Published on 12, July, 2020
I'm currently really struggling with work because of all the responsibilities and overstimulation and debating going back to education so I can have some more control over my schedule and also open up some more career opportunities. I thought OU could be good because it's online so there's less social stress. Specifically interested in doing a Psychology degree with Open University (full-time) because this has been my special interest for years now.
Has anyone done a degree with OU? Would you recommend full-time? Did you find that they were supportive and understanding of autistic people?
I've thought about it but not done it so far. I'll be interested to hear of anyone's experiences of it too
An ex did one and didn't find it a good experience, partly it was his own fault for not joining the online group, and not going to seminars that often, but worst of all for him was that unknowingly the computer course he was doing was in a language that isn't used comercially.
OU does do summer schools, I guess a lot of it is different now due to social media, but when I looked at OU courses I found them very limited in subject matter, I wanted to do history and they don't do proper history, only modern which is more like old news than history. There didn't seem to be much in the way of support for learning difficulties. The majority of the course work is done in summer when lecturers arn't in their normal universities teaching, for me summer is a time to be outside doing thing and winter is a time for study.
I don't know if this is helpful or not.
The OU history degree currently has a module on the Romans and two modules (a) Early modern Europe: society and culture c.1500-1780, and (b) The British Isles and the modern world, 1789–1914. You can also study modules on classical Greece and Rome.
I have done two undergrad and three postgrad courses with the OU and your experience is very different to mine. I found tutors were very supportive, e.g. I got extensions to submission dates without any question. Tutorials took place throughout the year. A few courses had Summer Schools, e.g. a psychology degree involves lab work as a group. I am not sure if a Summer School would be required for history.
If you do not require a "recognised" degree (e.g. teaching, social work, psychology, some engineering degrees) for career purposes, an "Open" degree lets you choose from the whole range of courses, and you can choose to take postgrad courses to count towards your first degree if you wish.
I would encourage anybody to check out their website.
Ian [BSc(Hons)(Open)]