Open University

Open University is also the name of other institutions. See Distance education or the Open Universities category for a list.

The Open University

Motto	Learn and Live
Established	1969
Type	Public
Location	Milton Keynes (main campus) & regional centres, United Kingdom
Website	http://www.open.ac.uk/

The Open University is the United Kingdom's distance learning government-supported university notable for having an open entry policy, established in 1969. The majority of students are based in the UK, but its long-distance and on-line capabilities allows students to matriculate from around the world. The university awards undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, as well as non-degree qualifications such as diplomas and certificates, or continuing education units.

Mission and reputation

The OU aims to provide a university education more accesible than traditional institutions of higher education through its open enrollment, distance and internet-based educational programs. Such programs often mean that the university is on the cutting edge of technological and educational innovation, which the OU publicizes as one of its most valuable selling points. The OU also is committed to social justice and strongly supports many lines of diversity, as it sees discrimination as "waste of human resources and a denial of opportunity for individual self-fulfilment."; hence, the OU strives to fight social injustice and discrimination through education.

While many universities promote admissions selectivity as a staple of prestige, Open University's different model establishes success as just the opposite; inclusivness is a major point with Open University, and it is generally regarded as one of the most inclusive schools in the world, particularly in regards to its distance learning programs With more than 180,000 students enrolled, including more than 25,000 students studying overseas, it is the largest academic institution in the UK by student number, and qualifies as one of the world's largest universities. It was rated top University in England and Wales for student satisfaction in the 2005 and 2006 UK government national student satisfaction survey, and second in the 2007 survey.

History

The Open University was founded by the Labour government of Harold Wilson, based on the vision of Michael Young (later Lord Young of Dartington). Planning commenced in 1965 under Minister of State for Education Jennie Lee, who led an advisory committee consisting of university vice-chancellors, educationalists and broadcasters. The BBC's Assistant Director of Engineering at the time, James Redmond had obtained most of his qualifications at night school, and his natural enthusiasm for the project did much to overcome the technical difficulties of using television to broadcast teaching programmes.

Walter Perry (later Lord Perry) was appointed the OU's first vice-chancellor in January 1969. The election of the new Conservative government of Edward Heath in 1970 led to budget cuts under Chancellor of the Exchequer Iain Macleod (who had earlier called the idea of an Open University "blithering nonsense"). However the OU accepted its first 25,000 students in 1971, adopting a radical open admissions policy. At the time, the total "traditional" university population in the UK was around 130,000.

Since its foundation, the OU has inspired the creation of many similar institutions around the world.

Teaching methods at Open University differs from the traditional module.

The OU uses a variety of methods for distance learning, including written and audio materials, the Internet, disc-based software and television programmes on DVD. Materials are composed of originally-authored work by in-house and external academic contributors, and from third-party materials licensed for use by OU students. For most courses, students are supported by tutors ("Associate Lecturers") who provide feedback on their work and are generally available to them at face-to-face tutorials, by telephone, and/or on the Internet. A number of short courses worth ten points are now available that do not have an assigned tutor but offer an online conferencing service (Internet Forum) where help and advice is offered through conferencing "Moderators."

Some courses have mandatory day schools. These are day-long sessions which a student must attend in order to pass the course. One example of such a course is the K301 - Advanced Certificate in Health Promotion - which has two mandatory day schools/workshops, focusing on communication skills, counselling and practical issues related to health promotion. Nevertheless, it is possible to seek excusal upon the basis of ill-health (or other extenuating circumstances), and many courses have no mandatory face-to-face component.

Similarly, many courses have traditionally offered week long summer schools offering an opportunity for students to remove themselves from the general distractions of their life and focus on their study for a short time.

Over the past ten years the university has adopted a policy of separating residential courses from distance-taught courses. Exemption from attendance at residential schools, always as an Alternative Learning Experience (ALE), is sometimes available for disabled students and others who find it impossible to attend in person (See "Qualifications-Undergraduate" section.)

The OU now produces mainstream television and radio programming aimed at bringing learning to a wider audience. Most of this programming, including series such as Rough Science and "Battle of the Geeks," are broadcast at peak times, while older programming is carried in the BBC Learning Zone. But in 2004 the OU announced it was to stop its late night programmes on BBC2, and the last such programme was broadcast at 5.30am on 16 December 2006. The OU now plans to focus on mainstream programmes.

Teaching at the OU has been rated as "excellent" by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. The English national survey of student satisfaction has twice put the Open University in first place.

In October 2006 the OU joined the Open educational resources movement with the launch of OpenLearn. A growing selection of current and past distance learning course materials will be released for free access, including downloadable versions for educators to modify (under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA licence), plus free collaborative learning-support tools.

The OU is researching the use of Second Life in teaching and learning, and has 2 islands in the virtual world. These islands are called CETLMent and Schomebase. CETLMent is on the main grid and is used by tutors for specific exercises with groups of students. Schomebase is on the teen grid and is used for exploring new teaching methods for school

Facilities

Ireland Region office, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Programs

The Open University grants undergraduate Certificates, typically awarded after 60 completed credits at Level 1 or Level 3, Diplomas (abbreviated Dip) after 120 credits - typically 60 points at Level 2 and 60 points at Level 3, ordinary Bachelor degrees after 300 credits, and Bachelor degrees with honours. Majors for these types of degrees include Engineering, Business Studies, Childhood and Youth Studies, Computing, Mathematical Sciences, Statistics, Criminology and Psychological Studies, English Language and Literature, Environmental Studies, European Studies, Health Studies, History, Human Geography, General Humanities, Information Technology and Computing, International Studies, Language Studies, Molecular Science, Natural Sciences, Nursing Practice, Philosophy, Psychology, Physical Science, Politics, and Social Sciences.

As well as degrees in named subject, the Open University also grants "open" Bachelor degrees where the syllabus is designed by the students by combining any number of Open University courses up to 360 credits for an open honours degree - the main restriction on which courses can be included is that there must be at least 120 at level 3 and no more than 120 at level 1.

The Open University provides the opportunity to study for a PhD on a part time distance, or a full time on site basis in a wide range of disciplines. The university also offers a range of Master's of Arts levels courses such as Art History, Classical Studies, Environment, Policy and Society, History, Music, Online and Distance Education, Popular Culture. The Master of Science majors include Advancing Healthcare Practice, Development Management, Engineering, Forensic Psychology and Criminology, Human Resource Management, International Finance and Management, Medical Physics and Social Research Methods. Postgraduate certificates are awarded for 60 points of study on specified courses; postgraduate diplomas are awarded for 120 points of study on specified courses. The University offers "Advanced Diplomas" that involve 60 credits at undergraduate level and 60 credits at postgraduate level, designed as "bridges" between undergraduate and postgraduate study.

Colleges, Institutes and Centers

Open University has 7 colleges, or Faculties as they are known:

• Faculty of Arts
• Open University School of Business
• Faculty of Education and Language Studies
• Faculty of Health and Social Care
• Faculty of Mathematics, Computing and Technology
• Faculty of Science
• Faculty of Social Sciences

Open University also has two Institutes:

• Institute of Educational Technology
• Media Institute

There are 5 Research Centers at Open University:

• The Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance
• The International Centre for Comparative Criminological Research
• The Centre for Research in Computing
• The Centre for Research in Education and Educational Technology
• The Centre for Earth, Planetary, Space and Astronomical Research

Student life

People from all walks of life and all ages take advantage of the OU; for most courses there are no entry requirements other than the ability to study at an appropriate level, though most postgraduate courses require evidence of previous study or equivalent life experience.

Approximately 70 percent of students are in full-time employment, often working towards a first (or additional) degree or qualification to progress or change their career, with over 50,000 being sponsored by their employer. The University is also popular with those who cannot physically attend a traditional university because they are disabled, abroad, in prison, serving in the armed forces, or looking after family members. About 10,000 OU students have disabilities.

While most of those studying are mature students, the reduction in financial support for those attending traditional universities has also led to an influx of young undergraduates to the OU. In the 2003–2004 academic year, around 20 percent of undergraduates were under 25 years old, up from 12.5 percent in 1996–1997 (the year before top-up fees were announced). The OU works with some schools to introduce A Level students to OU study.

Unlike other universities, where students register for a programme, at the OU students register separately for individual modules (which may be 10, 15, 20, 30 or 60 CATS points, equivalent to 5, 7.5, 10, 15, or 30 ECTS credits), and are known as 'courses' in the OU context. These courses may then be linked into degree programmes.

The students' union is the Open University Students Association, usually abbreviated to OUSA.

The university enrolled less than 50,000 students in the 1970-1971 academic year, but it quickly exceeded that number by 1974-1975, and by 1987-1988 yearly enrollment doubled to 100,000 students, reaching 200,000 by 2001-2002; cumulativelly, the university has educated more than two million students, 675,000 of which studied enough courses to achieve a qualification after successful assessment. As of the 2006-2007 academic year, there are 224,276 students and 6184 customers (who just buy the course materials but do not enroll to the course to receive academic credits). Most students come from England (148,395), while others are from Scotland, Ireland, and the rest of the European Union. The majority of students (14,577) choose to undertake social studies and biological and physical sciences (11 910), as well as historical and philosophical studies; the least popular academic fields in The Open University are mass communications and documentation (187 students) and creative arts and design (545 students). The most popular course for the 2006-2007 academic year was DD100 An introduction to the social sciences (more than seven thousand students studied it in one academic year), followed by A103 An introduction to the humanities, K100 Understanding health and social care, M150 Data, computing and information, and DSE212 Exploring psychology (a bit less than four thousand students). Most undergraduate students are female, while males are slightly more than females in postgraduate courses, and the majority of the students are in between 25 and 44 years old, the median age of new undergraduates being 32. 37,852 students receive financial help, and the typical cost for UK students of a Bachelor's honours degree at the OU is between £3150 and £4225 (EU and international students pay more as the university does not receive government funding for them). After government support, the second most important revenue stream to The Open University are academic fees paid by the students, which in one academic year (2006-2007) total about £123 million.

Notable graduates

The OU has over two million alumni from all walks of life, including:

• Craig Brown, former Scotland football manager
• Frank Hampson, creator of Dan Dare
• Lenny Henry, entertainer
• Myra Hindley, serial killer
• Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia

External links

• e-learning video guide
• Open University UK website
• COROUS—Corporate Open University Services
• H2G2 Open University Information at the BBC
• Video clip of BBC Open University programme circa 1982
• Video clip of BBC Open University Maths programme (date unknown) featuring Robin Wilson (q.v.)

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