Info. on Open University UK

Im considering enrolling as a student with the Open university in the UK. Can anybody advise me as to how recognised their qualifications are and if you have ever studied with them how did you find them?

All info. will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks

 

Only a few people here have studied with Open University, since most of us are in the U.S., and only a limited number of Open U. courses are available to people in the U.S.

For more information on what's available in different countries, see http://www3.open.ac.uk/near-you/worldwide/

 

I find them to be too expensive, in comparison to other DL offers (such as the UoL External Programme), and that is also why I chose not to take courses with them.

For a DL institution they have a good reputation (my comment is not against DL schemes, but for the fact that they generally seem to suffer from a relatively less good reputation in comarison with BM ones).

 

You need to compare the cost of OU programmes with that of the London External Programmes where teaching (as distinct from simply a pack of learning materials) is provided. The bulk of London External programmes are purely Distance Learning, as distinct from Distance Teaching. Open University provides Distance Teaching.

Malcolm S Jenner

 

Could you please elaborate on that? It seemed to me that their classes are only for UK-based students. I am EEC based.

 

As far as I am aware all Open University courses are available anywhere in the European Union. A limited number are available elsewhere.

What you may miss out on for many courses, if you are outside UK, will be face-to-face tutorials, which supplement the other teaching materials.

I have taught (as an Associate Lecturer, the Open University term for part-time Tutors who deal with students' questions and mark their coursework) on two different courses. On one there were no face-to-face tutorials, everything was on-line. I had half my students from outside UK, mostly in various parts of EU, but also one in USA. On the course I currently teach there are some face-to-face tutorials, so I actually get to meet some of my students (but not those serving in the armed forces in distant parts of the world). Students from EU countries will only get face-to-face tutorials locally if there are sufficient numbers of them on the same course (as for some business courses).

Some courses offer the option of on-line tutorials as an alternative to face-to-face.

Malcolm S Jenner