First, I'd like to thank those who've commented and given me advice on the issues I've been having with the OU. I'll be sure and check out the forums from now on. I would have posted a message sooner but I've been having a few problems posting on my blog. With the help of the OU computing helpdesk I'm now able to post again (Don't all cheer at once).
So, how is T211 going?
Well, it's hard. Don't get me wrong, the work is simple enough to understand and there's quite a lot that I've done before. There's also some surprisingly relevant material in the course to business design which is a pleasant surprise as I wasn't expecting anything of much use in this area from a course primarily concerned with product design and the more "arty-farty" aspects of design.
The downside is the sheer amount of presented work required for the TMAs. It's very time-consuming and uninspiring particularly when the sun is shining and I have a day off work. The amount of sketching is particularly onerous and, in my personal view, a litttle pointless as I'm only demonstrating things that I already know and knew long before I started the module (orthographic/perspective drawing etc), Again, it's one of those things I feel I should have been exempted from given my engineering background but the OU don't recognise my previous qualifications.
Another bugbear is the technical side of the module. Most of the features on my DVD-ROM don't work, and I don't seem to be alone in this. I have found the required material online but this is not made in any way clear in the module instructions. Basically, as far as the DVD is concerned, the OU have sent me an attractively packaged coaster. To cap it all, the CAD software is out-of-date and doesn't work well (read at all!) with modern browsers. I've got the up to date version now but wasted a day and a half of precious study time sorting that out.
Don't get me wrong. It's not a very bad module. For the very artistically inclined design and engineering novice with a lot of spare time it would be ideal but, for the majority of students it turns into a time-draining swamp very rapidly. I'm just glad I didn't elect to do a second modiule alongside it. To be frank, if it wasn't a compulsory module for my degree I wouldn't have taken T211 but I'm stuck with it. On the bright side, for other students at least, this is the final presentation of T211 so next years students wont have to put up with such an out-of-date and badly loaded module.