Open University vs University Of London External Program

university of london ..offer little and sometimes no help at all..the administration staff are rude and unhelpful and rather stuck up, and seem to have lost touch with modern day society as most of them are well above the ages of 60. although a university of london degree is a better degree i believe in the end, but the open university is more widely recognised and a lot more help and guidance is given. im studying law with the u of london and regret choosing them,all they essentially do is take ur money post ur books and leave u till next may to sit an exam. not the best way to get the best out of ur education.

What about your assignments? How are they marked, and is there no scope for further feedback? How can one take a degree without having tutors as a guidance along the way? It must be very, very difficult to study for a degree on your own like this.

I had surmised that there was very little contact by academics at UoL from the little info there is on the web, but really couldn't see how this would be feasible. What about your assignments? How are they marked, and is there no scope for further feedback? How can one take a degree without having tutors as a guidance along the way? It must be very, very difficult to study for a degree on your own like this.

Now that you now my reasons I'd like to know how the actual studying in the external program looks like. I've read some statements and the tenor was like ... let's say not too good. But none of it explained how it works.
Would I only get a list of books with some exercises? Do they have a forum for all the students? Online library? Do they use video and audio material? Licenses for online journals? Do they use learning software at all? Wolud I get the required readings in form of a "reader" in pfd-format?

Thanks in advance

You get a reading list (extensive!), a "study guide" which is the bare bones of the subject (you could scrape the barest of passes, maybe, if you only studied this, but you need to do the required & recommended reading to have a decent chance at getting good marks. There are exercises certainly in the IR modules that I studied (International Politics of East Asia, Security Studies, Foreign Policy Analysis & Introduction to International Relations) and I can't vouch for other courses, I would imagine they follow a similar format.

There is athena access for journal searches, lexis nexis etc and also a study weekend in early February which is useful if only to meet the lecturers and get an idea what they want out of you in the exams! From my experience the quality of the material supplied (in content that is) was very variable. The Security Studies stuff was excellent, but the Int. Politics of E Asia study guide had last been revised about 1996 and concentrated heavily on WW2-Cold War history, whereas the exam questions were mainly about post Cold War issues, e.g. Six Party Talks, the role of the US & China in escalating tensions across the Taiwan Strait etc so most of the reading felt fairly undirected.

Depending on what course you do and when, you might get access to the "VLE" (Virtual Learning Environment) but mine didn't. They are supposed to be increasing provision in this area though so you might get podcasts/video presesntations if you're lucky.

You have to source your own textbooks (i.e. library or buy new/2nd hand) though some modules will direct you to certain websites as part of your readings.

There is a forum for students of UoL external called uolexternal.yuku.com (it's known as YANSA (You Are Not Studying Alone)) which can be useful but seems to be mainly populated by people doing economics courses.


Hope this all helps.

How intense in an online degree? How many hours of studying per week do you actually have to do? Thanx

errr heey people i`ve just applied for my course with the ou and its due to start in may but i was just wondering can you go to any other university and do year 2 ?and what do you get (like certificates) at the end of your first year?
thanks