The Open University After 30 Years

This title considers the full length history of the Open University. Dealing with the early discussions and planning through to the 30th anniversary of its formal establishment, it assesses the impact of the OU internationally over this time, and looks at how this successful model actually works. It also looks at how it has affected the lives of some of the people who have studied on its courses over the years, under three vice-chancellors. Focus is made too on: the political and social conditions that led to its establishment; the university and its place in the social and educational history of the UK in the last 30 years of the 20th century; and the international development of distance education and the place of the university in this development.