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Category: Education, languages and health
Four myths about diabetes debunked
The World Health Organisation estimates that the number of people with diabetes is 422m, globally. And between 1980 and 2014 the number of people with the condition almost doubled. Despite the high prevalence of the disease, it is often misunderstood. Here are some common misconceptions about diabetes. 1. Diabetes is purely a disorder of the […]
Why exercise helps with mental health
What impact does exercise have on mental health? Lecturer in Sport and Fitness at The Open University, Karen Howells, provides expert insight into why exercise could improve your mental health. Mental health isn’t just the absence of illness “We know exercise is good for us; physically it can prevent diseases such as diabetes and keep us […]
OU responds to workforce development challenges with new Postgraduate Diploma in Social Work
The OU is celebrating World Social Work Day (#WSWD2017) with the launch of a new Post-graduate Diploma and MA in Social Work. The OU has been training social workers for more than 18 years with 300 people graduating in the field each year. Speaking after a recent Parliamentary Reception Mick McCormick, Programme Director, Head of Department […]
The language of call centres and why it can “offend the ears”
Most of us dread dealing with them, but call centres are hard to avoid as an increasingly widespread aspect of modern life. Now a new study from The Open University, published in the Journal of Sociolinguistics, has opened up the world of call centres and examined how pressurized call centre agents take short cuts to […]
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Truthiness and alternative facts: meaning is a moveable feast
Sales of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four have apparently surged since Kellyanne Conway introduced the phrase “alternative facts” into public discourse. For many, the term is reminiscent of Orwell’s dystopian Newspeak, the imaginary language used by the novel’s totalitarian government to control the way the population thinks. It also allows for the doublethink of the slogans […]
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High blood pressure may protect over-80s from dementia
It is well known that high blood pressure is a risk factor for dementia, so the results of a new study from the University of California, Irvine, are quite surprising. The researchers found that people who developed high blood pressure between the ages of 80-89 are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease (the most common […]
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5 fitness trends for 2017
Simon Rea, OU Lecturer in Sport and Fitness, takes a look back at sport in 2016 and examines the big trends in fitness for 2017… More people are getting involved in sport As 2016 comes to an end Sport England released a very positive report saying that the number of women playing sport has reached […]
Festive feast over? There is always room for another course.
It’s Boxing Day and you have munched enough chocolate, pudding, and turkey to sustain you for another twelve months; however, there is always room for another course. If you are bored on Boxing Day and there isn’t anything of interest on TV – even though you have 846 channels – then dine on the OpenLearn […]
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The world’s words of the year pass judgement on a dark, surreal 2016
Every December, lexicographers around the world choose their “words of the year”, and this year, perhaps more than ever, the stories these tell provide a fascinating insight into how we’ve experienced the drama and trauma of the last 12 months. 2016 had potential. It was 500 years ago that Thomas More wrote his Utopia, and […]
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Taking students on a ‘learner journey’
This article is by Learning and Teaching Co-ordinator at The Open University in Scotland, Joan Thomson, and was originally published in The Scotsman. The “learner journey” is a concept which crops up in most of the literature on education policy. It’s not exactly the most user-friendly of phrases – I wonder how many students would recognise […]
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