The OU is the best!

Open University www.open.ac.uk
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deano251's review of Open University www.open.ac.uk

★★★★★
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“The OU is the best!”

Written on: 14/07/2012 by deano251

I feel i should right this as i am really surprised to see so many bad comments and low ratings about the OU.

I am 3 years into the Beng(hons) and it is very hard work, especially working full time.

I have found the materials first class, some modules havn't been to my liking but I have to cover many aspects of engineering.

I think a lot of the disgruntled people on here want to be spoon fed by a tutor, that's not what OU is about, its about hard work, self motivation and discipline, that is why it is so well respected all over the world!!

it is the number one for distance learning, the TMA's and exams are tough, that makes me happy because it gives the OU and my degree high credibility!

So come on guys, its a Degree you are studying for, if it was easy everyone would have one!!

Guest's Response to deano251's Review

Written on: 14/07/2012

I agree. Studying with Open University is tough, very tough. You certainly aren't spoon fed by tutors, the contact is minimal and it can be lonely at times, therefore requires discipline. Often students are working and (like me) bringing up a family too. I do miss the contact, a conventional Uni would provide however, the high costs and low flexibility of courses around work and home comittments makes the OU a great way to gain a qualification. For those who haven't studied and score the OU low, have no idea the hard work the student have to put in!

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Avala's Response to deano251's Review

Written on: 16/07/2012

I am also studying for a few years now but do not think the new fees of £2500 are good value at all. Much of it is available free online from other sources so considering you are studying at home with little tutor support, I am not sure what you are paying for apart from the degree certificate at the end (assuming you get there). Course material is good...that you would expect from a long established distance learning organisation of this size, BUT it is far from excellent. In many cases. I often have to use online sources, freely available, to make up for some of the not so well taught material. As I say, this free material is abundant now and often excellent. A fair amount is better than OU material.

The new fee structure at £2500 per 60 point module is not good value in my opinion. Less than brick uni but what are you getting for that..a few books and often in my experience extremely slow responding tutors that can take up to a month to mark your TMA's and a week or so to reply to any query. Clearly OU is p/t work and the OU student is the bottom of the priority list!! Not good or satisfactory at all in my view.

So in summary, the OU degree is very worthy, but it is more to do with the individual student's effort than the quality of the OU as an organisation. Certainly not value under the new fees. You really are just paying for the issue the certificate nowadays more than anything as the knowledge is all out there readily for free.

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Unime's Response to deano251's Review

Written on: 22/09/2012

I do not like to be spoon fed but if throughout my course work I get excellent grades I would presume that by applying the same knowledge in the exam at the end of a module I would get a good grade. The problem I have with the OU is that there can be a complete misalignment between what is taught during a module and what is expected in an end of course exam. It's as if the examiners are marking a completely different module from what's taught by the tutors and text books.

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Hughwp's reply to Unime's Comment

Written on: 02/12/2012

It's important to realise there can be a number of resons for lower exam marks one can be be memory, another that you refer to the Material whilst doing the TMA to get better results. A Psychologist told me that optimal understand is to read units and then do TMAs in a set time without referring to course material, this is not optimal for a high TMA mark but helps when confronted with the exam. I have yet to see an OU exam that is significantly different to the assessed material during the course.

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