The Open University

OU academics’ guidance in poignant BBC programme on autistic adults

15 February 2023

A new two-part BBC series Inside Our Autistic Minds has started giving a revealing look at what goes on in the mind of autistic adults with the help of naturalist Chris Packham who was diagnosed with Asperger’s in 2005. With the contributions of two OU academics, Kieron Sheehy, Professor of education, and Fiona Henry senior […]

‘A special school’ airs on BBC Two, BBC Cymru Wales and iPlayer

18 January 2023

Two academics from The Open University used their specialist skills to advise the BBC programme makers on a second series of A Special School, which airs on BBC Two on 20th February at 7pm. The three-part series goes behind the scenes in a compelling observational documentary that shows what is possible when boundaries are pushed. […]

New framework for nursery practitioners shaped by OU research

17 January 2023

Research by Dr Natalie Canning, Senior Lecturer of Early Childhood and Co-Director of The Open University’s (OU) Children’s Research Centre has helped shape a new framework for early childhood practitioners. Created in partnership with the Interactive Learning Diary, the ‘Empowerment Framework’ can be used by practitioners to observe and analyse children’s play and activities to […]

OU to offer £280k to help EdTech companies develop new products

9 January 2023

The Open University (OU) has launched a new online start-up incubator to support businesses that produce educational technology to enhance the learning experience. The EdTech Foundry will give small to medium sized businesses access to the expertise of academics from the OU’s renowned Institute of Educational Technology, as well as a proportion of a £280,000 […]

Alicia Herbert OBE, FCDO Director of Education, Gender and Equality and Loyce Nhandara, SAGE District Coordinator

Zimbabwe project to improve education of women and girls receives FCDO praise

22 December 2022

The Open University’s global development project, SAGE – Supporting Adolescent Girls’ Education – was recently visited by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) who fund the project through UKAid. The initiative was praised for its positive impact on women and girls in Zimbabwe. SAGE, which began in 2018, seeks to address the barriers in accessing […]

First cohort of Isle of Wight nurses graduate with the OU

13 December 2022

The Isle of Wight NHS Trust has just celebrated its first cohort of registered nurse degree apprentices, who have completed their nursing qualifications in partnership with The Open University (OU). Like many other NHS organisations across the country, the Trust has found it challenging to recruit enough nursing professionals to fill vacancies. This new programme, […]

Virtual reality setting showing three scans of the human body

OU secures £5.8m to build extended reality studio

8 December 2022

The Open University (OU) has secured funding of £5.8m from the Office for Students to develop extended reality studios to expand its teaching and learning with augmented and virtual reality. Open XR Studios will feature state-of-the-art equipment to capture, reproduce and render 4D imagery. It will deliver immersive and reality-embedded learning to students in their […]

Female nurse pushing a patient in a wheelchair

Two-thirds of respondents claim enquiry-based learning helps their nursing practice, new OU report finds

22 November 2022

The Open University (OU) has released a new report in partnership with National Health Executive, which looks at the use of Enquiry-based learning (EBL) within nurse education. The innovative teaching style closes the theory-practice gap; a crucial step in the nursing profession. The report, Enquiry-based learning: Transforming nurse education explores the feedback from recent OU nursing […]

New BBC/ OU co-pro follows James Arthur’s mental health journey

9 November 2022

A new BBC and Open University co-production featuring multi-platinum-selling singer-songwriter, James Arthur will air on BBC Three at 9pm on Sunday 13 November. James Arthur: Out of Our Minds follows James at a crossroads in his life. After being propelled to stardom following his X Factor win in 2012, James experienced a decade of highs, […]

Help for people supporting Ukrainians in the UK launched by OU

20 October 2022

The Open University (OU) has launched a new free online course for people housing, caring for or working with Ukrainians in the UK. The course focuses on Ukrainian culture and language and has been developed specifically for UK residents hosting refugees, and service providers working with people who have arrived from Ukraine. Providing an insight […]

OU News

Category: Education, languages and health