The Open University: Free Resources Available For Study

The Open University in the UK is an established university which awards degrees in subjects as varied as Law, Physics, Mathematics and Music. In recent years they have made course material available to anyone who would benefit and without charge.
The course material is published on the Open Learn website, which gives free access to Open University course materials. There are hundreds of free study units and each has its own discussion forum. Students have the ability to study independently at their own pace or join a group and use the free resources available to work with others.
The Open University Student Experience
With the free courses on OpenLearn, subjects can be explored before fees need to be paid, or they can be approached as a way of learning small units rather than entire courses. This can be a useful way of understanding the approach of the university and whether this particular teaching and learning style is a suitable one.
Course Material and Subject Matter
Some examples of available courses are as follows:
Understanding Children: babies being heard (Y156_2): This course is an OpenLearn study unit with a suggested five hour study time and a learning level set at introductory. Understanding Children provides information about some of the things very young babies can do and how they can interact with family members. Their needs are examined and the role of adults and children, in their lives is explored.
A fictional family is used as a case study and members discuss their role and memories of when the new baby arrived. The fictional case study is composed of real information provided by research and so is informative and evidence based. Video and document extracts provide a variety of learning methods with information such as that babies “use total body movements [their whole bodies] to express pleasure at bathtime or when being fed”.
Babylonian Mathematics (MA290_2): Understanding Babylonian mathematics is an intermediate level course with a suggested study time of eight hours. There is information about how discoveries led to historians deciphering stone tables and students learn about the techniques Babylonians used for problem-solving and teaching.
The origins of the wars of the three kingdoms (A200_3): This intermediate level course has a level of 12 hours study time and explores the wars of the three kingdoms of England, Ireland and Scotland. The focus is on the 17th century crises that led to the Civil Wars in the 1640s between parliamentarians and royalists in England. The purchase of the book Exploring History 1400–1900: An Anthology of Primary Sources edited by Rachel C. Gibbons [Manchester University Press, 2006] is required and used as additional reading material.
Further Information on Courses Taught With OpenLearn
The humanities and social sciences aren’t the only subjects represented, and there are plenty of science courses as well. There are 22 courses under Environment, Development and International Studies and at least three courses on climate change.
Students are provided with a sophisticated array of learning tools such as an online journal, access to a knowledge map which uses a software tool for mapping information and among others, a unit forum where discussions are held about the course material.
The State of Higher Education
The Open University is an accredited source of higher education and confers its own degrees or in combination with other higher education institutions. By June 30, 2010, 660,953 people had applied to full-time higher education through the UK admissions service according to the UCAS website. This record number of applicants indicates the great competition for places this year. Students who know what they want to study have a greater advantage over those who are still looking for what is right for them. Exploring what is already out there and its suitability to an individual’s own preferences becomes ever more important in making the right decision.
Distance learning via the Open University is not the only option available. The Open Courseware Consortium provides course material from higher education institutions (HEIs) around the world and access is open to anyone who is interested in accessing it. This is a collaboration of HEIs and other such organizations which have come together from around the world to provide material for a shared setting of educational content. Member countries range from Australia and Spain to the UK and the United States and provide 2,826 courses in English. Other languages such as French and Catalan are also represented. Courses are provided in full and range from Protein Folding, Misfolding and Human Disease at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to a Textbook of Urogynaecology at the University of Cape Town.
While the Open University provides online accessibility in much the same way as the Open Courseware program, it doesn’t stop at just providing the course material. It allows for flexibility, has course material and teaching that is recognised for its quality and is a constant source of support to students who can interact with each other and with tutors. The benefit is that there is no need to sign up with an HEI to find this out. OpenLearn provides the material to explore higher education in any setting and without any cost apart from the ability to access the internet.

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