Disinterested

When those who run the course don't seem seem to be interested, its very difficult to get motivated. Materials put up a week late, still with no audio. But she says its OK if we hand in the task late. No mention that the work will then run into the time for writing the assignment. And no negotiation there about handing in times.

They really don't get it that part time distance learners work that way because they want to choose when they work. Last week I was motivated and there was no session to look at. Yes, I know, I read up other things and started on the assignment. This week, I'm tired and can't be bothered and I think 'if they're not bothered, neither am I'.  But its for me, not them, so I'll plod on. And it really is plodding at the moment. I hate literature reviews. I'd rather do my own thing.

At least the washing machine is working now. New motor but that was covered under contract. But tomorrow, British Gas are back for a power flush of the central heating. All over the house for a full day.

Will pairs work?

The essay is in. I really enjoyed comparing the language in the trials of the Dike of Norfolk (1571) and Shipman, but I've really got tired of them both and I'm glad to move on.

Its TSH's birthday tomorrow and we are out for dinner. No idea what to wear yet. How smart? How warm? Its barely above freezing day or night at the moment. We couldn't even do our daily walk today because the ground is so icy and slippery.

The tutor for critical discourse analysis wants us to work in pairs for our tasks- every two weeks, we have an audio lecture, do some reading and then submit a task to our forum. No marking, but we are supposed to contribute to about half of them. Now, we are a group who are working part-time and distance and have busy lives, so this is going to be interesting. Several of us have said it won't work but they want us to try.

One of the other students has suggested we work together and I have no problems with that - we always have a good chat when we meet at the face-to-face days. But the current one is due in next Monday and I can't work this weekend. So I have Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday afternoons to complete this. I thought that would be OK, as many tasks are not too difficult. But this one is quite time-consuming - I spent all Tuesday afternoon on it and have done barely half. I am sure my 'pair' has similar constraints, as she also has a job. We have no time that I can see to work on anything jointly.

So how is this to work?

What is distance learning?

Distance learning is not a totally easy concept. The OU model is quite different from the model at the University where I am studying for my MA. The OU provided all materials (all top-quality reference books), apart from a few commercially available books which they asked you to buy from the start. So you could sit at home and get on with it.

I have been a bit shocked by the University model - probably because I'm naive, but they should probably spell it out a bit more, because I can't be the only one. The materials are different for each taught module - sometimes there is audio and sometimes not. It even differs within a module. What we get is a set of slides or lecturer's notes so there is no indexing for later use. They are obviously recycyled from other courses because they make references to material we have not actually seen.  And they expect you to have access to an academic library. Not impossible, but not easy either, and not what I was expecting. But they are very vague about what the references to all these extra materials is supposed to achieve. I expected it for the dissertation but not for the taught modules.

Cultured this week

Last night we went to see 'A Winters Tale' performed by the all-male Propeller group. It was excellent - they did the tragic parts in a very dramatic way but the comic part was more like a pantomime set at a rock concert (you had to be there). It is touring at the moment - much to be recommended. On Saturday, we are going to see them do Henry V.

I have been wondering why the next part of my distance learning course has not been made available - it was due to be on the web-site last weekend. It turns out that some people have got behind, communicated privately with the tutor and as a result it has been held back. But I like to get ahead, to accommodate our holidays, and I am sure that they won't be sympathetic about that when it comes to the time for handing in the next assignment. So I am more than a little miffed about it.

But now that its appeared, it is interesting - all about different sentence constructions (declarative, interrogative, imperative etc) and the task is to transcribe a few minutes of speech and label the clauses with the categories. This is not as trivial as it might sound, as we have to look at the real intention of the sentence. For example, 'Could you close the door' is structured like a question but really its a command. I love that kind of analysis - its why I'm doing the course.