Oscail: Support from Tutors any good?

Dr_Darkness

I am thinking of getting a degree either through Oscail (next Sept) or OU this Feb. While I have heard the support from OU tutors is very good, is the support from the Oscail tutors just as good as OU? How did you find them?

I am thinking of doing the BA in Humanities (Arts), I haven't studied in years so I would need a lot of support from the tutors I would imagine.

Any feedback would be great.

Thanks

BuffyBot

The problem is, to make a fair comparison you need someone who has studied at both to come along.

However, there have been a few comments (good and bad) about Oscail's tutors before. Check out http://www.google.ie/search?q=site%3Aboards.ie+oscail+tutors&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Dr_Darkness

That's true, you would need someone who has been with both...Thanks for the links though, I will check them out and try to compare...:D

From what I have seen so far they (Oscail) don't seem to be very organised, hopefully that has improved somewhat?

Dr_Darkness

I am back again lol, with another question...

I guess I am just worried that if I study with Oscail, I won't be able for the work and will then quit the course. Which something I definately don't want to do.
But I do like the sound of an Irish BA degree, and its cheaper than OU.

So what I am wondering is, that if I do a distance degree with Oscail, do they kind of throw you in the deep end with their courses, leaving you to your own devices or do they start off slowly through each module, explaining a lot of things along the way?

Anyone know?

xyzjmt

In case you haven't already seen them just thought I would mention that some of the course notes are available for download on the Oscail website, if you click on "Current Student" and then on "Arts". Might give an idea of the difficulty.

jos28

I am in my second year with Oscail. First year I did 2 foundation modules. A study skills portfolio is included in this for the first 8 weeks. I found those first weeks very tough. There is a lot of work involved in the study skills but it is worthwhile if you have not studied at third level before. Oscail is distance learning and most of it is done on your own. They have changed things around this year. You only have to attend 5 tutorials per subject. The tutorials are essential, I have been very lucky with my tutors. They give great help with assignments and exam prep.I don't know how students who don't attend tutorials manage. Help is always available on Moodle.Just post up a question and someone will answer you. They recommend about 8 hours per week per module, I would say it is nearer 10. I found it all a bit daunting at the beginning but I got used to it. You are assessed on 3 assignments and 1 exam. The first assigment in a foundation module is a portfolio of all your study skills stuff, the next 2 are essays(1500 words and 3000 words). The exams are 3 hours long, the paper has 8 questions and you only have to do 3. I found the exams much easier than anticipated.
I am glad I started, I am enjoying it. So far so good.
Feel free to pm me if you have any questions, I'll do my best to help.

Dr_Darkness

Hi

Thanks for your answer, it gives me a better idea of what its all about.

I am also checking out the course modules on the website. It seems interesting enough. I think I should give it a go, I know its going to be hard but I want to do it for myself if you know what I mean and it will be a challenge for me.

I am sure I will come up with a few questions, so keep an eye out on your PMs!

Thanks again.

domania

I did the Oscail IT course through DCU and found it very good. the course material is well laid out and straight forward to follow. One tip is to stay on top of your work every week or you can easily slip behind, creating a mountain of work for yourself to do.

flywheel

just some input from someone who started the MSc in Internet Systems with Oscail a few years ago:

i found it was extremely poorly run with less than helpful tutors. one tutor left early in the year, which we were only informed about much later when they managed to find a replacement, the other tutor's response to questions was to provide links to articles on the training / support areas of company websites, rather than attempting to explain anything... google was more assistance!

the course was sold to me as being interactive and fully supported, unfortunately the reality turned out to be neither. it was more like: where's the cheque? - ok thanks, here's a load of PDF to print out yourself and the assignments / exam dates, best of luck!

have heard some other courses seemed to work for other people... maybe they have sorted themselves out in more recent times, i wouldn't be giving Oscail a second chance though...

Kone

DubWireless wrote: »

the course was sold to me as being interactive and fully supported, unfortunately the reality turned out to be neither. it was more like: where's the cheque? - ok thanks, here's a load of PDF to print out yourself and the assignments / exam dates, best of luck!

I am currently taking a course with Oscail and I have to say the online and face to face tutors are extremely good and are generally very prompt in responding to questions but I do find the general organisation of Oscail is quite poor though.

Filan

I did Psychology with Oscail last year....and while the syllabus was of a high standard the Tutor resigned just after christmas and was never replaced.... !....

Unfortunatelty fewer tutorial venues this year...no second year tutorials available in Limerick...which would have hugely dusadvantaged me...so I didn't continue....But the course content does appear of a high quality and with some well known Lecturers employed.

flywheel

Kone wrote: »

I am currently taking a course with Oscail and I have to say the online and face to face tutors are extremely good and are generally very prompt in responding to questions but I do find the general organisation of Oscail is quite poor though.

the Internet Systems Masters was all "online"... so there were no face-to-face sessions, just a couple (literally) of online chats with little substance / assistance... and like the last poster mentioned one of the tutors we had also disappeared... i'd never recommend that course at Oscail given the poor support / administration i experienced

washingpowder

Hi, I am an OSCAIL Arts tutor and I can honestly say that I love working with my students.