article icon
Education & Development
Teaching reading: what are our long term goals?
Teresa Cremin, Professor of Literacy in Education at The Open University examinines teachers’ perceptions and practices, as well as children’s own experiences, of reading pedagogy.
article icon
Education & Development
Additional efforts: Why we need to be better at maths
We need to be better at maths - and the suggestion that only smart people can be good with numbers is holding a lot of us back.
free course icon
level 3: advanced icon
History & The Arts
Emotion: an introductory picture
What is emotion? This free course, Emotion: an introductory picture, takes a philosophical approach to this question in an attempt to understand why people respond to events in a certain way. Is there a difference between an emotion and a bodily feeling or is one a consequence of the other?
free course icon
level 3: advanced icon
History & The Arts
Introducing consciousness
What is consciousness? How does the brain generate consciousness and how can a science of the mind describe and explain it adequately? This free course, Introducing consciousness, will introduce you to the slippery phenomenon that is consciousness, as well as some of the difficulties consciousness presents to science and philosophy.
free course icon
level 3: advanced icon
History & The Arts
Language and thought: introducing representation
How does what you say come to mean something? Does what you say inherently represent what you, the speaker, think it means, whatever that might be, or does what you say carry its own meaning, separate from your intentions in saying it? This free course, Language and thought: introducing representation, introduces you to the key questions about ...
free course icon
level 1: introductory icon
History & The Arts
Textiles in Ghana
Textiles in Ghana carry a far greater importance than you might expect. This free course will help you to understand how textiles can carry an assortment of meanings and values, including wealth, status and office.
free course icon
level 2: intermediate icon
History & The Arts
Two concepts of freedom
What defines individual freedom in a civilised society? Philosophers have argued over such questions for centuries. This free course, Two concepts of freedom, looks at a positive and a negative concept of freedom, asking you to think carefully about how freedom is restricted by our place in society and how it can vary from state to state.
article icon
Education & Development
Archive course extract: Attachment theory
This extract is from a course no longer in presentation at The Open University, and is online for archive purposes only. How do children come to develop strong attachments to people and objects, to the extent that being separated causes upset?
article icon
Society, Politics & Law
Is public spending a drain on the economy or the mark of a civilised society?
Read this article outlining arguements in debate held under the auspices of the Social Sciences Student Connections, Big Conversation.
article icon
Health, Sports & Psychology
Sometimes a bunny is just a bunny: The Playboy brand and sexualisation of children
Beyond the tabloid-fuelled rage at Playboy products apparently aimed at children is a much more nuanced relationship with the Bunny brand.
article icon
History & The Arts
Mizuki Shigeru: An appreciation
Manga artist, folklorist and icon Mizuki Shigeru has died. Nevin Thompson explains the role he played in Japanese culture, and why he'll be so missed.
article icon
Society, Politics & Law
Are businesses just leaping on transgender trends to turn a profit?
When Selfridges is clearing space to make a genderfluid display space, and Will Young is working with trans actors, transgender people might seem to be riding a wave into the heart of the mainstream. But, says Ray Fillar, until the media goes deeper than just jumping on the transwagon, we've still a long way to go.