I am currently working in Basel, relatively happy with my job but maybe thinking of a change - I thought of taking a degree course with the OU whilst still working, my question is - has anyone done such distance learning whilst still holding down a full time job and looking after the family...is it workable?

My cousin is doing the MBA, keep in mind that you are going tohave to go once every so often (not sure) and spend a week in the UK, maybe your employer will not allow it , but he says the preice is truly competitive

You can also look into U of Liverpool long distance learning courses.

Good Luck!

I did an MBA with the OU, it nearly killed me after four years of reading. Great courses and time management and determination is the key. Prices are inflated here in Switzerland compared to the UK, but a good place to network. I can recommend the courses, they are well written. I don't know what your experiences are, but they are no walk over..

I did it without a family and depending upon the course, you would have to find the 'free' time. I know people who did one hour every morning and an hour at night. I think that there are course examples on line.

pm me. I got a great uni for you.

could you please tell the name of open university and the value of doing any diploma/course from these OU...??

Why PM why not publicly?

Hey,

I'm currently satudying with the open uni.

Originally I was doing BA (hons) European History with German.
The first 2 courses I did were level 1 German courses, I studied both courses together (well, they overlapped by 6 months) - I had tutorials online every 2 weeks or so. This work load was just about manageable.

Second year I studied a general history course and an examination of the EU, both level 2 courses again at the same time. The work load increased as there was a lot of reading and essay writing, now I coped but nothing more.

Third year I started the A300 history course. This was way too much work for me at the time - as a level 3 course I chose to study it on it's own, but the work load was too high. The amount of reading, study and research was just too high, so I pulled out. Now, partly I struggled because my work changed and I moved briefly from Davos to Zermatt and my employment workload increased dramatically, plus the move of house, and that this was only a 3 month move really screwed things up. Had I been more settled and stayed in Davos I think I could have coped.

Now I have changed to an Open degree as it is one level 3 course shorter. I will now do a level 2 German and level 3 german course over the next two years. The break in study is also giving me a chance to review my German and improve it - including taking some private lessons.

My experiance would dictate that you should definately start with one course - this will get you back into study mode, will let you know if you can do the work, life, study balencing act. Then be aware that as you move up the levels the work load does increase.

Pick your first course to be something that either you are pretty sure you will enjoyor something that you would find useful (hence why I picked German).

I remember talking to an interviewer once who said if they had candidates who had completed OU degrees whilst working, they would always be very interested in that candidate as it shows they have excellent time management and are pretty dedicated.....

I have found the courses to be good, the tutors have been good and the office support good - they really try to help as much as possible but, self study is very hard.

How do you find the German course? Is it any good? I find it really difficult to get to classes here so was looking at the OU as an alternative.

It is a UK distant learning University www.open.ac.uk

The language courses are good,but workload is tough. I stated a Diploma in French - did level 1 in French and started level 2, but I had to give the course up because of illness.

Details of the German course

http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergr...ourse/l193.htm

http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergr...rman/index.htm

OU don't do the degree I'm interested in, but I found that the University of London do, up to 8 years, distance learning - and there's no need to travel to the UK at any point. They have an exam centre in Bern.

I haven't tried Open University, but for two years I was combining long-distance studying (at Birkbeck www.bbk.ac.uk/ ) for a Postgraduate Diploma with a job and family life and adjusting to live in a different country. After a year at work they introduced a compulsory NVQ course I had to do as well. Right now I am not working but doing two studyings (finishing the one with the Birkbeck and the second one is with City University).

From my experience the more you do the more time you have. So, go for it, it will work out and will be worth it at the end!

So far I have completed Level 1 and Level 2 courses in German.

I started as a complete non - German speaker (I studied French and Spanish at school). Both courses are pretty good, but they do rely on you doing a huge amount of self study. As a completely non German speaker I found the learning curve to be very steep. The most frustrating thing about the course was getting to grips with the Grammar, whilst you have a tutor who you can contact via email, somehow it's just not the same as having somebody there you can discuss things with.

The Level 2 course I did was another significant step, much, much harder than level 1 and when I look back upon the exams and questions that I did I'm still suprised that I managed to drag myself through the course.

Both courses had a fortnightly online conference call / tutorial, email access to a tutor as well as a series of workbooks, Cds and DVDs

Unfortunately the 2 course I did (3 years ago) have now been discontinued and replaced by other courses. I know the content and teaching technique has been changed.

What I can say is that by doing a structured and examined course, I had a reason to keep learing German, the online tutorials were great and at the end of it I have a piece of paper that says Certificate in German.

Disstance learning is not for everyone. I chose it because it was my best option at the time.

I am carrying on with the course next feb, but in the meantime I'm going off to Vienna to do a 4 week intensive course. I still study (using the Ed Swick books and OU course material) in my own time.

I still can't speak German

The OU can arrange for the exams to be taken in Switzerland - I think in Bern at the British Embassy - You just tell them when you register that you are resident here.

I take a holiday back to the UK for every exam though. Gives me an excuse to vist the folks.

I just finished a BA in English Studies through the Open University. I completed it in three years, and that meant a lot of reading. I really enjoyed all the course books, but keep in mind that all the information you get comes through reading, so there's a lot of it! I would do it again if I had to, but I have to admit I felt the lack of having other students to really discuss things with, face to face, by the end of my degree. I was able to do all my exams at Hull School in Zürich and I was never required to go to the UK.

The Open U degrees are well recognized here in Switzerland. In September I'll be starting an MA at the University of Zürich and there was no problem getting my Open U BA recognized.

If you're self-disciplined I'd highly recommend it, otherwise think about it twice.

I am currently doing some open Uni courses through the University of Athabasca during my down time from my normal full time Uni. Then I can use the credits from Athabasca for my degree. Its great, I really love it and the profs are really helpful.

Although, you need to really work at it and not let it slide. If you are planning to work and have a family then you should probably only take part time courses. As full time is truely full time...I can't stress that enough. I don't have kids and don't work at the moment and am doing a full 5 courses and its consumes most of my day.

Although, I would defonately recomend the University of Athabasca; they take international students and you don't ever have to come to Canada to speak with anyone or do exams or anything. You can do it all on your own..although you need a teacher or proff to administer your exams for you..which costs money.

But overall I was really happy..and plus a great bonus of open Uni is that is saves time on travel. At my usual Uni I have to get up at 6 to be in class by 8, and it was an hour each way. So that does free up some time for other things in your life .. family, work, etc..

One thing I have just thought of:

If you are thinking of doing an OU course in German, be wary of Swiss German - I got told off again and again for things that I hear everyday here, that are actually "wrong".

From what I hear; OU degrees really seem to have enormous amounts of reading and the exams are really tough compared to a normal UK honours degree and yet it doesn't seem to have the status of a normal UK university degree.

My cousin goes back for some on site course not for examinations, tehre are some courses where you need to do this but are not the norm

Because it is my job (recruitment) and do not feel this forum is the appropriate place to conduct my business in public.