Today our youngest daughter starts school leaving a my wife with a day or two free.
She's mid 30's and currently working for a small online business part time with low pay. Before having children she was a well paid store manager in Philip Green's empire, two maternity breaks and redundancy ended her retail career, but having gone through Arcadia's management programme she's qualified and experienced in the dying high street retail sector.
Before joining Arcadia's management programme she did a year and a half of a Business Studies degree at Loughborough University and we're thinking that finishing her degree could be worthwhile way to fill her new found free time.
Has anyone gone through a similar experience with The Open University or other distance learning provider?
I'm currently studying via Arden University on a distance learning basis only on my second module so early days, I've had a few problems with lack of access to resources but managed to find a work around via my wife's work access to online resources.
I think OU would be a bit slicker but it also costs more.
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I did my PPE degree with the OU while working full time. A really positive experience all round, particularly as it cost £700 per module rather than the circa £2.5k it now costs!
You can transfer credits for previous study I think depending on provider and time passed I think. The website will have details.
I found the material comprehensive and the contact with tutor/ other students adequate. I prefer to work on my own seeking help when required, others who prefer lots of interaction may struggle to adjust.
I’d definitely do another degree (if costs were lower) and would also consider them for a Masters at some point.
My wife did an online LLB in three years at RGU Aberdeen.
In my esteemed reckoning it was a doddle, taking maybe 10 hours a week. Plenty of online support and access to the lecturers etc if required.
Everything nowadays seems to be "ongoing" assessment rather than the once a year exams I had 25 years ago!
I did an MBA via the OUBS - it was a good course and seems to me far better suited to a mature manager (as it involved a lot of looking at your work) rather than the "crash course in business" that a post grad would want straight out of uni.
The OUBS courses are not cheap so I would want to make sure it will be valued in any career - the workload is not bad if you want to pass but to get a merit or distinction does take a lot of work (at least it did for me and I just missed out too !)
In the mid 90's I undertook a Diploma with the OU. It was expensive but the course materials and tutor support was excellent.
In 2003 I did a distance learning Degree at London South Bank University. This was also expensive and the materials were good but the tutor support and their administration was poor. At one point the refused to agree to APEL points from a Masters Degree undertaken at Reading University in 1998 stating that they didn't recognise it as an academic institution! When I contacted the relevant faculty at Reading they went in to a low orbit and threatened South Bank with legal action. It was resolved in the end and meant I was saved the expense of completing two modules. I think that it was a competency issue on the part of admin staff at South Bank as opposed to academic shenanigans.
Hi
Did a MBA with OU back in 2012... would recommend them, excellent course material and tutors...
Without wishing to sound like I'm advertising - have you tried my place: https://www.ebsglobal.net/programmes
We're big on distance learning and our business school is well regarded. Online MBAs are very popular.
Whatever you decide - a bit of research on courses and graduate employability will help.
Cheers,
Mark C
Distance learning was my avenue into higher education, looking at doing a msc now and the choice is amazing. What do I want to be next :)
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I recommend the OU philosophy and approach. Of course lots of countries adopted the style.
I did a few third year courses in the early 80s ( I needed to get up to speed on some specialist areas)
Hearty recommendations.
B
A friend of mine started an OU masters and felt rather detached from the course community/tutors. The resources were available online but obviously needed to be read on a screen (old school library/paper/books user at heart) for some its great - but for some, the fellow course members are as invaluable as tutor contact and group interaction/feedback, to the learning experience.
A lot depends on the course you choose - the more popular ones have a more active tutor group - I certainly had one module that I met no one on but others were far more sociable and co-operative. The residential schools were also very sociable but agree they were going more virtual and I finished mine probably 10 years ago now.Originally Posted by Mr G Imp
Quite a while back, I taught at the OU summer school for about 5 years running. It was at Queen Mary, Mile End. The course was a philosophy course, "Life and Death". I taught the death part (suicide, euthanasia, etc.). I enjoyed it very much. The students were motivated, worked hard (and danced to the early hours). The first group I taught was comprised of police officers, doctors and nurses. I've always approved of the OU. For quite a while, in this country, it was almost the only way to get back into higher education, if you missed the boat at age 18 as did I.
Best wishes,
Bob
To be fair a lot of journals are online now however when I was learning with them I joined the OU library which gave me reciprocal access to bricks and mortar libraries. I used LSE a lot during my economics courses.
I did a distance learning MBA via Durham Uni whilst working full time. It suited me well and did not have time or money to go back to Uni full time. It was a few hours each week and coursework's generally got based around my job at the time. Was a easy enough experience and got a Merit, luckily my work place at the time gave me a few weeks off a year for revision and exams which was a bonus - got to love the Post Office unions ! and also hate them as they are the reason the PO losses so much money and is doomed anyway I digress.
The one downside especially to doing a distance MBA is the lack of networking opportunities / personal contact with tutors which is probably more important that the degree itself. You also need to be committed to the course and stay motivated doing the work.
Could she complete the rest of her degree at Loughborough on a part time basis? Some university courses offer their full time course on a part time basis and the often encourage 'mature' students to join by being more flexible.
Not sure if that would be beneficial when compared to an OU degree though.
I'm a bit of a lifelong OU person.
I graduated from bricks/mortar university in the early 1990s with a degree in engineering. I've used the OU for 20 years to keep me off the beer dipping into maths, physics, geology, astronomy etc.
I have 3 OU qualifications in the bag and I love it.
Tutors are superb
They are excellent at distance (the 'normal' universities that attempt distance would be embarrassed by OU in my experience)
I cannot comment on the business/management courses at the OU but I did study with the OU a number of times over the years, including reading mathematics and then later a PGCE with QTS with them. The OU are the masters at distance learning, having some years of experience at it and having been set up specifically for this study mode.
Have a peep at their website for the courses you are interested in and, if you can, pop along to your regional centre to talk to them about your particular situation; they really are very good.
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At the risk of being repetitive, I'm another to recommend the OU, my latest degree with them was a joy, plenty of real work to undertake with back-up and support in all areas that has to be experienced to be believed. I'd go through it again in a shot.....
Do the OU charge as much as regular universities?
If so, it sounds a very expensive way to keep off the beer!
M
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