evolution of Barbie: A […]
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Report on visit to V&A Museum of Childhood
On the 12th October 2024, seven U101 24B students (including two children) met up at the V&A Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green in East London. The museum itself showcases a mix of displays of artefacts relating to childhood from a diversity of cultures around the world. Some artefacts date back to the 16th Century. […]
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Transformative Learning for Sustainable Transitions
Inner Development Goals (IDG) Annual Summit in Stockholm This week, the non-profit initiative Inner Development Goals (IDG) held its annual summit in Stockholm. The goal of IDG is to harness the power of inner development to tackle global challenges, such as those outlined by the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The IDG community has developed a framework […]
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Why Carbon Literacy Training Matters
What is Carbon Literacy Training you might wonder? It is a programme designed to educate people on how their everyday activities create carbon impacts and how these can be reduced. It is currently available for all staff and students at the Open University to undertake for free. It involves approximately 4 hours of self-study […]
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(Design) ecologies for learning and practice
In this post I acknowledge the contributions of Schumacher College to current shifts toward life-centred design and ‘design for planet’, show how Schumacher exemplifies the concept of ecologies for learning and practice, and draw out insights of value for our new B.Design in development. Collapsing and re-organising In late August 2024 the trustees of Dartington […]
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1974 and all that……
I am writing this blog on the 1st October 2024. For me, this is an odd sort of anniversary, for it was on 1st October 1974 (i.e. exactly 50 years ago) that I formally joined the Open University. I know there are others still present in our Design Group who preceded me (Robin Roy, Dave […]
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Nigel Cross on Design Thinking
A is for Architecture, a podcast series run by Ambrose Gillick of Kent University, invited Nigel Cross, a renowned expert in design thinking, to discuss his research. Cross is an Emeritus Professor at the Open University (OU) and a pioneer in distance design education. He has significantly influenced the field through his work as the […]
