The Open University

Voices of children and young people aged 3-12 expressed during pandemic

1 February 2021

The Open University’s Children’s Research Centre (OUCRC) and psychologist-led, Children Heard project have collaborated to analyse survey responses from 240 children aged between 3-12 (48 early years and 192 primary school age participants) on their thoughts, feelings and experiences of living through the COVID-19 pandemic. The report demonstrates how children have varying experiences of the […]

Five ways the OU’s new chatbot can support disabled students

29 January 2021

The process of disclosing a disability can be a time-consuming, stressful process, which the OU is aiming to improve with a chatbot to support both its students and staff. The OU’s chatbot, produced through the ADMINS Project, has been developed by educational experts, staff and students to improve disability disclosure processes for people with disabilities. […]

One step closer to building habitats on the Moon

27 January 2021

A team of lunar scientists from The Open University (OU) and the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) are making advances in building permanent structures on the Moon’s surface. OU researchers Dr Sungwoo Lim, Professor Mahesh Anand, Dr James Bowen, Dr Giulia Degli Alessandrini, Vibha Levin Prabhu and Aidan Crowley, a researcher from the EAC, investigated the […]

Man sitting on a bench with his two daughters

‘The OU was there when life seemed impossible’

26 January 2021

Richard Dicks began studying with The Open University as a way to cope when his daughter Ella was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Though life seemed impossible at times, Richard says being able to study gave him something positive to focus on and that he found strength in Ella’s determination to keep smiling despite the […]

Analyst by day and student by night, Abiola shares his story with Gemma Cairney

22 January 2021

An inspiring data analyst from Greenwich, South East London, is the latest guest on a brand-new podcast series starting this month, hosted by broadcaster Gemma Cairney. Life … On Our Terms is an eight-episode podcast series from The Open University (OU) discussing a range of topics about life and the routes to success taken by […]

OU-funded research to tackle social isolation in hospice settings

12 January 2021

It’s no secret that Covid-19 is having a devastating impact on the lives of patients in care homes and hospices. The threat of the virus has forced providers to keep patients isolated from loved ones for their own safety, but this has led to a decline in mental health, an increase in anxiety and even […]

New report highlights trends in online and blended learning

7 January 2021

‘Enriched realities’ and ‘Using chatbots in learning’ are two of the top ten new approaches to learning and teaching in this year’s Innovating Pedagogy report from The Open University. The ninth edition of the report launched in January 2021 was produced by leading educational researchers at the OU’s Institute of Educational Technology (IET), in collaboration […]

Return of ‘The Truth About’ spotlights Covid concerns

5 January 2021

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the OU/BBC partnership and New Year kicks off with a return of the series ‘The Truth About’’, with three special episodes focusing on issues around coronavirus. This popular and informative co-production starts on Wednesday 6 January at 9pm on BBC One with The Truth About Boosting Your Immune […]

OU academic named in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours

31 December 2020

Mark Brandon, Professor of Polar Oceanography, at The Open University has been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year 2021 Honours for services to Polar Science. Mark has been at The Open University for 20 years and has been Professor of Polar Oceanography since 2018. He is also the Associate Dean of Enterprise and […]

2020: an award winning year for OU/BBC TV and Radio

21 December 2020

It’s been another award-winning year for OU/BBC co-productions. Our co-produced content received four nominations at the BAFTAs, with Blue Planet Live winning the ‘Live Event’ category, BBC Ideas won a Webby and we had five nominations at the Broadcast Awards. Here we look back at some of the highlights of the OU/BBC co-productions from the […]

OU News