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OU-Fu

posted by [personal profile] bugshaw at 11:47am on 19/12/2006
So - the Open University is still running its 10-week course T184: Robotics & the Meaning of Life: a practical guide to things that think

It claims a start date of "May 2007". Does anyone with better OU knowledge than me know exactly when in May this might be? I have my 8000 word project report to hand in by May 18, and they really oughtn't overlap, especially as the first OU assignment is due around 3 weeks into the course...
Mood:: robot
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There are 17 comments on this entry. (Reply.)
 

(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] bibliogirl.livejournal.com at 12:06pm on 19/12/2006
The ten-point OU course which I am signed up for starting in May starts on something like May 8th, apparently -- different course, though, and I don't know if there's a consistent start date for "May" courses.
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posted by [identity profile] bugshaw.livejournal.com at 12:21pm on 19/12/2006
Hmmm - registration is open till early April, so I have a while to see if I'm likely to finish early -ROFLtillmyearsflyoffyeahrightfatchance

On the other hand, I do work much better with deadlines. If the Actual deadline isn't enough for me, I could use the carrot of wanting to do ROBOTS as an encouragement to get the existing thing done quickly.

I think part of the reason I tend to take on too much is that
- you're working on something difficult.
- when you attempt something harder, the previously difficult bit seems so much easier.
- therefore, the more you take on, the easier most of it gets.
- repeat until Far Too Busy ;-)
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posted by [identity profile] bibliogirl.livejournal.com at 12:34pm on 19/12/2006
I hear what you say about deadlines; I'm exactly the same way. Luckily I usually have a whole bunch of them (... though a fair proportion of them are other people's, and it's not unusual for them to be "yesterday")
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posted by [identity profile] bohemiancoast.livejournal.com at 12:29pm on 19/12/2006
That is utterly cool. I will have finished Warwick by October!

I wonder if it's appropriate for robot-obsessed ten year old girls.

Hmm. It's all rather Mac hostile.
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posted by [identity profile] bugshaw.livejournal.com at 12:31pm on 19/12/2006
[livejournal.com profile] muninnhuginn is doing it too, as part of an Actual Degree!
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muninnhuginn: (Default)

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posted by [personal profile] muninnhuginn at 12:57pm on 19/12/2006
Well, I'm certainly hoping the prospect of lots of extra Lego will interest Looby Loo.
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posted by [identity profile] bohemiancoast.livejournal.com at 01:10pm on 19/12/2006
Well, M "I'm going to be a robotologist when I grow up" is getting Mindstorms NXT for Christmas, after asking in the sweetest imaginable way whether we thought there might possibly be such a thing as a robot kit. I do hope she likes it and plays with it because it's a very expensive toy indeed.
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posted by [identity profile] swisstone.livejournal.com at 01:12pm on 19/12/2006
Since you work at your own pace in the OU, start dates tend to be a bit notional. The important dates are when the assignments are due. So it shouldn't be a huge problem.
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posted by [identity profile] bugshaw.livejournal.com at 01:14pm on 19/12/2006
Unless the first assignment is due in the same week as my project report, that's my main worry. Besides, I had hoped to spend the week of May 19-24 making a fine Space Adventuress outfit for Confounding Tales!!
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] swisstone.livejournal.com at 01:32pm on 19/12/2006
Actually, your regional centre should be able to tell you this. The dates should already have been set.
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posted by [identity profile] bugshaw.livejournal.com at 01:34pm on 19/12/2006
Ah! That's where to ask. Thank you!
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posted by [identity profile] swisstone.livejournal.com at 01:51pm on 19/12/2006
If they can't tell you the 2007 dates, get them to tell you the 2006 dates. That should enable you to predict 2007.
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] bugshaw.livejournal.com at 01:15pm on 19/12/2006
But yes, I've put a note in my index-card calendar box to make a decision in early April.
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Did you find the sample study calendar

posted by [identity profile] groliffe.livejournal.com at 03:37pm on 19/12/2006
at http://tscp.open.ac.uk/t184/html/calendar/calendar.htm and not trust it for some reason?
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Re: Did you find the sample study calendar

posted by [identity profile] bugshaw.livejournal.com at 03:54pm on 19/12/2006
I looked for a calendar but failed to find one. Out of interest, how do you get to it from the course information page if you don't know it's there?

Hmmm. The calendar implies my project would overlap for pretty much the whole first three weeks. Which does not look promising.
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Re: Did you find the sample study calendar

posted by [identity profile] groliffe.livejournal.com at 04:53pm on 19/12/2006
I went to the link you gave above to the course information page, noticed the pointer to the course website under 'Related websites' and clicked on 'calendar' in that site's navigation bar.

I have spent a lot of time browsing round OU course information web pages, I've probably acquired the right instincts as to what to click on by now.
As to the overlap the CMA cutoff date is the 15th June, which means you could safely not do that until the weekend of the 9th. The question would be whether you could start the course material *earlier* and interleave it with your project - and that probably depends on whether doing the OU course would count as relaxing from the project for you or would compete with it for energy.
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Re: Did you find the sample study calendar

posted by [identity profile] bugshaw.livejournal.com at 05:08pm on 19/12/2006
Ah, you mean this? (doh!):
Related websites
If you would like more information about this course you can visit the T184 website where you can work through our taster material (a typical week's course material), and view a sample study calendar.

I think my eyes got stuck on the section above, where they firmly state the course start date of "May 2007".

Might just be possible - might still be unwise as I'm not leaving myself any slack. There's always the October start, but I don't need to decide until April.
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