OU and Oscail Full Time

X Man

Lads,
I am leaving my job of over a decade (Intel) and the plan is to pursue a full-time degree course in Computing/IT via Distance Learning
I am just looking for some insight on what is that best way to proceed.

A full-time course with OU would obviously demand a great deal of my time, but with a redundancy behind me, I'm confident I can not only dedicate the time but also the relatively high cost of pursuing such a path.
Oscail appears to be another option, but from what I can gather, it does not facilitate a full time programme via distance learning.

I would hope to complete to a degree level and re-enter the working world with it behind me, as well as my previous time spent in the semi-conductor industry.
Distance, rather than a return to college time would be preferable, so I'm hoping that maybe some people have a few words of advice.

Thanx

BuffyBot

If you have the time and finance, then go for it.

Is there any particular queries you have? What do you need advice with? (You're most likely to get good advice if your more specific!).

Welcome to boards.ie btw

govinda

Hi there

I'm with Oscail and from what I understand, taking 4 of the diploma level modules or 3 of the degree level modules in a single year is equivalent to full time study. Certainly the MS1 and MS2 modules can be equivalent to 2 modules each if (like me) you're not mathematically inclined!

X Man

Thanx for the replies guys

My ultimate aim is to gain a degree in a field I have been interested in and had an active involvement with my whole adult and early-teen life..
A couple of courses I'm looking at are the 'Information Technology' at Oscail, the 'BSc of IT and Computing' or the 'Computing Degree' from OU. I would hope that one of them would lead me in a IT/Computing direction in my future career.

A distance learning option is a must, so there would obviously be a level of commitment required to complete such a course. My redundancy would hopefully allow me to concentrate full-time on my studies without needing to cut short to return to work (if anyone has experience of the full cost involved in completing such courses, that would be appreciated !!).

Generally, how do people find taking multiple modules at once in a year ?

govinda

I can't speak for the OU modules as I haven't experience of that particular course but as far as Oscail is concerned, I work full-time and have always taken 2 modules per year up until this year. Reason for taking on 3 this year is that I want to complete the degree asap and my job is no longer as demanding as it was so it should be more manageable.

Depending on the mathematical content of the course, I found 2 per year fairly manageable even with full-time work; the 50/50 split between continous assessment and end-of-year exams is a big help, putting in the effort on the 3 assignments per subject during the year does pay off.

If you're planning on studying full time with Oscail, that would mean 4 diploma level modules per year. I'd advise you to have a look here:

http://www.oscail.ie/students/moduletext2008/IT/IT.htm

where you can download some of the course text for the year 1 (Computing 1, Human Sciences 1, Management Science 1, Communications Technology) modules to see how you find them; personally speaking I found CT1 and MS1 the toughest....happily the MS modules get easier as you progress!

Best of luck

nobby2k1

X Man wrote:

Lads,
I am leaving my job of over a decade (Intel) and the plan is to pursue a full-time degree course in Computing/IT via Distance Learning
I am just looking for some insight on what is that best way to proceed.

A full-time course with OU would obviously demand a great deal of my time, but with a redundancy behind me, I'm confident I can not only dedicate the time but also the relatively high cost of pursuing such a path.
Oscail appears to be another option, but from what I can gather, it does not facilitate a full time programme via distance learning.

I would hope to complete to a degree level and re-enter the working world with it behind me, as well as my previous time spent in the semi-conductor industry.
Distance, rather than a return to college time would be preferable, so I'm hoping that maybe some people have a few words of advice.

Thanx

Hey,
I am still doing the IT course via Oscail. In first year I was working full time and I did the four level one modules. It was really stressful but it is possible to do while having a stressful job too. So I think if you're gonna just focus on your education and not work it shoudln't be too bad!

Good luck!

X Man

Thanks for the replies govinda and nobby
Will hope to organise myself over the next while
Cheers

Feelgood

Hey X Man,

Also worth noting that you dont really need a degree to get working in I.T...
While it is most definately useful to have one behind you, even with a degree
you will still start out at the bottom of the scale until you get a few years experience behind you in a particular field.

A good idea would be to decide why your getting in I.T., is it programming, databases, networks, security etc etc?. If you can answer that then you could spend the next year focusing on a stream and get certified. This will help you to get your foot in the door and then you can focus on getting your degree part time?.

For example, if you had time...It would take you approx a year to get Cisco certified to a CCNP (Professional Level). With this certification alone and no experience you will be likely to fetch around 40K a year. If you just had degree on its own you'll be likely to start at 25 - 27k a year....

If you get Oracle certified with no experience, its possible to get roles at 45-50k a year. I hope this makes sense. Certification really is key, the degree while great to have, on its own isnt worth peanuts.

Hope this helps!!...