Your University (Open University in general)

Member Name: AliB

Product:	Open University in general
Date:	14/09/00 (313 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Study from home, budget account, well structured

Disadvantages: Can easily fall behind

I completed my degree at Glamorgan University in 1998, and decided last year that I wanted to complete further studies. I decided that studying from home (distance learning) was my best option this time round, some colleges and Universities offer this option but not to the extent the Open University does. I wasn't sure in what subject I would like to do further studies so sent for some information. Open University sent me comprehensive brochures and booklets, which not only listed the courses and modules offered but what they are worth and how you can build them together to form diplomas/degrees/postgrad. qualifications. I also found out that to study OU diploma and degree modules you do not need to have a certain level of educational qualifications, in fact, you don't need any at all. I opted for a Linguistics module (U210), as I had done some at Uni. and found it particularly interesting. I found out I could do four modules to complete a diploma or advanced diploma, then further modules to build it into a degree - but you are not obligated to decide at the start what you want to work towards, you can leave it at one module if you like, just as an interest. I chose to pay using the Open University Student Budget Account, which has meant I've been paying a very manageable £51 a month.
OU courses run from about February to October, and before the course started I was sent the first batch of course materials (you're sent the second batch midway through). OU courses (from my experience of one module!) are very self-contained, there is enough in the materials they provide to complete the course, and they seem to prefer it if you do not do lots of external research. They provide textbooks, videos, audio cassettes, guide books, study guides, all they ask is that you buy one text book (again, from my experience of this one module). You are given a calendar which marks the various stages of the course and significant dates - it tells you when y
our Tutor Marked Assignments are due, when the relevant OU TV programmes are broadcast (and their repeats), what chapters you should have read by when, at what stage of the course you should be, etc. It is all very structured and organised. You have one significant point of contact within the OU and that is your personal tutor. He advises you on and marks your assignments, and holds tutorials where you can discuss the course and course work and interact with fellow students. This can lead to further contact with other students, which can help greatly; you don't feel quite so isolated. There is an OU website (www.open.ac.uk), which gives course information and news, etc, and it also has a students section where you can check your essay marks!

The course itself, I have found to be very interesting, very thought provoking, there is ample reading and research material. I have to complete one essay per month of approximately 2000 words, and they have, so far, been challenging but at the same time fascinating. With the demands of full-time work and the slight strain I've felt since being pregnant, some of the latest essays have been late but, fortunately, I have a very sympathetic and, quite frankly, lenient tutor, who doesn't mind when they're handed in!!

Something that may be seen as a drawback for some is the fact that you do work entirely from your own initiative. You can seek help and advice from your tutor and other students, but if you are not motivated there is no one there to tell you to get on with it (except, perhaps, a concerned other half - concerned with the money he thinks you'll be earning when you've finished!!). If you lack discipline and motivation this is probably not the way to study, unless your Mum/partner can cajole you into doing your homework!

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