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Become an OU student

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Being an OU student
Being an OU student

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5 The OU community

You’ve seen now that even though you are learning at a distance, support and community are always close at hand.

Some of the ways in which you can get involved in the OU community include the Students Association, online interactive events and social media. Let’s look at each of these in turn.

The OU Students Association

As an OU student you are automatically a member of the OU Students Association. You heard from a Students Association volunteer earlier in this session. Your OU Students Association [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] enables you to influence how your University is run. They exist to promote your interests and to ensure the OU is more than just a place of learning – it’s a student community.

The Students Association aim to help you make the most of your time studying. Depending on what you’re interested in, they can help you get in touch with other students, get involved, find information and news, get help, attend events and access services to support your learning.

Like a student union, they also run a freshers’ fair every year – so new students, like you, can find out about all the opportunities to get involved.

Student Hub Live

The Student Hub Live is a series of live, online and interactive events open to the whole OU community. There are events throughout the year about a variety of topics. Previous events have looked at the Rosetta Mission to Mars, study skills, the EU Referendum and more! There are also usually specific events aimed at welcoming new students.

Student Hub Live events allow you to interact through the live chat, interactive activities and by putting your thoughts, comments and questions to our guests in the studio. They are a fantastic way to meet fellow OU students, find out about the exciting things happening at the OU and meet the academics that you may come across in your module materials, on forums, and in audio and video resources.

You might like to take a look at Student Hub Live now, or make a note to do this later.

This next activity gives you a chance to explore what’s going on in the OU community.

Activity _unit3.5.1 Activity 3 Getting involved in the OU community

Timing: Allow about 10 minutes

Go to StudentHome, click on the ‘Community’ link in the top right-hand corner and find out what social events and activities are happening soon.

Discussion

Are there any events local to you or any that you might join online? The answer will depend on where you are based and what you’re interested in. Remember to revisit the Community page on a regular basis to check for new events.

Next you’ll explore another way to get involved in the OU community: social media.