OU Students Past, Present and Future

giggles_alot

Upyonder wrote: »

I have just received my course materials today, as a first timer to the OU, I am both excited and nervous and feeling a little like 'what have I done'. Is this a usual feeling when first starting out? I feel rather nervous

Hey Upyonder, I got my things through a couple of weeks ago and felt exactly the same so we're in the same boat.

Misty_Blue

Upyonder wrote: »

I have just received my course materials today, as a first timer to the OU, I am both excited and nervous and feeling a little like 'what have I done'. Is this a usual feeling when first starting out? I feel rather nervous

That's exactly how I felt as well. I'm still only about a month in, but I'm really loving the course so far. You will be fine. :beer:

Upyonder

Thanks Giggles and Misty I'm glad I am not alone in the nervous/excited feelings.
This may seem like a really obvious question to all those who have studied with the OU before, but it has completely baffled me. I have just spent the last 1.5 hrs trying to get to know my 'StudentHome' on the OU website, but Im really struggling to find my way around it.
In the course materials that came today, the welcome letter said to locate the welcome forum for my course and part 1 of the study guide, which apparently appears in week 1 of the study calander (I have a paper version of the study callendar, but cant seem to find it online). The letter says that I need to read part 1 of the study guide straight away. The thing is I cant find any of these things on the OU site through my StudentHome, I'mcalendercalendarand was wondering if someone could give me a step by step guide to the site and how to access these things. I wondered if perhaps I cant access any of these things because my course doesn't start for 4 more weeks, and so perhaps it is not yet accessible though the letter I have says to access this part of the site straight away.
Help, I don't know what I am doing, perhaps signing up was a mistake...

scubaangel

You'll probably find alot of the information the study pack tells you to read isnt avaliable yet, but from the studenthome page you should have a link on the right with your course title - clicking that should take you to the course page.

jaxjax123

Giggles, Misty and Upyonder. Really don't worry what your doing is great. I just completed and passed my first OU course. I left school with nothing and never thought I would achieve anything like that.
I got my results yesterday. When that day comes for you, you will know you have done right.
Good luck and enjoy learning.

Gemmzie

I'll update the first page soon, just been limited on typing lately due to an op on my wrist.

angelflower_2

Hey Gemmzie

you can add me if you want

I am currently doing K101

Registered for the open degree and am currently registered on my next two courses which are DB123 (Start May 09) and DD208 (start Oct 09)

Sneezy

Hi Gemmzie, please can you add me too?

Currently: MST121, MS221
Past: B120, T172, Y162, MU120
Future: M208, MST209 et al - Degree in Mathematics and its Learning

alyth

I did A178, Leonardo, last year and just got a pass for it - I'm so chuffed! I'm now doing A100, Arts past and present, and a lot of the students doing it have gotten together on facebook.

I've learnt a lot about the OU courses over the last 6 months. My advice: and remember this is just my own interpretation, having left school at 15 23 years ago.

When you get your information through you are swamped. make up a folder for each course you are doing. my mother graduated from the OU last year with a BSC in maths and science, and she taught me this. Read through every piece of paper first. Don't even bother with the OU site until you've read through the stuff.

many people, and I've found this on the A100 site, will spend hours talking through how difficult the course is, but don't actualy get on and do it. Make up a study plan. I'm supposed to do 12 hours a week on this course, but because I've read through the assignments I realise that I can miss out massive chunks of the work. This probably only applies to arts courses, my mother studies maths courses and is into her August assigment already!

Do what is right for you. Do not listen to those on the website for your course that are 3/6/9 weeks ahead. Work at your own pace. I got extremely stressed out the first couple of weeks when people where posting questions on texts that were way ahead of what I was doing. Do what is right for you. if you have a good week in studying, fine, if you're busy with other stuff, that's also okay.

I think the most important thing for me, and that is to have an aim. I've found on my course there are too many what I would class as numpties, sorry, but there seems to be people who aren't determined to knuckle down and have an aim at the end which is to get up on that stage in your gown and graduate. of course I have days when I can't be bothered, but i will still get down to the studying, because I have that image in my head of me up there getting my degree. my mother did it, and I was so proud of her at 60 years old, so so can I.

You have to be determined, you have to have a goal. I've found certainly on my course and through those that I have as friends on facebook, they will do anything other than sit down and study. Why are you doing the course - if you were a student at a university you would have tutors to account to, why not be accountable to yourself - I can always rent out my mother who calls me every night now to ask how my studying is going, if nothing else I'm determined not to fail her!

Good luck! I think part of the OU's problem is that because so many of us (and I include myself in this) get the courses paid for, then it's kind of like a bit of fun - it isn't, someone somewhere, where an alumini or the taxpayer, is paying for your courses, you have to be accountable to you getting the correct grades in your course. I'm not going to waste the next 6 years of my life slogging over Cezanne and Faustus and Stalin to come out with a third!

pennypinchingmum

Hello fellow OU students, Could you add me to the list, I'm currently taking A210 but i have previously studied and passed well DD100. It would be great if any of you fabulous people were taking A210) since i'm struggling with Great Expectations since i cannot abide reading Charles Dickens, which as you can imagine is a problem when readimn Great Expectations. However i just found out i got 75% on my first TMA so i'm super happy !!!! Good luck to all of you just starting.