The Open University

FutureLearn to deliver digital skills programmes in new Institute of Coding initiative

25 February 2019

The Open University (OU)’s social learning platform FutureLearn is to deliver digital skills programmes as part of the Institute of Coding (IoC), a multi-million pound initiative. The FutureLearn platform, which is wholly-owned by the OU, will deliver digital skills courses from the University of Leeds, Lancaster University, Goldsmiths and the Creative Computing Institute at the University […]

Report finds an urgent need for independent regulation of social media

18 February 2019

On Monday 18 February 2019, the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee published its long awaited final report on Disinformation and ‘fake news’. The report covered an enquiry that spanned 18 months, oral evidence from 73 witnesses including The Open University, over 4350 questions and a final ‘International Grand Committee’ meeting in November 2018. Its […]

LGBT History Month: a retrospective on Alan Turing

15 February 2019

February of each year is LBGT History Month, a month-long focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, with the overall aim of promoting equality and diversity, and increasing the visibility of the LGBT community. Professor Sophie Grace Chappell, Professor of Philosophy at The Open University, regularly writes about her own experiences as transgender, as well as discussing […]

Teens sleep debate is a health issue, says OU academic

11 February 2019

As MPs debate whether the school day should start later, The OU’s Dr Paul Kelley said there are biological reasons why teenagers do stay up late and lie in longer. A petition of more than 179,000 signatures online has sparked the debate on Monday February 11 in Parliament, focused on schools in England, to consider […]

Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week

8 February 2019

Mental health problems affect 1 in 10 children and young people, with more than half (56%) saying that they worry ‘all the time’ about at least one thing to do with their school life, home life or themselves. As we mark Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week (4-10 February), Dr Jackie Musgrave, Programme Leader for Early Childhood and Primary […]

Time to Talk Day – importance of friendship

6 February 2019

On the 7 February 2019, it’s Time to Talk Day – a day to encourage conversations about mental health and raise funds and awareness for charities, Mind and Rethink Mental Illness. Mental health affects one in four of us each year in the UK, with anxiety and depression being the most common problems. Even with so […]

Alan Turing named greatest icon of 20th century

6 February 2019

Father of the computer, World War Two code breaker and scientific genius Alan Turing was named the greatest icon of the 20th century in the live final of Icons, co-produced by the BBC and The Open University’s Broadcast and Partnerships team. Turing won the public vote having been pitted against fellow finalists Dr Martin Luther King, […]

Business school graduate Tillmann Henssler honoured as 2019 influential leader

5 February 2019

The Open University announces that alum Tillmann Henssler is one of 33 business school graduates honoured by AACSB International (AACSB)—the world’s largest business education alliance—as the 2019 Class of Influential Leaders. The annual challenge recognises notable alumni from AACSB-accredited schools whose inspiring work serves as a model for the next generation of business leaders. Tillmann […]

How do junk food adverts affect your children? – new OpenLearn course gives us the facts

4 February 2019

The Open University has launched a free OpenLearn course, which explores children’s food, marketing, eating and health in the context of their rights. Children and young people: food and food marketing, asks what the factors are that influence the foods that children eat – is it children’s or parents’ choices? Family or cultural influences? Or the wider food […]

Why Glasgow’s ‘Bolshevist Uprising’ in 1919 wasn’t quite the red threat to UK many believed

30 January 2019

January 31 is the centenary of Bloody Friday 1919, in which thousands of protesting workers were attacked in Glasgow’s main civic square by police, causing multiple injuries. Coming barely a year after the Russian Revolution and with insurgency in the air across much of Europe, then Scottish Secretary Robert Munro claimed that Glasgow was in […]

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