22 Foxhole East

f0xh0les

We need to make Adult Education sexy again!

I did wonder when the govt were busy writing off the A level and GCSE kids exams, where was the push for local colleges to do a fast refresher course, where was the message that learning does not end at 16/ 18 / 21.   Where was the push for OU courses,  the teaching the kids have had from DH is no different to the teaching the distance learning modules teach.  But the message being given out is that the Uni kids have missed out on all the social aspect, and so they need a refund as the teaching obv can't have been as good.  All the content was there.  All the resources were there.  It is rotten that they have had to pay out for accommodation they cannot use, but the face to face seminars all ran to the same schedule.  The lectures were all put up online. 

Nobody says The OU is not worth it. 

mark55man

@f0xh0les not all universities stepped up to the mark - provision for my DD was absolutely shocking - when the lecturers weren't on strike, there was no on-line material.  OU is great but is designed to be on-line.  Some random course thrust onto the interweb did not do it.  It woyuld be more honest if the uni said you paid £9K this year and you got your degree, end of, rather than pretending it was as good as usual.  That is both untrue and a false move

greent

Have to agree that both of my 2 at uni suffered with lack of online provision when lectures were due (and coming straight after strike action - I think my daughter had 1 face to face lecture in 2020 and only 3 others online)- or online provision where the lecturer didn't know how to use the method so there was no sound... with no recording or notes after to help. Plus both have found their lecturers to be less available than they were when physically at uni - and submitting dissertation queries by email which is answered several days later is not the same as a face to face meeting for 30 minutes where ideas are quickly answered and discussed:( In the same way that not all teachers/ schools are equal (can see the difference between DS2 and DS3's schools) sadly not all unis/ lecturers have been as dedicated to their students as your DH has (I expect his students do not realise they are lucky, though)

mark55man  OU is great but is designed to be on-line.  Some random course thrust onto the interweb did not do it.  It woyuld be more honest if the uni said you paid £9K this year and you got your degree, end of, rather than pretending it was as good as usual.  That is both untrue and a false move

And totally agree with all of this ^^^  Lots of students choose to go (away) to uni with the associated costs partly because of the whole experience (which is often 'sold' to them as a good life experience by teachers (and sometimes parents) who went through it themselves) - otherwise they could do a degree through OU at a lesser cost if that's all they wanted. 

f0xh0les

I suppose it might depend if the course in a normal year is taught to distance learners - I know DH has students all over the world he supervises and teaches, and he puts a lot of stuff online for them to access,  so it was a lot more work for him to get it all online for all home students in every year group, for every course he teaches,  but he did put the work in, and put the hours in, learnt all the new platforms and what was possible on them then upgraded the internet connection, got a newer i-pad and microphone for quality,  and a lighting set up, then making sure it would all talk to each other while recording, and making sure it was all ready and online for them.

There is no extra money given for the kit to make sure the back room is now a department of the University.   He did that cos he is a professional and did not want to let his students down. I can only comment on him, and the courses he runs.   One of his degrees was distance learning with the OU so he has had some experience with it.  I guess some lecturers were not so quick on the uptake, luckily DH had 15 years in IT before he jumped ship to the world of academia, so it was new-ish to him, but not totally unfamiliar and he is not frightened of it, but it took hours and hours and hours and ended up with him talking to 4pple about a problem with their latest sound recording software they had not identified, but he managed to work round it, because he has that skill set.

He has said he had no help whatsoever from the tech team, and no real instruction except what the lecturers shared with each other via a couple of Z00m chats and that older staff members who were not up to date with this sort of thing were absolutely  f^cked.   Plus some people retired at the start of the pandemic, which mean some courses were passed to people who had not taught them before, and they had to wing it.  This year has just not been ideal for anybody.  Some students have been let down,  some have had a decent distance learning course handed to them (there is no price difference between a face to face taught course and a distance learning course -they are both £9k) -  but they all feel short changed because it was not the experience they wanted to have and they are paying out for accommodation they could not use.

greenbee

I think everyone has struggled to adapt this year, some have done it better than others. Some people feel short changed, some feel lucky. Some have even done well (Peloton anyone?). Some people are better at change than others. Some people are better at seeing opportunities than others. We really don't know how this is going to pan out.

My job is to track trends and make predictions. At the outbreak of the pandemic I stated that I couldn't make predictions more than 6 weeks ahead (I usually work on a 5-10 year timeline). I've gradually increased my timeline, but I'm still working on long-term predictions being what I would have called near-term 18-months ago. There's so much change going on - not just tech, but social, economic, political - that it's really hard to know what skills, knowledge and education kids will need. 

f0xh0les

I have turned off the central heating.  If they are cold they can go into the kitchen, wedge themselves down the side of the fridge freezer, and push the +1 button. 

I did a proper grown up deep clean of the kitchen - mopped, scoured, cleaned, the whole shebang.  It looks really quite good in there!  I have one load of laundry left to do and then the floor in front of the washing machine in the laundry nook is cleared as well.  I feel like I have actually achieved something today - how rubbish is that!   I know I clean when I am unhappy or stressed. A clean house is not a sign of a wasted life, it is the sign of a neurotic headcase avoiding things. 

Found out the end of term and start of term dates for the schools for the rest of the year, so they are in the diary. 

DS1 is being told he has 5 weeks of teaching left.  DS2 is being told he has 8 weeks left, DS4 was told today his residential will be going ahead June 25-28, and they have booked in bikeability, and sports day' might' be going ahead as well if they can wedge it in with secondary school induction days.

Schools close here on 9th July- 25th August so I have been trying to think what on earth I am going to do.    Also just realised it is the in-laws 50th wedding anniversary in August.  Then I realised that this will probably be the last year all the kids will be together, then I started getting anxious about exam results dates, and exam dates, and now I am an utter basket case     They don't even have to sit exams!!

I blame the dieting - all I can think about is food, and stress, and worry, and now I am a mess.

But, on the plus side, the house is clean and tidy!

f0xh0les

Not much has changed from the last post    Except I am 4lbs lighter than this time on Monday.

I have bought a rod to fix DS4s bed headboard - how he managed to break it is beyond me. He would have to be into some pretty  heavy duty bondage to break it, and as he is  only 11, that is not likely....yet  anyway. A spot of drilling and all will be well again.

All the laundry is washed and dried, could not be faffed to fold it tonight, so I haven't.

Apart from that, making sure DS1 'went' to his open day at one of his uni's, and feeding people, I have not done much else.

Sent DS3 and 4 down to the park on their own for the first time, dh went out for a run at the same time, so they kind of went together, then I left it 20 minutes and decided I was going to go and walk round the big park twice quickly and home before making supper  - you have to go through the little park they wanted to go to, to get to the big park I wanted to walk round, met dh on his way home, bumped into the other 2 in the big park, then met them again on the doorstep as they were wheeling their bikes up the steps.  So there was a little bit of independence for them, and I got a bit of exercise. Only 8,500 steps  but it is a start.

Might get them down the road on their 'new' skateboards tomorrow.  Another bit of fun.

DS3 is seriously impressed with the anesthetic throat spray.  Bit too impressed if you ask me, but it seems to be doing the trick for the hayfever caused sore throat quite well. He avoided it last year, so I thought he might have outgrown it like his 2 older brothers seem to have, but this Spring it is back again. The older two occasionally get a bit snuffly, but nothing else anymore.

Gosh,  this time next week will be May. Month 5 of this year.  That has gone by pretty fast, all things considered.

kerri_gt

Exciting times for DS3 and 4. Good that they have each other to take these next steps of independence together. 

I cannot believe how it's May already, how can time simultaneously move so slowly and quickly without being an episode of the Time Lord in the blue box? I think it's because largely none of us have 'big' events to mark time by. 

Did a car boot today, first one deff since 2019, and possibly even 2018. It was a little odd as it was set up with sellers down one side of each row of parking only, rather than on both sides (IYKWIM) so prob felt a little emptier than it really was. However it just felt so nice to do something 'normal', I even got to practice my conversational skills....maybe need to brush up on those a little still 😂 Weather was lovely and everyone very chipper. All in all a good day 😁 (ignoring the 6am alarm...that was a shock to the system)

f0xh0les

There is no news here. The mortgage account should have updated this morning, but it is

a) a weekend, and

b) a bank holiday weekend,

So no bills have gone out, no movement on the mortgage until TUESDAY, and so limbo continues....

Enjoy your 3 day holiday,  the weather forecast looks absolutely nasty for Monday though!

Laundry will be done today, DS3 and 4 have just nipped out on their bikes to go down to the park, house cleaning, pesto making, wedding anniversarying (23rd), and a spot of ice cream, and reading, lots of lots of reading on the sofa.

April's out, so the frocks are out of the wardrobe, legs shaved, still need to paint my toenails.  Even if the weather is not playing ball, I am ready to dress up at the drop  of a hat.

mark55man

Happy Anniversary F0xh0les - enjoy your reading and congratulations to on your excellent planning ahead skills in having your wedding on a day that maximises your chances of anniversaries being a day off (is there is such a thing in your busy household).  Your silver will be on Bank Holiday Monday - I would start dropping hints now