Historical OU TV and Radio

The Open University has produced a number of series to inform students and a wider audience about the University. Series such as 'Open Forum' and 'Countdown to the OU' covered various topics such as methods of teaching, information about modules and guidance on areas such as summer schools. The OU Digital Archive Historical Television and Radio collection includes a small sample of the archive. The collection will grow as more contents are added.

Image of Historical OU TV and Radio
Thumbnail Title Description Date
video record for Countdown to the Open University 2(1983) Countdown to the Open University 2(1983)Advice on using course units; an excerpt from a tutorial; advice on assignments and exams;...
video preview image for Countdown to the Open University 3 (1983) Countdown to the Open University 3 (1983)A look at summer schools. Advice about good study habits. The Open University student's year....
video record for Countdown to the Open University 2(1978) Countdown to the Open University 2(1978)A detailed look at how the OU works in a Regional Study Centre, and students working at home.
audio record of Open Forum 7(1977)Monthly letterbox. Pros and Cons of compulsory foundation course requirements and the possible use...
audio record of Open Forum 16(1976)Report on the OUSA National Conference.
audio record of Open Forum 03(1982)1) Interview with the head of 'Prometheus' an OU energy research project. 2) Discussion on aid to...
audio record of Open Forum 26(1985)Role of OU in Scotland. Discrimination against Scottish students and staff. Value of OU credits at...
audio record of Open Forum 47(1992)A look at the Cambridge Footlights and interviews with some of the would be actors and actresses...
audio record of Open Forum 02 (1988)Liz Dawtry and Gill Kirkup School of Education, report on the working party of the OU Equal...
audio record of Open Forum 28(1985)Discussion of TAD292 Arts course, from inception to closure, content of course, students...
video record for 10th Anniversary Concert 10th Anniversary Concert
video record for Open Forum 86(1983) : looking forward to summer school Open Forum 86(1983) : looking forward to summer schoolA look at foundation course summer schools, with advice for students facing their first summer school.
audio record of Sounds technical 6
audio record of Sounds technical 5 (1992)
audio record of Sounds technical 7
audio record of Sounds technical 1 (1992) : what is technology?
audio record of Sounds technical 3
audio record of Transistors (programme 4)'Diamonds, Rust and a Handful of Sand' is an 8 part radio series about the historical development...
audio record of Videotape (programme 5)
audio record of Quartz (programme 6)Synchronise your watches as DRHS examines the mysterious properties of crystal quartz. The...
audio record of Microprocessors (programme 7)In part recorded in the part of California, US, known as Silicon Valley, this programme tells the...
audio record of Electronic futures (programme 8)The radio history of electronics finishes with a story from the 1970s and the invention of the...
audio record of Wireless (programme 1)This programme follows the developments in early wireless from the crystal set to the thermionic...
audio record of Television (programme 2)The programme tells the story of the birth of the world's first regular high definition TV...
audio record of Videotape (programme 4)The history of electronics moves to the videotape or magnetic recording. Sound recording on disk...
audio record of Transistors (programme 3)To most people in the 1950s the word 'transistor' meant a portable radio rather than the clever...
audio record of Electronic futures (programme 7)Recorded on location in California, the programme features two of the leading figures in the...
audio record of Microprocessors (programme 6)Partially recorded in the part of California, US, known as Silicon Valley, this programme tells the...
audio record of It's History! (programme 1)The first in a new series about women and technology, presented by Kate Bellingham. 'It's History'...
audio record of From concept to customer (programme 4)This programme looks at four women inventors and their trials and tribulations as they work in a...
audio record of Engineering a career? (programme 2)Why aren't girls taking up careers in science and engineering? Talking to girls at school and their...
audio record of Logged in or left out? (programme 6)The internet - what does that mean to you? And what about computer games? With the help of Eva...
audio record of Women in the white heat (programme 7)This programme looks at a variety of topical issues in the area of women and technology. Diana...
audio record of The Innovators (programme 5)This programme, presented by Kate Bellingham, is about women and innovation. The first item is...
audio record of Does dropping the debt miss the point? (programme 1)Recently a wide range of people from the Pope to Bono have called for the cancellation of Third...
audio record of Dust to dimes? : fifty years of development aid (programme 2)The Bretton Woods conference, set up by the allies at the end of the Second World War, established...
audio record of The Stephensons, Father and Son (programme 2)George Stephenson and his son Robert a generation later were two of the most influential engineers...
audio record of Edison and the Electric World (programme 7)Thomas Edison was the most prolific engineer who ever lived. He was committed to electricity as a...
audio record of Telford and the Lost Engineer (programme 3)Thomas Telford is regarded as the father of civil engineering. But the Society of Civil Engineers...
audio record of Bessemer and the Creators of Steel (programme 6)In the mid-nineteenth century the Bessemer process for making cheap steel revitalised industrial...
audio record of Brunel and the atmospheric caper (programme 4)While the focus of popular attention has been on engineers who produced ever greater achievements...
audio record of Early television (programme 2)'Diamonds, Rust and a Handful of Sand', our series on the history of electronics now moves into...
audio record of Radar (programme 3)'Diamonds, Rust and a handful of Sand' is an 8 part radio series about the historical development...
audio record of Quartz (programme 5)An examination of the natural mineral and its ability to add precision timing to electronic...
audio record of Whose right to intervene? (programme 4)Following the Biafra war a group of French doctors founded Medecins Sans Frontieres, a new kind of...
audio record of Refugees - who cares? (programme 3)The United Nations High Commission for Refugees was set up in the aftermath of the Second World...
audio record of Making the world secure? (programme 7)Surprisingly little is known about the UN Security Council, yet it is in fact the executive body of...
audio record of Whose knowledge counts? (programme 5)Development aid has typically been a question of experts, often white, going to a country and...
audio record of The benefits of war (programme 6)Wars (you thought) are fought to be won. But is that really what most modern conflicts are about?...
audio record of Smart Johannesburg - leading the African renaissance? (programme 8)This programme investigates the development of Johannesburg as a global city, from a rather shaky...