You are here

  1. Home
  2. Event catch-ups
  3. (re)Freshers Orientation – 3 February 2020

(re)Freshers Orientation

Live broadcast

Event date : 3rd February 2020

Duration : 13h 00m

Recommended level : 123Post Graduate

Watch recording

The event playlist is broken up into sections so you can view the bits you want.

Programme

10:00

Studying at the OU is simple, but if you are a new student you may not understand how it all works. In this session, George Curry gives us the low down on the important parts of the module website, explains how you are directed through the materials, the role of assessment in distance learning, and the important role that your tutor (and other sources of support) play in your personal learning journey..

With

10:25

How often have you opened a book, read for half an hour, got up to make a cup of tea and while waiting for the kettle to boil realised that you could not tell a friend what you had been reading? Some students, particularly new students, feel a need to recall what they have studied. While it is important to recall material for an exam, in many instances understanding the content and developing a key academic skill is more important than knowing what you have read. In this session, Rachel draws on ideas from psychology, while Paul and Suzanne, from religious studies, talk about different ways of learning and remembering.

With

10:50

In this session we’re going to give you a few hints and tips about looking at material on your module website – how you can use the web pages, other types of content available to you and online OU Library resources.

With

11:15

Did you know you can access Office365 for free as a student? Office365 provides access to useful office applications such as Word and PowerPoint, along with an academic email address. In this session we will look at how to access this, and will also address common ‘Gotchas’ and mistakes when trying to sign in.

With

11:40

In this session we will cover what we have learnt about time management from working with OU students, from data collected from the OU and from our own experience.

With

12:05

Online session over lunch to introduce that programme.

With

12:05

Session replays: 'The OU Library for new students' and 'The OU Careers'

With

12:40

How do you manage to fit life and study together when you are a busy person? Working full time, have kids and have an active social life? Do you fit study into your life or your life into study? How do you manage when studying gets hard? Sarah and Kieran will share with you some of the things that have helped them juggle life and study.

With

13:05

This session will be presenting five key ways your tutor can support you with your studies with The Open University. We will look at: communication, contact, forums, tutorials and assessment feedback.

With

13:30

There are over 5,000 students with caring responsibilities studying at The Open University. These are students who are responsible for the care of a family member or friend with a long-term illness or disability. A team from the School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care have been researching the experiences of these students and the strategies they use to manage their study.

With

14:00

Play along with 'team home' against our two studio teams in our fun, general knowledge, multi-choice quiz. All good Freshers events need a quiz, and the 'wheel of ologies' covers everything from agnotology to zoology! Join us with a beverage and snack of your choice for some lighthearted fun.

With

17:00

An introduction to the Open University Students Association (OUSA), including the support we offer, chances to meet other OU students, our societies and clubs and the work we do representing student views to the University. 

Find out how to get involved and learn more!

With

17:25

The session is designed to illustrate the academic skills of discussion and analysis, which you will develop and refine throughout your Open University studies. This particular discussion will be set within a legal context but the skills are relevant to all modules and we hope that non-lawyers will enjoy the session as much as those studying law.

During the session we will discuss the definition of an ‘imitation firearm’ and whether this applies to the particular circumstances in the case of R v Bentham [2005] UKHL 18. We will outline the case for you so there is no need to look it up beforehand. In fact, it will probably be more fun if you don’t!

With

17:50

There is a thriving OU postgraduate research community working at Walton Hall: It is a diverse cohort covering all academic disciplines, but has one important feature in common– they all like CAKE!

For the past two years, the Graduate School (GS) has hosted its very own ‘Bake off’ inspired ‘Bake My Research’ competition to harness this confectionary enthusiasm.

But what’s baking got to do with research and why does the GS support this cake-fest?

Well the GS coordinate skills training for new researchers that helps them get their research underway and supports them throughout their time at the OU and into employment beyond. The ‘Bake My Research’ competition requests PGRs to make a bake that represents their research– a cakey exercise in Communication skills!

This session introduces two of the winners from this year’s competition: David Pegg and Freya Wise who will talk about their bakes and their research.

With

18:15

How would a business manager approach their studies? That is the question that will be explored in this session – an introduction to organising your studies in a business-like way, using some simple MANAGEMENT THEORY to help give your studies some structure, to save time and improve the efficiency of your studies and (as a bonus) to help motivate yourself along the way.

With

18:40

Assessment can be the single most daunting thing about studying. A lot rests on the outcome of the assessments and they are the focus of most questions to tutors. This session aims to remove some of the mystery around assessment and to give you some tips on how to take the stress and panic out of writing assessments. The session will look at what assessment is, why it is there and how it is developed. We will give you practical advice on preparing and writing assignments. We talk about the support that is available and what to do if you are struggling.

Rather than being a hurdle to get over, assessment is an essential part of your learning process. We do not promise that you will ‘love’ assessments, but if you start to consider how you will use the assessments rather than just how to get them out of the way, we will consider the session a success.

With

19:05

One skill that all athletes must master quickly is managing their time and knowing when they are at their best to train and perform. This is a skill that can be invaluable to us all, particularly if we are studying alongside other commitments. For example, sometimes when we sit down to study we are staring at the screen or reading the same paragraph twice and nothing goes in. Yet sometimes, the words fly from our fingers and we have written 500 words before we know it! What is it that impacts on our ability to be productive when we find time to study? And how can we be most productive?

This session will offer a simple solution to increase your awareness of your own management and enable you to improve your productivity.

With

19:30

Many students start their studies feeling a bit nervous. This is entirely natural and people generally become more confident as the weeks pass and OU study becomes more familiar. But is there more to being a confident learner than this and can you build skills in confidence? In this session we’ll be exploring what it means to be a confident learner and how you can become one.

With

Resources

To access the live events

Upcoming events calendar

Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
25
26
27
28
29
1
2
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
31
1
2
3
4
5
6