Maths, Computing, Technology and Engineering
The Frozen Planet [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]
(Introductory, 5 mins)
Short films and an online poster about the BBC/OU TV series that was presented by David Attenborough. Using the latest camera technology on land, the air and underwater, Frozen Planet captures the drama of the lives of animals living at the Arctic and Antarctic in the most intimate detail.
Living with the Internet: online shopping
(Introductory, 5 hrs)
Online shopping – think of it as a shopping centre in cyberspace, with online auctions as the car-boot sale in the car park. This unit helps you understand how to use online shopping sites, ensure you are on the best sites and ways to protect your security.
Taster material for the OU Openings courses.
(Introductory, 5 hrs)
Patterns occur everywhere in art, nature, science and especially mathematics. Being able to recognise, describe and use these patterns is an important skill that helps you to tackle a wide variety of different problems. This unit explores some of these patterns ranging from ancient number patterns to the latest mathematical research.
(Introductory, 10 hrs)
Are you ever frustrated with something you think you could design better? Design thinking can structure your natural creativity to come up with solutions to all kinds of problems, and have fun in the process!
(Introductory, 12 hrs)
This unit focuses firmly on usability and the increasingly important phenomenon of people-centred design. It aims to inform consumers of design (i.e., all of us) about this crucial characteristic of design. In addition to stimulating interest in areas of concern for producers of design, this unit might also provide an introduction to engineering, manufacturing and business studies.
(Introductory, 15 hrs)
The World Wide Web is a vast information resource. This unit provides you with foundation skills to use search engines confidently to locate information and images on the Web. You will also learn to critically assess and reference the information you have found for study purposes.
Working with charts, graphs and tables
(Introductory, 15 hrs)
Reflect on your mathematical history and existing skills, set up strategies to cope with mathematics and assess which areas need improving; gain an understanding of the following mathematical concepts: reflecting on mathematics, reading articles for mathematical information, making sense of data, interpreting graphs and charts; improve your maths skills.
Sound for music technology: an introduction
(Introductory, 20 hrs)
Whether you’re a professional musician, play music with your friends on the weekends or just like to listen to CDs, music technology affects your life. In this unit, you will learn some of the basics of music technology, starting with what sound is, how it is created and how it travels.
(Introductory, 28 hrs)
This unit looks at the process of design – from assessing the complexity of design as an activity, to exposing the difficulty in making general conclusions about how designers work. You will be able to identify innovation in a wide variety of designed objects and evaluate the impact of this innovation.