Opinion on Open University course

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anto

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Anthony
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Hi All,

I recently saw mention of an Open University course (T189) "digital photography - creating and sharing better images".

http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?C01T189

I was wondering if those who have done this course would give their thoughts on it. I am speaking from the perspective of someone who is a beginner in photography but not a novice with computers or basic image processing.

Ta

Anthony
 
No idea about the course but lovin' your photos. Betelgeuse looks amazing.
 
Im also thinking of taking this course.......:thinking:
 
I also saw this when browsing for courses - will be interesting to hear whether anyone on TP has any experience of it...
 
There were quite a few of us on the very first one of these
'twas a bit of a shambles ( organisation wise) Hopefully it has improved

Its a good way of getting adobe products for student rates ( Very cheaply)

If you do a forum search for T189 or OU courses there have been a lot of threads these
last couple of years

In a nut shell it depends on what your "level" is,
Its a good starting point for Elements
(it was free with the course pack, I assume that
it still is?)

the course actually is quite basic,
so if you are at an advanced type level I think that
you will find it a waste of time
 
I did T189 last Autumn as a relative novice to DSLR (had my A200 ~4 months when I started).

Overall I thought the course was quite good - and if you use Tesco Cubcard Points to pay for it then it's very cheep :D

However, there were a few issues
1) Supplied PSE 6, but tutorials (via film clips on supplied DVD) were for PSE 5, not a real issue if familiar with PC's and happy to 'play' a bit, but annoying.

2) It's run over 10 weeks, with weekly photo 'assignments'. You study the weeks coursework then do the photo assignment then post images up on the OU photo sharing site for C&C from other students.
This is fine in principle, but if (like me) you work full time & have young children, then time to take photos can be limited - add in British autumn weather and you might only have a 1 hour slot at the weekend, for example.
But this means you might post your images very 'late' in the week, and so get little feedback. :(

3) There is a short multiple-choice exam part way through (fairly easy), plus a final submission of your 10 best photos + answers to 3 questions (from 6?).
But photos are limited to 1024 on the long edge and have a max disk size for the set of 10 (can't remeber what).
You then wait, and wait... it was 3 months before the results, which was just an overall pass, plus a rating (1-5) on the photos as a group.
Then you wait some more, post a few queries on the OU forums and discover you will get detailed feedback in a few weeks time...
Which in my case was, in my opinion, very poor - and had at least 1 inaccuracy (it refered to something in a photo and gave the wrong photo ID).

The course as a whole I enjoyed, and certainly learnt from it, but it was definately let down by the above problems for me and I felt I could have learnt more if things had been done a little better.
 
I did the same course last autumn, and I have to say I really enjoyed it, and for me I got a lot out of it, having skipped quite a few of the basics in the past.

I guess the thing I enjoyed the most was having to take photographs to a deadline, and of subjects that I would not have normally taken shots of. This made me think about the shots I wanted to take and plan on how to get them.

I think you'll get out of the course as much as you put in, whilst I was working I don't have kids, so I did spend 10 weeks doing this and not a lot else really, but it paid off and I managed to get my photos in earlier in the week which meant I got really constructive criticsm and encouragement - I know those posting late in the week generally got less (as Faldrax says). I also spent quite a bit of time commenting on other peoples too - and again that hepled getting the criticsm I needed for mine.

So the good for me

Taking shots to a deadline
Taking shots of things I would never have done before
Having to go through methodically the basics that I'd skimmed in the past
User feedback
The final examy thing and having to put together a portfolio and having to critique your own shots
Cheap via Tesco Clubcard vouchers
Ability to get cheap student Adobe software (I got Lightroom 2 and CS3)
Course material (now printed out) is quite useful

The bad

Elements 6 even though tutorials were 5
Some of the videos on elements were quite condesending
The wait for the results and then the final critique
Quite a lot to cram in in 10 weeks - especially if you're working / kids etc

Would I recommend it, yes I would unless you're far from being a novice.

As I say I think you get as much out of it as you put in

If you're interested here's my final panel for my ECA: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kantryla/sets/72157615751168100/

Giles
 
Cheers Giles and Faldrax - That is really useful feedback and exactly what I am after. Yes I am hoping to pick up cs4 for the student price! And I plan to use the tesco vouchers so cost is minimal.

What I really appreciate is seeing the photos Giles. The OU info page is not overly descriptive and I was worried that the content would not be suitable for me - I know bits of processing from astrophotography but very little about the beginner aspects of selecting/composing/taking photos.

I have done OU stuff before and got a lot out of it but also been thoroughly annoyed by some aspects - (one 24 question exam had errors in 4 or 5 questions, they hadn't bothered to email us about it and then complained about people complaining !)

Still not decided fully. I have sent off for the tesco vouchers and shall peruse the old threads to decide!

Cheers
Anthony
 
Its good to see (I assume) that they have
got a little more organised than the first T189 :thumbs:
 
I'm registered for the October course, I've chatted to a couple of people who've done it and really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to it - I have two young kids and limited time but can usually find a couple of hours when I can escape if I need to!
 
i've done a bsc hons with OU course admin was a nightmare...but all the courses themselves were very good. Never do an OU course the first year it's presented...do it in subsequent years when it's bedded in. You have to be ruthless in time management and your family will never see you. worthwile though.
 
Vindaloo said:
I'm registered for the October course, I've chatted to a couple of people who've done it and really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to it - I have two young kids and limited time but can usually find a couple of hours when I can escape if I need to!
Click to expand...

I think they quoted 10-14 hrs per week when I did it
Some weeks are a lot less
some were about right
IIRC I am sure I never spent anymore than 14
and usually a lot less
 
Gwaelod said:
Never do an OU course the first year it's presented...do it in subsequent years when it's bedded in.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip but its a couple of years too late now :D
 
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