Originally the Open University was going to be called the "University of the Air". It's perhaps fortunate they didn't adopt that name as they would have eventually had to face changing a well-known brand to match modern teaching methods.
When I was young, the internet was barely a thing. The Open University still broadcast many lectures on the BBC, either very early in the mornings or taking up a whole morning and into the early afternoon on BBC2 at weekends. (Fortunately the rise of the video recorder was steadily releasing students from the tyranny of the early morning schedules.)
I also remember seeing a lot of OU course materials in the reference section of a borough's central library. Again these were the days before the internet was significant. Back then libraries would often contain a lot of reference-only materials ranging from encyclopedias to national sets of phone directories to all manner of special reference books so people could go there to look things up. Amongst the items at this particular library were shelves containing back-up sets of the core materials for each OU module that were otherwise mailed out to students.
Media depictions of the period show students studying at home with mailed out items but also sometimes interacting either through physical tutorials with OU tutors (e.g. Educating Rita) and/or physical attendance at weekend and summer courses (e.g. Goodnight Sweetheart - "The More I See You", the fourth episode of series 1 if you're wondering). The broadcasts also popped up in many other television shows as background detail (e.g. in Keeping Up Appearances they were often watched by Onslow whilst Life on Mars later used them to good effect as to invoke the world of 1973 with a twist). Many courses were assessed with formal exams at the end.
Today things are very different. I can't comment on other degrees but on Law the teaching is now all delivered online and assessed by coursework. We used to receive physical copies of textbooks but now even these are supplied digitally on Law Trove.
For each module the materials are broken up into a string of units. These are a series of webpages supplying the course material mainly in text form but interspersed with diagrams, graphics and video clips. Some clips may be a direct explanation to camera of a key concept, others may be a news report or other stock item to illustrate a subject. The units often have activities to do as you go, whether a straightforward test of understanding or a bit of substantial research and writing.
Supplementing this are the online tutorials. There are basically two versions but both operate as an online meeting. One is a general, module wide affair where one or more tutors will talk through slides, taking questions mainly at the end. The other is smaller with individual tutors taking students through materials, including activities and discussion. There are several different sessions for each tutorial and a student is not required to only attend with their own assigned tutor - indeed often the tutors rotate and not every one takes a presentation of every tutorial.
Students have access to an online library and multiple databases with Law being a subject that requires an especially strong amount of independent research to find statutes, cases, articles and the like.
Assessment so far has been mainly through submission of written assignments of various lengths and in various formats, known mainly as "TMAs" - Tutor Marker Assignments, "EMAs" - End of Module Assignments and even "EMTMAs" - End of Module Tutor Marked Assignments. On some modules there are also "iCMAs" - Interactive Computer-Marked Assignments whereby a series of factual questions are asked; so far all mine have had multiple choice answers. Traditional exams were phased out relatively recently.
Tutors are assigned to a group of students to provide guidance and support as well as to mark individual assignments and give feedback. Tutors can be interacted with through email, occasional arranged phone calls, online forums and in online tutorials.
There is an app that in theory allows students to read the materials on their phones but it's not very good with clips and activities so I rarely use it.
It's very different from when I did taught degrees at a "bricks and mortar" university though I suspect the teaching there has also changed a lot. My first degree involved almost no academic use of the internet beyond a few emails to lecturers and the ability to use the library catalogue outside the library itself. The exceptions were a Computing course and one other module where one of the academics posted the text of their lectures online.
One thing that is similar, though voluntary, is studying in libraries. Sometimes to get peace and avoid distractions I take my laptop and go and study in another institution's library, even sometimes consulting the books there (although usually the editions are too old). The Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL) run the SCONUL Access scheme under which students can register to us other institution's libraries.
Although it may be different on other subjects with physical meetings and summer schools, on Law so far I have never interacted in person with another student or academic (although I have met some students at an Open University Law Society event). Nor have I had to attend anywhere in person, let alone had to travel to any physical OU facility. Truly this is studying Law at a distance.
(Images created with Microsoft 365 Copilot.)
