OPEN UNIVERSITY SHOULD BE APPLAUDED FOR GROUNDBREAKING MOVE

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 23rd Oct 2006

Commenting on reports that the Open University is making its educational resources freely available on the internet, Liberal Democrat Sam Potts said:

"This is an exciting and groundbreaking move by the Open University.

"As internet access becomes more readily available to people of all ages and incomes this represents a major step forward in education.

"Lesson plans, reading material and even podcasts of lectures can be accessed by thousands of people, thousands of miles apart. Politicians may talk about tearing down barriers to education - this really achieves it.

"Top universities in America already do this but I applaud the OU for being the first in the UK to make their teaching material available in this way. I hope that this encourages other institutions to do the same, ensuring our country is firmly on the cutting edge of these new developments in learning."

ENDS