The Open University in Scotland

4. Sense of belonging

Sense of belonging has been designed into the module in terms of group activities, opportunities for students to speak to other students and their tutors within discussion forums and regular interactive tutorials using Adobe Connect rooms, plus opportunities for the students to engage with the central academic team (e.g. labcasts and forums as mentioned above).  

Peer support is augmented with tutor support that comes via forums, email and phone calls. Each student receives at least two phone calls from their tutor during the module, with others taking place if necessary.  

In addition, the wider student support team at the OU is huge with dedicated staff working alongside the course team to help with issues such as guidance, disability support etc.  

There are also wider opportunities such as the subject sites, OU students association and events such as Student Hub Live to encourage a Sense of Belonging to the programme and wider OU community.