Skip to content
Skip to main content

A year in review 2022

Welcome to the OpenLearn year in review, our annual look back at the last 12 months through our very special OpenLearn-tinted spectacles! With around 1,000 courses and many more articles, interactives, podcasts and videos, there’s pretty much no news story that we can’t link to something on our site. The last two years have been somewhat dominated by Covid and Trump. Would 2022 be any different? Let’s find out…

Find out about The Open University's Open courses.



Blue banner says Sue Gray investigates Partygate

The year started with the much-anticipated report on ‘Partygate’ by the now-famous Sue Gray… but what did she uncover? Black Lives Matter protesters were cleared of any wrongdoing over the toppling of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol, and the first ever pig-to-human heart transplant took place.

New to OpenLearn this month: our first badged course of 2022, Developing Reading for Pleasure: engaging young readers and the fascinating article, How to find invisible black holes.


 blue banner says Russia invades Ukraine: how can we help

Russia invaded the Ukraine, starting one of the longest-running and most disturbing news stories of the year, seeing many Ukrainians flee their country. The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics went ahead without the Russians, and the Queen celebrated her Platinum Jubilee… but, of course, there was bigger royal news to come…

New to OpenLearn: Sex stats for the British population… how do your attitudes compare? And our fascinating video and discussion on teenage melanoma.


blue banner, says will smith hits rock bottom

2022 started with lots of bad news, so when Will Smith hit Chris Rock at the Academy Awards, it was almost light relief… that’s showbusiness! British-Iranian author, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, was finally freed from her jail in Iran and returned home. And researchers in the Antarctic found the shipwreck Endurance, which sank in 1915 during Shackleton's expedition.

New to OpenLearn: we refreshed the popular ‘Developing career resilience’ course, and added articles such as the very helpful How to keep your kidneys healthy’!


 Blue banner says 'the defamation case with no real winner'

Were you Team Depp or Team Heard? Neither side really won this media-frenzied defamation case to be honest! We saw National Insurance rise in the UK, prompting more financial planning, Peter Kay returned to the comedy stage for the first time in a decade, and the European Southern Observatory team discovered a ‘micronovae’ - a new type of exploding star!

New to OpenLearn: another innovative badged course, ‘Describing language’ and the popular ‘Can we be categorised by our DNA?’ video.


Blue banner, says election, selection, tiktoks and moneypox

Australia elections saw the conservative government voted out after nearly a decade in power, a West Midlands fish and chip shop became a TikTok sensation (still not sure why), we were introduced to ‘monkeypox’ for the first time, and, closer to home for the OU, Milton Keynes earned city status… at last!

New to OpenLearn: delve into the past with our Medea Myth animation, or discover if microplastics can really find their way onto your plate


Blue banner says, the court action that's not so supreme

For the first time since 2019, the festival season was back in business, and didn’t everyone make the most of it during that hot summer? The Supreme Court ruled there is no constitutional right to abortion in the United States, upending the landmark Roe v Wade case; and railway workers started their strikes in the UK – and they weren’t the last to do so this year!

New to OpenLearn: Wimbledon’s centenary was a big hit (pun intended) and we added Prejudice and Pride – an LGBTQ timeline to the site.


blue banner says the record-breaking lionesses roar

Boris Johnson resigned as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party (after nearly 60 members voiced their lack of confidence), while England’s Lionesses triumphed at the 2022 UEFA Women’s European Championships, breaking records and ushering in a new era for the women’s game.

New to OpenLearn: another new course, Why riot? Community, choices, aspirations and our ‘get outdoors, get active’ collection (better in the warmer months!).


blue banner says and the energy prices continue to roar

Martin Lewis warned us that soaring energy bills were a 'national crisis' on the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic (and the soaring didn’t end there!), US politician Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, despite discouragement from allies in the Biden administration, and the Horniman museum in London agreed to return its Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, which renewed pressure on the British Museum to do the same.

New to OpenLearn: we posted the brilliant Issues in women's health in relation to sport and fitness animations, and a free course about George Orwell’s 1984.


 Blue banner says the world mourns for Queen Elizabeth II

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II passed away at Balmoral after reigning for 70 years, Liz Truss wins the months-long Conservative leadership race to become Prime Minister, with her new cabinet being the most ethnically and gender diverse in history, and the Government controversially reversed England fracking bans to yield further energy resources amidst global supply concerns.

New to OpenLearn: want to be a digital champion? Then watch these. Or do you want to make political change? Then enrol on this free course.


Blue banner says, in, out. Downing street is shaken all about

Liz Truss resigned after just 45 days – with Rishi Sunak taking her place – which made her the shortest serving Prime Minister in the country's history. Meanwhile, the world’s richest man (at the time), Elon Musk, entered the world of social media, completing his Twitter acquisition for an eye-watering US$44 billion, and Jodie Whittaker exited Doctor Who five years after becoming the first female Doctor.

New to OpenLearn: check out our new ‘intro to OpenLearn’ animation and our Good hair: perceptions of racism interactive.


Blue banner says population rockets, while rocket gets populated

The Global population exceeded 8 billion just 11 years after it reached 7 billion, and NASA’s Artemis mission headed to the moon to get ready for putting humans back on the lunar surface. The EU created a landmark loss and damage fund at COP27 to address climate change, and Matt Hancock was suspended from the Conservative Party for joining the popular TV show ‘I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!’

New to OpenLearn: the latest badged course, Diversity and inclusion in the workplace and our interactive all about veganism… very different, equally interesting!


Blue banner says the year ends with a Messi bang

Argentina beat France in a stunning Men's World Cup final at a tournament that was full of political and sporting intrigue. Around 100,000 nurses went on strike for the first time in England, Wales and Northern Ireland due to pay and patient safety concerns, and U.S. scientists made a major nuclear fusion breakthrough after 70 years of trying, revitalising hopes for unlimited zero-carbon energy in the future.

New to OpenLearn: The Byzantine icon – a free course as interesting as the title sounds! And Putting the child before the player, an interactive about football for children.

 

 


 

Become an OU student

Ratings & Comments

Share this free course

Copyright information

Skip Rate and Review

For further information, take a look at our frequently asked questions which may give you the support you need.

Have a question?