OU: ICT degree

nicki_2

Is there anyone here doing this course? I'm going to be signing up for it ASAP, but was wondering if any of the short courses that are starting soon would be of help to me when it comes to this course?

My final aim is to become an ICT teacher (going to be doing teaching assistant training through the job center ) so could anyone give me some recommendations? I really don't want to be wasting my time on a course that won't benefit me.

Oh, and I'm also thinking of doing the Personal Finance course at the same time

ETA : here are the courses that are starting soon : http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?SM03&starting=3

nephilim

I work in the education sector, do NOT get a teaching degree from OU or infact any IT degree from there, they are over rated, and you will leave under qualified.

Look at universities like Bedfordshire University, or UMIST (in manchester) for a good choice for computing degree's.

nicki_2

I can't get into a standard university as I have no A-levels or such in ICT, plus I've got my daughter to look after as I've just become a single mum the last thing I want to be doing is "dumping" her while I go off to lectures etc, just tutorials I'll be fine with as it will only be once a week literally down the road from where I live. Then there's the fact that I'm going to be doing the Teaching Assistant course which means, to get a NVQ Level 3 I have to be employed, so OU is looking as my best route into this career. I was planning on going to Edge Hill to get my actual PCGE or NQT qualification eventually, I just need to get a degree in ICT and the OU is my only route without going back to college etc.

dmg24

nephilim wrote: »

I work in the education sector, do NOT get a teaching degree from OU or infact any IT degree from there, they are over rated, and you will leave under qualified.

Look at universities like Bedfordshire University, or UMIST (in manchester) for a good choice for computing degree's.

I know several teachers that would disagree with this statement.

nephilim

ahh ok, that changes the elements of the equation, and my apologies, i did not know your situation. I based my advice on alot of teachers I have seen, who have gone through the OU.

going to tutorials alone is not going to be good, you need lectures to understand the tutorials, its a sad fact of the university, but I believe the OU has crech! facilities there.

Another bit of advice I can suggest is that you ask the local schools as to whether or not they have any teaching assistant posts (qualified and unqualified) and tell them your plans, ALOT of schools are good when it comes to that as they help people who want to become teachers!

nicki_2

Thats my plan, I'm going to try and see if I can get a place at my old secondary school, they let me work there voluntarily before I got pregnant with my daughter but in the drama department so I MIGHT be able to get in there again.

Stubert

nephilim wrote: »

Look at universities like Bedfordshire University, or UMIST (in manchester) for a good choice for computing degree's.

UMIST doesn't actually exist anymore and I'm sure you could go to a better uni than Manchester. I don't do computing myself here but the communication between university and students is appalling.

nephilim

Stubert wrote: »

I don't do computing myself here but the communication between university and students is appalling.

thats generally true for all universities

scorpio_princess

nephilim wrote: »

ahh ok, that changes the elements of the equation, and my apologies, i did not know your situation. I based my advice on alot of teachers I have seen, who have gone through the OU.

going to tutorials alone is not going to be good, you need lectures to understand the tutorials, its a sad fact of the university, but I believe the OU has crech! facilities there.

Another bit of advice I can suggest is that you ask the local schools as to whether or not they have any teaching assistant posts (qualified and unqualified) and tell them your plans, ALOT of schools are good when it comes to that as they help people who want to become teachers!

I'm sorry but you clearly have no clue about the way OU degrees are structured! They're not better or worse, just different because they generally serve a different quota of society (ie those with full time jobs, stay at home parents who cannot leave their kids to go swanning off to uni, those that need to retrain for their jobs and are sponsored by their employers). We may not have endless lectures at our disposal, but most of us have very good contact with our tutors (face to face at tutorials, day schools, email and phone). We also get a lot of audio-visual materials as part of our courses (and no, not the dodgy late night programmes on BBC2 which were a standard feature of the 70s and 80s - thankfully things have moved on since then!) We also have a fully fledged Students Association (called OUSA funnily enough), which is a huge support, especially to those that are unable to attend tutorials; we have societies, study weekends/residential schools.

Ultimately I don't think it matters HOW you learn, just that you do - and most OU students manage to learn very effectively thanks to the high quality of the teaching materials and the fantastic support system that is available to all students, whether they live in Cambridge or Kazakstan (where one of my fellow students lives).

I have made some very good friends during my time at the OU, and i'm sure we will all stay in touch long after we've finished our degrees.

But getting back to your original point about your experiences with teachers who came from the OU, I can only be thankful that i've only ever heard positive things from institutions offering PGCE. As I want to get into teaching myself, I spoke to the relevant department at UEA (my local uni) about whether or not OU students were well regarded there - the reply was a very emphatic 'absolutely'!

Sorry for the long post peeps but I felt I had to set the record straight on a few things because, sadly, there still seems to be some kind of misguided prejudice regarding the OU, and it really gets my goat!

Kyroplastics

Stubert wrote: »

UMIST doesn't actually exist anymore and I'm sure you could go to a better uni than Manchester. I don't do computing myself here but the communication between university and students is appalling.

I have no idea about becoming a teacher but Manchester/Umist after the merger was ranked 5th in the country as an institution and 30th in the world. Also Manchester tends to be highly regarded in the computing work since they er sorta invented the stored computer program and one of the first ever electronic computers the Manchester Mark 1 (by Berners-Lee et al, whose son went onto invent the internet) :rolleyes:

edit i do agree with you about awful communication but in general the university is very well respected (or I wouldn't be doing my masters here haha)

sadiedoll

I've employed teachers in the past with OU degrees and they were a lot better than graduates from some of the newer universities (naming no names!).

As a potential recruiter, I have huge respect for anyone who completes study part time whilst working/raising a family. It is usually an indicator of someone willing to really graft.