So after a decade of absence, I return to the Open University to start studying again. After graduating with a very sad and geeky BSc, I cheated on the OU and tried Huddersfield's offering of a Graduate Diploma in Law, but I was thinking of Milton Keynes the whole time.....
So I am back in the land of the self-paced, virtually supported, collaborative work space that OU has become (when I last left, Blackboard was a regularly Out of Service nightmare), I have to say I am quite impressed.
Similarly, the support from fellow students and tutor appears strong and while this will no doubt take something of a nose dive during the Christmas period, I am, as they say, feeling strong about the whole thing.
However, as seems essential for all of Academia, the opening salvoes from the Admin department were by rote
a. unhelpful
b. inaccurate
c. confusing
and yet they had managed to cash my cheque with some aplomb..... No less infuriating because it was partially expected! As a result I was late joining the course because I hadn't (and 2 weeks in, still haven't) received any mailshot, either virtual or physical, to provide login details or even so much as a URL starter for 10. Similarly, having studied with OU before, I submitted my previous identification number. Admin managed to get me a new one, so that I existed twice on the system and thus threw the world into chaos (or so it seemed from my telephone conversation with them).
And so, this is how I expect the pattern to continue. I fully expect to be successful in the course given the quite vast support infrastructure in place to assist me in so doing along with like-minded souls and a committed tutor, but no doubt on completion, the admin department will lose all record of me, fail to register me for my graduation ceremony and then, peremptorily remove my newly granted ID number and refuse to take my calls because the sky is falling on their heads.
Ahhh it's good to be back.
