ECYS News

Professor Emeritus Alan Tait, former Pro-Vice Chancellor of The Open University, has been awarded Honorary Lifetime Membership of the ICDE (International Council for Open and Distance Education), one of only 13 honorary memberships granted during the organisation’s 85-year history.

The first learners from the FIFA Guardians Safeguarding in Sport Diploma graduated in October, celebrated at a FIFA Safeguarding Summit in Zurich. The Diploma aims to strengthen and professionalise safeguarding standards in football and was developed with experts including academics from The Open University.

Not enough is being done across the UK to support parents, children and young people experiencing family imprisonment according to new research by The Open University’s Children’s Research Centre and Worcestershire charity YSS. 

The Principal Secretary in charge of higher education at the Ministry of Education in Kenya was recently welcomed to the OU’s Milton Keynes campus by colleagues from the School of Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport (ECYS), the Institute of Educational Technology (IET) and the OU’s Business Development Unit. The aim of her visit was to develop understanding of the OU’s successful supported distance learning model and explore elements that could be applicable in delivering quality higher education at scale in Kenya.

Two exciting new project proposals by members of the Centre for the Study of Global Development have been accepted by the Open Societal Challenges (OSC) programme, an OU initiative bringing together the university’s academic community to develop inclusive research that will drive positive societal change. 

Watch new videos of our winners of The Open University’s first ever People’s Choice Award as they share their thoughts about winning, reflect on their current project and discuss how the OU has helped shape the way in which they conduct research.

Results are in for the annual Open University Graduate School ‘Bake Your Research’ competition… and WELS has bagged the top spot for a second year running.

Dr Natalie Canning, Co-Director of The Open University’s Children’s Research Centre, launches the Empowerment Framework, a new tool for childhood practitioners to analyse children’s play and activities. Based on Dr Canning’s research into Early Childhood contexts, the tool supports the understanding of child development through an empowerment focus.

The OU's global development project, SAGE – Supporting Adolescent Girls’ Education – was recently visited by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) who praised the initiative for its positive impact on women and girls in Zimbabwe.

On 23 November 2022, academics specialising in education and technology met online to discuss their research, evidence, and recommendations to help inform the UNESCO 2023 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report on technology and education.