The Open University

Five ways emojis have reflected COVID culture

16 July 2021

Written by Dr Philip Seargeant, Senior Lecturer in Applied Statistics at The Open University. Over the past decade, emojis have become an integral part of the way we communicate, and have attracted attention from scholars in subjects ranging from linguistics to psychology. Just as the pandemic has impacted so many other parts of everyday life, […]

OU Professor appointed co-chair of Global Education Advisory Panel

18 June 2021

The Open University’s Professor of International Education and Development, Kwame Akyeampong has been appointed co-chair of the Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel (GEEAP). Hosted by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the World Bank, the panel will review and assess evidence-based and cost effective practices to improve education outcomes and help policymakers in low- […]

OU partners with YSS to research the impact on children when a parent is in prison

2 June 2021

The Open University’s (OU) Children’s Research Centre has partnered with charity, YSS to conduct a two-year study into the impact on children, young people and their families when a parent or carer is in prison. The Families First project, which is funded by Worcestershire County Council, aims to improve services that support families affected by […]

‘Take your training online’ with new OU resource aimed at trainers in the NGO and charity sectors

2 June 2021

The Open University (OU) has launched a new course designed to support trainers working for a charity, non-governmental agency, or similar third sector organisation, to move their face to face training online. At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, many charities and NGOs were challenged with the task of moving their training online, often working […]

Vector illustration of two nurses wearing a medical mask and hat

International Nurses Day – Sian’s story

11 May 2021

To mark this year’s International Nurses Day, we spoke to a number of The Open University’s (OU) nursing students to hear first-hand about their experience working and studying on the COVID-19 frontline. Sian is in her second year of studying for the OU’s BSc (Honours) in Nursing. She lives in Denbigh, Wales and has worked […]

Has COVID-19 changed the public perception of nursing?

11 May 2021

During the midst of the pandemic, nurses and other frontline staff were the subject of praise from the government and public with the weekly NHS clap, dedicated shopping hours and shared gratitude for their lifesaving work. But, with restrictions beginning to ease and the public eager to return to normality, how long will nurses remain […]

Child pictured next to the Morrisons' Children's Little Library

OU research shapes Morrisons’ new children’s book initiative

6 May 2021

The Open University’s Reading for Pleasure team have been working with Morrisons’ to shape a book donation initiative to encourage more children to read. Launching today, Morrisons’ ‘Children’s Little Library’ will be available nationwide in stores across England, Wales and Scotland. Inspired by Canterbury-based children’s author, Rebecca Smith, who approached the OU and Morrisons, asking […]

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OU’s WELS faculty beats the national statistics with three new female Professors

21 April 2021

The Open University’s Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS) has promoted three of its female academics to Professor. With HESA reporting that only 28% of UK Professors are women in 2019/20, WELS is beating the trend with well over half (67%) of its Professors being female. Rebecca Ferguson, Kristina Hultgren and Joan Simons […]

Pregnant woman with hands on her stomach

Truth about surrogacy explored in new series

17 March 2021

The first episode of a new series exploring the reality of surrogacy starts tonight (17 March) on BBC One at 10:45pm. Co-produced by the BBC and The Open University’s (OU) Broadcast and Partnerships team, Surrogates is a three-part documentary, which follows the experiences of five young British women, all embarking on a complex journey to […]

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 […]

OU News

Category: Education, languages and health