The Open University is to lead a global centre for practical science teaching with the help of a £1 million grant from the Wolfson Foundation.
The Wolfson OpenScience Laboratory will be at the cutting edge of new techniques in online education. Guided by rigorous research, it will be a gateway to a range of scientific experiments and observations, many developed by Open University scientists.
Although operated entirely online, users will access data from real physical instruments and equipment enabling them to carry out authentic and rigorous science investigations.
Professor Steve Swithenby, at the OU said: “Practical science has been an under-developed area of online education – it is cost-effective and is a bold way of making the world of science accessible to many more people, particularly those in the least developed countries.”
Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation, said: “The Open University is among the international pioneers in this field and we look forward to the Wolfson OpenScience Laboratory making practical science available to many more students across the globe."
