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C25: Education

A child sitting on the floor of a library, engrossed in reading a book

The OU’s Centre for Research in Education and Educational Technology (CREET) pursues agenda-defining research into learning from early years to adulthood to shape the future of education.

Research specialisms

  • Childhood studies
  • Education futures
  • Language and literacies
  • Technology enhanced learning

Headline results

  • OU research in Education ranks 2nd in the UK for the quality and quantity of its research using the Times Higher Education Power Score
  • 80% of OU research was assessed as 4* or 3* for impact
  • 100% of the OU environment for research in Education was assessed as 4*

Research highlights

The OU Children’s Research Centre (CRC)supports children as active researchers and promotes children’s rights and empowerment by training and supporting them to investigate issues they identify as important to them. Since its launch it has worked with hundreds of children through links with schools, youth organisations and charities nationally and internationally.

OU research exploring 21st-century reading practices with teachers and children has led to a significant increase in children’s reading scores, transformed their pleasure in reading and resulted in “a seismic shift” in teachers’ views of how to teach reading.

The OU has the largest UK-based concentration of researchers developing new forms of practical learning online which bring learning resources to millions of people worldwide.

Find out more about our researchers

Current staff (research projects, publications, contact details) in the related departments