Screen reader software is fine for text, but dreadful for maths and chemistry.
DAISY has the books read aloud by a human who can make sense of formulas.
I had access to DAISY for some maths modules and it was excellent.
It would be a shame if it disappears completely or isn't replaced by something that is just as good.
In the end, I withdrew from S315 Chemistry this academic year because the alternative formats were not up to the job, and because of poor version control of the different formats with them not all being in sync with each other.
Jan - now having a study break this year.
Excellent summary of and thoughts on this session!
Does this module just do detailed mathematical treatment for ANN or does it go into how backpropogation works for RNNs (including LSTMs) and CNNs at a detailed mathematical level. And Support Vector Machines, are there studied in detail with Lagrange Multipliers and so on. Or are these topics more covered on a pratical level of how to use them?
A fascinating insight and as ever a valuable read and an excellent example of how to use a blog for your own personal development as well as informing others! Maybe I'll get myself back to the OU one day!
Just discovered this and wanted to say thanks for an excellent resource.
Thanks for the post. Was any mention made of availability of this module ?
I am being told by the maths support team that despite even having passed level 3 modules in probability and statistics as part of a STEM degree (r28) I must complete the entire 1st and 2nd year of a data science degree - and specifically I would have to take level 1 statistics module - in order to be allowed to take this module
This seems like utter madness !
Personally I have 35 years experience as a programmer and have worked with statistics most of my life - and yet I would have to study for 2 more years with the OU at the cost of nearly £12000 in order to be permitted to take this module.
I get the impression that the OU simply cannot cope with the demand for this course - I'm not sure if that's due to lack of hardware resources or teaching resources - but this course is currently - and very sadly - unavailable to all who are more than to take it but have chosen to go down the open (STEM) route.
So thank you for your tantalising description of what sounds like a fantastic course. If only it was available to more than the chosen few !
Thanks very much for posting this very useful article, Chris!
I have just completed an Open degree and am very drawn to what R38 offers – particularly TM358.
I have tried over the last 12-18 months to get more/any info on TM358 – but now detail is flooding-out.
I am very happy to see that Python and Jupyter notebooks (as used in the superb module TM351) are being used in TM358 – I was afraid that TM358 might be more M than T but it now looks like it is more T than M.
I’ll be signing-up!
BTW It appears there were two older related modules:
T396 Artificial intelligence for technology (1995-2006)
https://www.open.ac.uk/library/digital-archive/module/xcri:T396/study
M366 Natural and artificial intelligence (2007-2014)
https://www.open.ac.uk/library/digital-archive/module/xcri:M366/study
Thanks again,
Hey Christopher, i am at the beginning of my OU studies and blogs like this are very helpful and a good reminder, so thank you Christopher.
Thanks for the writeup!
One thing wasn't mentioned in the briefing, but may be useful to note, is that Jupyter notebooks are being used in the updated M269, and in a new level 3 stats module.
Other people involved: Brendan Quinn gave an overview of the Data Science programme, aimed at Computing & IT based tutors. Other module team members are Mohamed Bennasar, Trish Charlton, and Dawei Song.
Congratulations on making it through the 1 million views ceiling :) The analytics can be compelling. Believe it or not I have tapped into this professionally as a digital editor and can garner a daily 3,000 for an educational charity that has been known to hit the over 50,000 a day from time to time (78,000 tops, 11,500 followers). At last I am putting into practice what I learnt with you and the Open University. I've even (I turn 60 this year) taken to teaching part time and will add a PGCE to my qualifications in due course. All back to front, but there is nothing to beat having to put in practice on a daily basis the theory of education with students with special educational needs or other disruptions to their lives - and various other groups besides. Best wishes, Jonathan.
It sounds like you're really busy, Jonathan!
I'm enjoying the study. I've not formally studied the humanities since school, and I'm really liking it. I sometimes think of migrating this blog to another platform, but as a work related blog, the OU blog seems to work well.
Wishing you a great new year.
Chris
Were each of these daily posts separate you'd be at 1 million views by now!
Once again studying myself, this time I am trying to migrate away from this Student Blog to build a profile 'out there'.
These days I am well entrenched in the 'real' world working with a great range of students at an FE/HE college which includes special educational needs students as well as HE and mature students.
All the best
Jonathan
Thanks for this fab post. I'm thinking of applying for a staff tutor role and your blog here is really informative. Appreciated.
Hi,
Great article! I was wondering if you know anything about enabling text to speech on documents you upload.
Thanks
Leticia
Very interesting reflections, Chris. As a soon-to-be student of OU's BSc Computing & IT, I stumbled on your blog and then I see you're pursuing the Masters in Education! Like you, I studied a PGCE and was surprised those credits could count towards an MA. It's great because the credits cut off a whole chunk of the Masters, which is hard enough anyway when trying to fit around work and life. Since I'm doing Comp & IT, I'll wait a while before doing the MA but it's great to read how you're getting on with EE812, the problems you've faced, and solutions you've found. Your tip about the Kindle is useful for any kind of studying - it's good to be able to carry our course notes around to maximize study time, especially with the amount of reading that has to be done! Since Education is MY "home" discipline, I can tell you, the field of education is all about theory... and pedagogy... and theoretical pedagogy and pedagogical theory - that is, of course, when it's not about strategy! But since you've come to Education from a scientific background, the thing to bear in mind is that (as you've probably noticed) most things in Education are abstract. Educational theorists take the intangible (how people learn) and try to give it form. But doing so can only be achieved to a certain extent. It's like the difference between a diagram of an atom and what an actual atom looks like. It is a strange discipline! Anyway, I look forward to reading more of your thoughts on EE812. Best of luck with your upcoming assignments!
Hi Christopher
Years after the event, I find I am digging into these blogs for insights into all kinds of things. Here I am particularly interested in assessment and feedback online for students with various accessibility needs.