OU M150 - Anyone else? :o)

Voyager2002

leeroy17 wrote: »

I'm taking this course, just started too. Not really done anything towards it as of yet as waiting till I get my PC grant as I'm using someone elses PC at the mis so dont want to leave my saved work on someone elses computer.

Get yourself a USB pen-drive and save your work there.

Don't wait too long: the course will not wait for you, and you don't know how long the grant will take.

And let your tutor know your situation ASAP: if a delay in the grant means that your first assignment is late, your tutor will have to decide whether to penalise you. In that situation it helps if s/he knows what is going on at an early stage.

pr1nc3ss

I did this course two years ago, just got my cert in computing and IT. God i hated that programming!
I also studied Robotics and The Meaning of Life at the same time to which I found very interesting but again, hated the programming. I love studying with the OU, its so addictive once that pass letter comes through the door!

dag_2

I've also done M150.

How do I apply for the laptop grant though? And are there any other grants etc available? I'm currently on IS so I've got my courses fully funded.

I could be wrong, but I think you have to buy the new computer, then keep the receipt, and use this to claim back the cost afterwards.

Oh, and it's got to be a complete new system. You can't claim it to cover parts (eg just motherboard, or just RAM, or just CPU) or peripherals (eg monitor, keyboard). Also - it can't be second-hand!

And also, you only get one shot at the computer grant in the whole of the six years you can get funding. If you use the grant to buy a computer which is good enough for your first course, but then you do another course at a later date which requires you to buy a second computer with a higher performance spec, then that's hard luck, the grant won't cover it.

For that reason, be very careful about the performance spec of the computer you buy.

To be honest, I've never bothered claiming the computer grant myself. Although I had a very old computer at the time I started M150, it was very slow, and I found I couldn't rely on it. So I bought a much-higher performing computer very quickly after starting M150. However, that computer itself was second-hand.

The computer grant is only for £250, but I couldn't find any new computers on the high street that cost less than this. Furthermore, I found that I was able to buy second-hand computers from the Stratford Fair whose spec was more than good enough for OU study, and which were more than £250 cheaper than the prices I'd have to pay to get a new computer on the high street, thereby completely defeating the point of claiming the OU computer grant.

Mind you, the grant might have improved since then, so I guess I could theoretically claim it to buy another computer.

Sorry that's not much help - but point is, do be careful about the computer you buy. And like voyager says, don't wait too long, because M150 won't wait for you. That said, you don't need any specialist software to study M150, so you could realistically do it using computers in your local library or internet cafe at a push. The same can't be said of Level 2 computing courses, though.

FiftyPents

Hi, bumping a very old thread, and i apologise for that!

But i've just started working towards a Bsc Computing and IT degree with Open University. When choosing my modules i was told that i'd need 60 units before going onto level 2, and the only options i had that started this year were M150 and T175. It said on the website that a lot of people chose to take both of these together, as they were worth 30 points each.

I work shifts in a full time job, but i get a lot of free time as i do lone working in an office. I've also worked in IT for 10 years and studied IT at college, so i have some knowledge on it.

I'm just slightly worried after receiving only box 1 (M150) of the learning materials, that im taking on too much? Im reading through the course guidelines and it recommends 7-8 hours study per week, which i can only assume will be doubled to 16 hours study a week with T175, meaning im working a 38 hour week whilst fitting in 16 hours of study.

Has anyone else done this? Have i been stupid here by signing up for both?

Voyager2002

FiftyPents wrote: »

Hi, bumping a very old thread, and i apologise for that!

But i've just started working towards a Bsc Computing and IT degree with Open University. When choosing my modules i was told that i'd need 60 units before going onto level 2, and the only options i had that started this year were M150 and T175. It said on the website that a lot of people chose to take both of these together, as they were worth 30 points each.

I work shifts in a full time job, but i get a lot of free time as i do lone working in an office. I've also worked in IT for 10 years and studied IT at college, so i have some knowledge on it.

I'm just slightly worried after receiving only box 1 (M150) of the learning materials, that im taking on too much? Im reading through the course guidelines and it recommends 7-8 hours study per week, which i can only assume will be doubled to 16 hours study a week with T175, meaning im working a 38 hour week whilst fitting in 16 hours of study.

Has anyone else done this? Have i been stupid here by signing up for both?

Yes, you do have to assume that they mean what they say about the amount of time required. If you can't find the 16 hours per week, discuss the problem with your tutor and see if they can defer one of the courses.

khiller1988

FiftyPents wrote: »

Hi, bumping a very old thread, and i apologise for that!

But i've just started working towards a Bsc Computing and IT degree with Open University. When choosing my modules i was told that i'd need 60 units before going onto level 2, and the only options i had that started this year were M150 and T175. It said on the website that a lot of people chose to take both of these together, as they were worth 30 points each.

I work shifts in a full time job, but i get a lot of free time as i do lone working in an office. I've also worked in IT for 10 years and studied IT at college, so i have some knowledge on it.

I'm just slightly worried after receiving only box 1 (M150) of the learning materials, that im taking on too much? Im reading through the course guidelines and it recommends 7-8 hours study per week, which i can only assume will be doubled to 16 hours study a week with T175, meaning im working a 38 hour week whilst fitting in 16 hours of study.

Has anyone else done this? Have i been stupid here by signing up for both?

Hi,
I ran these two alongside each other, the study guidlines are a guide only and because you have previous knowledge and both are level 1 course, i would think you would be ok. However you can start both and if you find it too much throughout they usually allow you to remove yourself from one at the worst case scenario. good luck

sausagenmelons

khiller1988 wrote: »

Hi,
I ran these two alongside each other, the study guidlines are a guide only and because you have previous knowledge and both are level 1 course, i would think you would be ok. However you can start both and if you find it too much throughout they usually allow you to remove yourself from one at the worst case scenario. good luck

There is a group on facebook if you have it?!! They are all starting t175 and m150 next month. If you want to join let me know and ill send you my facebook to join x

OUStudent

I am starting M150m T175 and MU123 next month, the early parts of the course seem to be more reading than anything I am sure that will change the deeper into the courses you get not looked past the initial 3 units of any of them yet. The OU say 3 30 point courses amounts to 24 hours of study a week so for 2 it would be 16 just over 2 hours a day or you could do full day at weekend then 1 hour or so each day during the week. Of course you also have to taake into consideration that everyone is different what might take 1 student 8 hours may take another only 6 hours, I would start and see where you end up.

Personally I am not anticipating any problems for the 3 I am doing however I have lots of free time being ill at the moment and not working this will be the only thing I am concentrating on.

Anyway best of liuck to you I hope it all works out

Sausagenmelons it might be useful if you post the facebook link in this thread anyway I personally dont do facebook at all but there are lots that do that read these forums

sausagenmelons

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/home.php?sk=group_146116862105574&ap=1