In todays world growing up is tough - making friends, fitting in, changing schools. And it's even harder for children with disabilities. This album looks at PLUS, an organisation working towards the inclusion of disabled children and young adults in social activities and organisations, encouraging friendships and fun. It looks at PLUS from the view of the children, the carers and the families.

This material forms part of The Open University course KE312 Working together for children.

What does the world look like to a person with a visual impairment? How does restricted vision impact on everyday life? How can you offer assistance without taking control? The video tracks on this album simulate what the world looks like to people with a range of visual impairments, and show good practice when acting as a sighted guide. The audio tracks offer personal perspectives from two people living with severe visual impairment. This material forms part of The Open University's Pre-registration nursing programme.

How humans think, develop, and experience the world around us has been fascinating psychologists for over 100 years. The tracks in this album cover a range of case studies, looking at factors which can influence the development of our personalities. What is the impact of significant people in our early lives? How do you go about the process of researching topics like this in social psychology? The audio tracks feature disabled people who reflect on how disability has affected their sense of identity. Also featured are the cases of twins who didn't grow up together, people coping with memory loss, and the famous case of the soprano Lisa-Lee who discovered in her twenties that a rare genetic disorder meant she was actually a girl, not a boy. Studying people through such issues as gender disorder and disability allows psychologists to learn more about the human condition. This material forms part of The Open University course DSE212 Exploring psychology.

Children are naturally curious and observant about the world around them. How can teachers support pupils in exploring and developing their ideas about the world? These short dramas invite comment on the teacher’s actions in a number of classroom and community incidents.

The clips in this album are designed to be used to support the development of teachers’ classroom practice in both formal and non formal learning situations. This material is from the TESSA (Teacher Education in Sub Saharan Africa) initiative.

What can current theories about children’s learning and development contribute to the development of new teaching and learning methods in schools? And how are new digital technologies changing the ways children think and learn? This album introduces two elements of The Open University's presence in the virtual world Second Life™ and explores the way in which virtual worlds can offer new opportunities for teaching and learning. The album also explores some of the ways that the theories of Lev Vygotsky have influenced the use of dialogue and language in the classroom and the ways in which children and teachers interact with each other. The interviews and video tracks are introduced and contextualised by Dr Kieron Sheehy of The Open University. The material forms part of The Open University course ED841 Understanding children's development and learning.

The world of the early modern period (C10th - C16th) was one of religious obsession, power struggles and plunder. But it was also a world of stunning artistic endeavour. This collection shows how, encoded in the art and architecture of the time, you can find stories of political machinations, female influence and surging movements of people. We may think our own era has a monopoly on long-distance travel, but in the mediaeval period it was perfectly possible for Western Catholic artists to encounter Eastern Orthodox or Islamic cultures. And as the different cultures met, they influenced each other in unexpected ways.

This material forms part of The Open University course A226 Exploring art and visual culture.

Why study religion? An understanding of the world’s religious traditions is crucial in helping us to appreciate not just the varied forms of belief and practice that we encounter at home, abroad and in the media, but also the influence that religion has on world affairs. This course offers an introduction to the study of religions, and in particular to six major religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism, including the various roles of their founders and leaders, their texts, rituals, practices and behaviors. This practical insight will enable you to develop a better understanding of different beliefs and worldviews and what these mean to their adherents. This material is taken from The Open University Course A217 Introducing Religions.

How can we read an image to tell us more about its ancient maker? In this album a mosaic artist, Catherine Parkinson, visits the splendidly-preserved ancient Roman mosaics at Brading Villa on the Isle of Wight. With the help of two archaeologists she discovers that the iconography reveals important clues about the villa inhabitants' world view, taste, and aspirations. Their leisure pursuits, the value placed on learning, and their views on men and women are just some of the themes revealed in the mythological narratives. Did the craftsmen bring pattern books to the villa owner so he could choose how to decorate his house, much like today? Catherine's own practical experience of mosaic-making also helps us understand the methods the Romans used to lay the mosaics. In the audio track, Open University classicist Jessica Hughes explores some of the issues surrounding interpretation of these mosaics' meanings. This material forms part of The Open University Course AA100 The arts and past and present.

German surrender brought the Second World War in Europe to an end. But all feared that war with Japan would drag on and on. Behind the scenes, the US had been working on a secret weapon – the most powerful ever devised – and by August 1945… it was no longer such a secret. These films explore A-Bomb in Pop Culture or: How The West Has Changed its Portrayal of the Atomic Bomb Through Time, from the dropping of the very first atomic bomb, through to the Cold War and right up to the present day. The films conclude by asking whether or not these types of weapon should have existed in the first place, and questioning what the future holds for the A-Bomb.
The films relate to the Open University Course A327 Europe 1914-1989: war, peace, modernity