Back to studying

After my foundation courses I had a long break from the OU. In fact I didn't do my next course until 2001.

In 2000 I was having a very bad time at work and ended up with a mild depression. It was then I decided to go back to studying. Partly in the hope that I may eventually be able to complete my degree and get a decent job, and partly just to keep my mind occupied. The job I was in was boring and repetative and I was afraid my mind would completely atrophy.

By this time I was working full time for the governement. They would cover 80% of any course I did as long as I could justify it in a business case. The easiest way to do that was to go for a computing course so I decided to try M206 starting the following February. I had enjoyed the summer schools so much in my previous courses that I had hoped to find a course including one, but unfortunately couldn't find a suitable course.

I didn't at that time have a computer at home and the ones I used at work were basic stand alone computers with no Internet access. So my main priority was to aquire a computer with Internet access. I was still on a very low income so it was going to have to be as cheaply as poosible. Luckily my eldest son is really into computers and was able to build a very basic one by canabalising a number of broken old computers. So I only had to pay for a printer.

The first mailing arrived later on in 2000 and was just what I needed. When I had first got the computer I played about on the Internet to get a feel for it, but the first mailing for M206 introduced me to the social aspect of computers. It included very detailed and basic instructions for accessing OU websites, bookmarking pages etc. It all seems so basic to me now but at that time I knew nothing about computers and found it very useful.

But the best thing they gave me was access to First Class (FC), the OU conferencing system. We had to write a message, introducing ourselves, and put it into the Practice Conference. This was on the good old days over on Server 3 (now defunct I believe), where the mods (conference moderators) didn't mind if people had a bit of a chat in the Practice conference. Since M206 had no official Chat conference at that time, M206 students tended to "hang about" in the Practice conference. Especially at the beginning when we were still learning about everything FC could do.

I was lucky to early on make two good friends, Ian and Gabi, who were to prove invaluable support throughout the course. FC has a live private chat facility which enables you to message back and forward without clogging up your mail box. I used this extensively in my first year. I suppose it is the equivalent of a student union in a brick university. First Class had changed studying with the OU from an isolated, lonely occupation to one where I could "talk" to other students whenever I wanted and over the next few years it got me in touch with a number of fellow students who have gone on to become really good friends.

T102 - My Introduction to Technology

My 2nd year with the OU, 1990, was spent doing T102 - Living with Technology: A Foundation Course. Some of the course I enjoyed, but some of it I found a bit repetitive from S102.

I found studying that year a real struggle. I could really only study when the boys were in bed or at school and by 9pm I had problems concentrating. I was also working part time, which took up a lot of the time when the boys were at school.

Since it was a technology courses and we were on benefit at the start of the course, the OU lent me a computer for the course. Now I believe they can help with finance towards buying your own computer if you are low income. The computer was a 586 running Word Perfect and seemed high technology at the time. It was the first time I had experience of using a computer and it was something I really enjoyed.

One of the questions I had to answer for a Tutor Marked Assignment (TMA) was to design a house, positioning rooms, doors and windows etc. I tried to be a bit original and in the end my design worked to their specifications. I got it back with some comment about it being a very strange design, but at least I got the marks.

Talking of marks I got my best mark up to then of 89% in a TMA just before I attended that year’s summer school in York. It had been a really easy TMA so when I got it back from the tutor with the comment that it was a very good mark but it had been a very easy assignment I agreed. I did, however, put my foot in it when I remarked jokingly on it to someone at the summer school and got the reply that they had never had that sort of mark in their lives.

It wasn’t as much of a foot in mouth moment however as when I commented to someone that the OU babied us through Foundation courses and that it must be practically impossible to fail a Foundation. Needless to say they had failed one.

The only problem in that Summer school was that I had to get my room moved. It was next to a kitchen and some of my fellow students decided to congregate in it all night despite having been asked not to.

But my main memory is a team project on waste management. Each member of the team had to cover one aspect of selling his or her allocated method of waste management. I got to play with figures in a computer program. We were allocated advocating landfill dumping. Not the easiest of tasks but we did our best. I managed at the last moment to prove that by using and selling the gas produced by the dump that it was possible to run it and have it not cost anything. Needless to say we still did not win the vote of the student body. One of the more environmentally friendly methods did.

York University was another beautiful campus and I enjoyed the summer school even more than the year before because I was a bit more relaxed about leaving the boys with only their father to watch them.

The exam that year was the first and so far only time I have experienced exam nerves. When I first looked at the exam paper I couldn’t even understand the questions never mind answer them. Fortunately I was able to calm myself down and re-read the paper to discover that there actually were questions I could answer. In the end I got 79% for the exam, but I do have every sympathy for students who have problems with exams.
That course was the last course I did for over 10 years. There were a number of reasons for this. I was, as I mentioned working part time so I was earning just enough to get by, but too much to get financial help. There was no way I could afford to pay for another course myself. I also had problems with knowing which way to go with studying. Technology seemed most sensible, but I really had enjoyed the Science course more.

S102 my first degree course

In 1989 I studied S102 - Science: A Foundation Course the first course towards my degree. It was a first level course, the predecessor of the current S103.

At that time the Open University specialised in degrees and the normal progression was one or two Foundations (first level) and 4 courses above foundation level.

I was allocated a tutor/councillor to help with the course and any other related queries or problems. The only personal contact I had with him was when I went to the first tutorial. After that I was not able to attend any other tutorials as I had two young(ish) children and my husband was out at work when the tutorials were on.

There was no First Class conferencing system or web site in 1989 so I worked completely on my own. Looking back I was isolated but didn’t really feel it at the time and I thoroughly enjoyed the course.

When I did S102 the OU lent students a basic Science kit and other materials used were ordinary household products such as tin foil and arrowroot. I did have a bit of a problem finding a holly bush but I found one in the end. We had to collect leaves off a holly bush to count for the number of them affected by the holly leaf miner.

I never really thought of that year as studying. It was a year of playing with Science and I found it great fun. I measured the distance to the moon and did experiments in my kitchen.

A compulsory part of the course was the summer school. In the late eighties all foundation courses included a summer school. It could be missed only in case of exceptional circumstances. And I’m glad I didn’t miss mine.

I had chosen to do my summer school at Stirling University. The accommodation was very basic being a student room consisting of a bed and chair. But the grounds were lovely and each day we walked over the bridge across the lake from the accommodation block to the day buildings.

At the end of the year I sat my exam in a church hall in nearby Ayr. That is the only time I did regret not attending the tutorials because most of the other students knew each other from having met at them or in study groups and spent the time before the exam chatting to each other.

I passed the course with no trouble, falling just a little short, in both the continual assessment and the exam, of a distinction. Years later I was to discover that I could use this course on its own to give me my first piece of paper - The Certificate in Natural Sciences. This is possible because the OU allows you to count most courses towards two different qualifications.

The problem now was which course to do the next year. I would have liked to continue with the Earth Science side but, being practical, realised I would never get a job in Earth Sciences near where I live. At that time my main object in doing the degree was the hope of getting a good job.
So in the end I opted for another foundation course - T102 - Living with Technology: A Foundation Course and went on to study it in 1990.