The Open University

Net neutrality is worth saving, but business bias is a concern, says OU academic

13 July 2017

In the light of protests against threats to “net neutrality” by many of the big internet giants recently the OU’s Robert Herian, Lecturer in Law, explains why its such a worthy cause yet warns one must still be conscious of the competitive bias which exists online already: “The importance of maintaining net neutrality cannot be overstated […]

The real reason you can’t quit Facebook? Maybe it’s because you can judge your friends

12 July 2017

Facebook recently announced that it now has over 2 billion monthly users. This makes its “population” larger than that of China, the US, Mexico and Japan combined. Its popularity, and with it the influence it has in society, is beyond dispute. But for many the experience of actually using the site fluctuates somewhere between the […]

Full-time carer and “superhero student” achieves dream degree

13 June 2017

Caring full-time for her grandfather with Parkinson’s disease, 26-year-old Danielle Haigh-Wood was convinced that she’d never achieve her dream of getting a degree. However, after taking the plunge with a short history course, she was hooked on OU life and began studying for a joint humanities degree in philosophy and history, graduating at Bridgewater Hall, […]

General Election produced “political earthquake” says academic

9 June 2017

In the wake of a memorable General Election, Richard Heffernan, Reader in Government in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, gives his academic observations on the results: “The one thing we have not got from this election is a strong and stable government. What we have instead is a weak and unstable minority Conservative […]

General Election means new life outside politics for some, says OU academic

8 June 2017

The General Election will almost certainly mean the loss of a parliamentary seat for many MPs, some of whom might only have been in the role for two years since 2015. Dr Jane Roberts, Research Fellow in Public Leadership at The Open University Business School, considers the situation now facing them, drawing on her extensive […]

Fact Check: do the police spend over a million hours a year fighting cannabis?

27 May 2017

According to the authoritative Crime Survey for England and Wales, 6.5% of 16 to 59-year-olds use cannabis. But fewer people are using cannabis than in 1996, when information first became available. While much of the debate surrounding cannabis use has focused on the extent of potential harm to users, recently demands for a change in […]

Why the pensions ‘triple lock’ has become a key general election issue

2 May 2017

In the last Prime Minister’s Questions before the 2017 general election, Theresa May refused to guarantee the “triple lock” policy that guarantees pensions will rise in line with inflation, earnings or 2.5% – whichever is highest. It’s a contentious issue, as pensions make up a the biggest portion of the nation’s welfare budget. It’s also […]

Selfie culture isn’t the root of all evil

12 April 2017

The idea that selfies are somehow damaging our mental health is spreading. There is concern that there may be a link between an apparent recent rise in mental health concerns in millennials and taking, editing and posting selfies online. The Open University’s Lisa Lazard and Rose Capdevila investigate if their popularity isn’t completely negative in […]

Doctor Who takes an ethical stance towards alien life – so why isn’t he vegan?

12 April 2017

Since the Doctor Who series was rebooted in 2005 the television show has consistently presented the Doctor as a moral leader, a key element of which is his respectful relationship with other species. The Doctor expresses admiration and wonder for others, even when they threaten him or his human companions. Christopher Eccleston, who played the […]

OU research highlights impact of early lectures on college and university students

11 April 2017

Research by the OU and the University of Nevada has discovered that productivity in students is much greater between the hours of 11:00am and 9:30pm than at other times of day. The study of 190 undergraduate students, which was published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, analysed individual study patterns to determine when cognitive […]

OU News

Category: Arts and social sciences