Open University

Kevhog1988

just wondering has anyone ever completed an open university degree/course?. After 3/4 years of just work im finding the daily grind in the construction industry tedious. I basically want something to engage my brain as i have found over the past few years of constantly dealing with people who have extremely poor spelling etc my own spelling, grammar etc has deteriorated. (as can be seen by this post)

harney

You could install a spell checker. It would be a lot less time consuming than trying for a degree.

Mr Benevolent

As above, you want a degree to help you improve your spelling? I think you've got the wrong end of the prospectus, OP.

Pumpkinseeds

I know a couple of people who have done courses with the Open University. They enjoyed the courses and there seems to be a wide range. Some of the courses can be very expensive though.

I Heart Internet

I've done courses with other "distance-learning" providers - such as the University of London. Lots of established Universities do distance-learning now. To be honest, I think it's a bit of a money spinner for them. Can be expensive, as another poster has said.

There are some very interesting free "university courses" on the web. Such as http://mruniversity.com/ which focusses on economics and development. Completely free and delivered in very good bite-sized videos. Good place to start - just to exercise the oul noggin.

MurdyWurdy

my dad is currently doing one - he is almost retired though and just doing it for his own enjoyment, he's just selecting courses that interest him rather than trying to get a qualification. He went to university after he finished school.

He's loving it

Dr Strange

There's a sticky on Open University Questions and Answers over in the Edu forums section under Distance / Part-Time which may be of interest to you.

humanji

OP, I've moved this thread to the Distance & Part-Time education forum, as you'll get more info here.

Everyone please note the change in forum charters: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=144312

madra_baiste

Completed my BSc through Open University and as a way of studying it is very good. It can be quite demanding with deadlines for completing assignments so, you need to be very disciplined to get the work done. You do get to meet other people with similar interest at the tutorials.

If it's just general education you are interested in then there are lots of Online options. One of the best I've seen is Khan Academy
http://www.khanacademy.org/

coldcake

I'm currently on my 5 module out of 6. I'm enjoying it but there is a lot to it and you have to work to deadlines, which was something I was not aware of at the start. I had the image that you just plodding through the stuff at your own pace.

You can feel a little isolated and lost as it can be hard to bounce ideas off people that you could normally do in a bricks and mortar type Uni. I feel like I am only getting the hang of it now.

Also most of by tutorials have been in Belfast, which meant I missed a few but this didn't impact on my results.

I am also lucky that my work pass for the courses as the fees are very expensive.

I think you are someone who is self motivated then the OU is a good choice and they have a wide selection of courses and routes to degrees.

I do a module a year, which is 9 months long, so by the end my Degree will have been the best part of 6 years to complete. Of course you could do two modules together to condense it down. But working full time this was really not an option for me.

Hope this helps

peter_dublin

To add my input to this:

If the cost is the same and I had a choice of Open University and an Irish institute part time I would take OU.

I did a Masters with OU and a BSc with DIT part time, both in computing. The differance is like day and night. With OU you recieved qualified feedback on your CAs each and everytime meaning by the end my average CA mark was in excess of 90% often 100% and the OU CAs are very work load heavy.

In DIT I never recieved any feedback of why the I recieved the mark I did.

In OU the requirements are concise, easy to understand and extremly well written allowing for all levels of understanding.

In DIT in comparison we have had arguments with lectures as a class where they marked on criteria not outlined in the Assessment, it would near impossible to determine what the actual requirements of the CA is the wording was so poor.

Finally and most important for myself was that OU is all online, the required resources (Academic etc. are all online) and books are sent to you. In DIT I found driving 45 - 50 mins each way for a 2 hour class off putting but if you were not there you missed all the clarifications re the assingments etc that in my opinion should not have been required in the first place if the lectures put work into their notes and clarifiying their descriptions, I too often have recieved one line emails from DIT lectures telling me to ask my classmates.

That attitude may be fine for full time students who have no jobs, family etc and who are not paying 3k+ a year for the course but I find it ignorant and insulting as a paying customer.

As such I wouldn't describe them as comparable and I found OU vastly better in almost everyway.

Kevhog1988

It think my thread may have been taken up wrong at the start. I am more than capable of completing simple spell check but i have found that i need something to stimulate my brain. After 2 years of speaking to sun reading builders all day (not meant in any bad way) i feel i need something that will actually make me think and resolve problems.

bain_triail_as

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/

StudentDad

theemigrant wrote: »

It think my thread may have been taken up wrong at the start. I am more than capable of completing simple spell check but i have found that i need something to stimulate my brain. After 2 years of speaking to sun reading builders all day (not meant in any bad way) i feel i need something that will actually make me think and resolve problems.

http://www.open.ac.uk

OU courses are modular - 30 point courses - 60 point courses. You can do a maximum of 120 points in one year - equivalent to full time study.

The courses go from level 1, level 2 to level 3 etc. Level one courses tend to be in the 30 point area and level 2 and up 60 pointers.

If you don't want to pay the full fees at the outset, you can avail of a loan from OUSBA - Open University Student Budget Account - and pay monthly.

Traditionally courses with the OU run from Jan/Feb to Sept/Oct though this is changing and over the next few years the courses will run Sept/Oct to May/June

There are no entry requirements as such but if you want to study advanced widgets the Uni will ask if you have experience/knowledge of the subject before allowing you to jump into a level 3 course.

If you have a recognised qualification in advanced widgets from an Irish or other college and want to build on that you can build an OU degree with recognition of that study as part of your degree so you don't have to cover what you already know.

When you figure out what you want to study, you can register online and about a month before your course starts you'll get the first block of your study materials in the post - usually about half the required materials the rest will arrive in the post about 3 to 4 months later depending on the course. You'll know from reading the materials what you have to cover and the work is broken down into manageable chunks so you know where you're at so to speak.

You'll be allocated a tutor who will correct your work etc and help if you get stuck.

It's a great way to study but as with anything else it's up to yourself to get the work done.

SD

nichikki

How long do you have to complete each module and then how long for the assignments within them

ronivek

The Open University is great if you have some self discipline and genuine interest in learning and accomplishing something.

The quality of material is outstanding; and you'll never be left wondering about a topic because you missed a lecture or you just didn't understand something... everything is in the books and the assignments are very carefully worded and even more carefully marked with lots and lots of feedback given.

I completed my primary degree in TCD and the difference in quality of teaching material is like night and day. However you have to remember there is next to no social engagement with the Open University; you'll be working on your own aside from the odd question or two on the forums or if you're asking your tutor a question about something you don't understand.

In addition because of the detail in the teaching material you may find it can be heavy going at times and your self discipline will be tested. It's also up to you to manage your own time; you won't have a tutor mailing you every week making sure you're keeping up.