The Open University

Digital picture books could harm young children’s learning

9 March 2021

A comprehensive meta-analysis of prior research has found that children aged 1-8 are less likely to understand picture books when they read the digital, versus print version. However, when digital picture books contain the right enhancements that reinforce the story content, they outperform their print counterparts. The results were published today in Review of Educational […]

Teacher leaning over students with computer tablets

Tip top teaching – free resources to enhance classroom skills

8 March 2021

With the return of children to school, teaching professionals need to be fully prepped for the busy and bustling classroom. The Open University’s free learning site, OpenLearn has created two dedicated resource hubs to support and develop subject and pedagogical knowledge for primary school teachers and teaching assistants, including a wide range of articles and […]

Ahead of National Apprenticeship Week OU poll finds more employers now backing work-based learning

4 February 2021

A report commissioned by The Open University and The 5% Club has found that nearly three quarters (70%) of employers held the belief that apprenticeships and work-based learning would be vital to their organisations’ recovery from COVID disruption, compared to just half (50%) of business who were asked in August 2020. The Open University commissioned […]

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. […]

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 […]

OU’s new microcredential supports with accessible and inclusive online learning to disabled students

20 November 2020

The Open University (OU) has launched a new short course in its suite of microcredentials, designed to help education and training professionals across the world to plan, design and deliver accessible and inclusive online learning to students with disabilities. Online Teaching: Accessibility and Inclusive Learning, will be hosted on the OU’s FutureLearn platform and is open […]

Book Chat – OU partners with Macmillan Children’s Books to extend its Reading for Pleasure work to families

15 October 2020

The Open University has launched Book Chat: Reading with your Child, a resource which comprises three short films and support materials to help parents, families and carers read books conversationally and creatively to children. Working with Macmillan Children’s Books, the films use a selection of their picture books and a poetry collection to support families […]

OU joins with organisations from across publishing, books and education to raise awareness of shared reading

14 July 2020

The Open University’s Reading for Pleasure programme has collaborated with 17 other organisations, including The Reading Agency and Department for Education on a Reading Together Day to raise awareness of the importance of shared reading. On 16 July, families, schools and wider communities across the UK will be invited to take part in a host […]

Escape with the sounds of nature – Forest 404 Experiment returns for a second run

27 April 2020

An exciting national experiment reopens today, aiming to shed light on how listening to nature could impact wellbeing. In collaboration with The Open University’s nQuire platform, BBC Radio 4 and the University of Exeter, one of the biggest investigations ever conducted into the therapeutic effects of sound returns and is launching alongside Forest 404, a […]

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Category: Education