Now I'm going to go through my parcel and make sure that everything is there.
Practical Kit first - This is really nice! A box of assorted rocks and fossils.
One immediate annoyance - the prism comes in a small zip lock bag that is taped to the lid so it won't get lost in transit. But trying to remove it, the tape was so strong that the little bag just ripped right across.
Ah well, a minor irritation, nothing more.
Contents of my little kit:
There's a 10x folding magnifier, a bunch of rocks, fossils, a set of litmus papers, the aforementioned prism, which isn't a nice triangle, just a lens, but that's ok.
I'm very used to prisms - I wear prism lenses in my glasses to correct convergence issues.
I am VERY impressed with this little kit - it's really nice. It also reminds me of GCSE Geology, which I quite enjoyed. When I was 6 I wanted to be a paleontologist, so I love fossils and that kind of thing.
On with the parcel!
My books are all wire-bound for ease of use.
Book 1 - Global Warming.
This looks quite interesting - whilst at Reading Uni we did a project each of the two times I attempted the foundation year, about global warming and especially renewable energy. For the second go around, I did a very interesting project about the bad side of renewable energy. Don't get me wrong, I'm VERY much in favour of renewable energy, but that was a very interesting project!
Book 2 - Earth and Space.
This is split into two books, which will make it a lot easier to carry around.
It looks like a LOT of work. Two books means much more in this section.
This looks really interesting - the earth part of it looks like geology, and the space part looks like astronomy which is what I really want!
Book 3 - Energy and Light.
Yay physics!
A single book.
Book 4 - The Right Chemistry.
Another one split into two books.
Book 5 - Life.
Another one split into two books.
Book 6 - It says that this book will be sent out later on in the course.
Book 7 - Quarks to Quasars.
I know just from the title that this is going to be the best section for me. As I'm planning on studying Physics with Astrophysics (using the Open degree to personalise the modules)
Though it'll be a close tie with the Space section of book 2!
Book 8 - Life in the Universe.
This looks like it's mostly about the origins of life, and how life can cope with different environments.
There's a fair bit about extraterrestrial life by the look of it. I'm hoping it'll be about moving life to other planets as well.
It's quite a small book though.
DVDs.
Well they both work ok, and it looks like they've got activities for the course on them. That's quite cool!
The only thing missing is pdf versions of the books, which I asked for so I could read them on my kindle if I'm having trouble with the physical books.
I'll contact the distribution centre and see what they say.
So, that's that - everything it says is in the parcel is in the parcel.
This makes it a lot more real!
Friday, 16 December 2011
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Getting started with Open University
I'm signed up for the January start of S104 and got my parcel of materials yesterday.
I haven't gone through it properly yet, I'm planning on doing that tomorrow, but I thought I should record my thoughts about studying with the OU, at this point in time.
First of all, I should explain that I am physically disabled. I have a medical condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. To explain very briefly, this means I have hypermobility, which means my joints dislocate easily.
There are a lot of other things with EDS, but that's the short basics.
I also have BiPolar disorder.
I didn't complete my A-Levels because my Dad was very seriously ill and I spent most of my time by his bedside in hospital. After that, I was really a mess and looking back on it I'm pretty certain I had my first breakdown - I spent three months in bed and that was school done for me.
Many years later (2006), I decided to go for a foundation year leading to a degree at Reading University.
Unfortunately my physical health was bad and getting worse (got an electric wheelchair 2007) and I just couldn't cope with attending lectures. I was so tired and sore after a day of lectures that I couldn't study in the evenings and just had to sleep.
So I'm going with the OU because I don't have to attend lectures, and I can study when I feel well, and try to keep ahead a bit, so if I'm having a bad day I don't need to panic about not being up to studying.
Also, I actively enjoy studying, and love science, so even if I'm bed-bound I'll be able to read the text books and do some work and it'll be a good distraction from the pain.
So; having said all that as background - I am really excited about studying with the OU, but also rather scared.
First off - I'm worried I won't cope with it, and I'll be ill and not be able to study.
I know that not going to lectures is a huge weight off my mind, and I know that the OU will support me and I can talk to people and get help if I'm ill. I also know that I should be able to get the books in PDF format so I can read them on my kindle in hospital if need be.
Secondly - studying... well.. I never had to study at school. GCSE's were just easy for me. I got great grades without studying at all. The only academic things I did outside of school were playing with equations in physics, and reading up on post-grad level physics and astrophysics.
At Reading Uni I was so exhausted, and in so much pain, that I barely got to study outside of the lectures.
So... I don't really know how to study.
I'm also dyspraxic and there's a very high probability that I have Asperger's Syndrome, and years of being ill and having to distract myself from pain has left me with concentration problems and I find it rather difficult focusing on things.
So I'm rather worried about that.
I think the latter will be helped enourmously if I can sort out a proper study area. Currently I don't have anywhere to study as such - normally I do stuff like that on my bed, but that's a really bad idea.
My computer desk doesn't have enough room for me to study at.
I'm also wondering if I can get a height adjustable desk so when I have to use my wheelchair indoors (I try to walk around inside my little house as much as is possible), I don't have to worry about not being able to fit my knees under the desk.
I have a thing about BIG desks though.
I remember the huge desks in the central reading room in Manchester's Central Library. I used to live there - spread my books out all around me and have space for everything.
I also spent a lot of time on the fourth floor and the desks there were pretty large.
I'm not really a fan of smaller desks and love having lots of space to spread notes out.
There are only really a couple of places in my house that such a desk could go - the living room (after a furniture rearrangement which is needed anyway) or the bedroom.
I'm very torn between the two.
I've read that it's good to keep studying things out of the bedroom so you don't get tired because the bed is there tempting you. Also I could use the tv and my computer for playing the DVDs that come with the course, and any visual media related to it.
But, there's also the problem of the tv and the computer being there and just being very tempting as a distraction.
Also, if I want the living room to be available for having people over, another desk in here won't help - I have a very tiny house and perhaps the space in the bedroom would be better so that other people don't have to cram into a smaller space.
Anyway.
Tomorrow I need to go through the parcel from the OU and check that everything is there and open up the books.
I will clear a shelf on the bookcase in the hallway so that I can put them all there.
And then I might just skim through them all, see what the material is like, and check bits that I might know already, and bits that are totally new to me.
Also I need to grab some software and start to learn it - I'll see if there's a trial version of MathCad, and I need to get LaTex and try out Mathematica and probably play with Octave some more.
It's certainly exciting, and I'm looking forward to the course starting a lot!
I haven't gone through it properly yet, I'm planning on doing that tomorrow, but I thought I should record my thoughts about studying with the OU, at this point in time.
First of all, I should explain that I am physically disabled. I have a medical condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. To explain very briefly, this means I have hypermobility, which means my joints dislocate easily.
There are a lot of other things with EDS, but that's the short basics.
I also have BiPolar disorder.
I didn't complete my A-Levels because my Dad was very seriously ill and I spent most of my time by his bedside in hospital. After that, I was really a mess and looking back on it I'm pretty certain I had my first breakdown - I spent three months in bed and that was school done for me.
Many years later (2006), I decided to go for a foundation year leading to a degree at Reading University.
Unfortunately my physical health was bad and getting worse (got an electric wheelchair 2007) and I just couldn't cope with attending lectures. I was so tired and sore after a day of lectures that I couldn't study in the evenings and just had to sleep.
So I'm going with the OU because I don't have to attend lectures, and I can study when I feel well, and try to keep ahead a bit, so if I'm having a bad day I don't need to panic about not being up to studying.
Also, I actively enjoy studying, and love science, so even if I'm bed-bound I'll be able to read the text books and do some work and it'll be a good distraction from the pain.
So; having said all that as background - I am really excited about studying with the OU, but also rather scared.
First off - I'm worried I won't cope with it, and I'll be ill and not be able to study.
I know that not going to lectures is a huge weight off my mind, and I know that the OU will support me and I can talk to people and get help if I'm ill. I also know that I should be able to get the books in PDF format so I can read them on my kindle in hospital if need be.
Secondly - studying... well.. I never had to study at school. GCSE's were just easy for me. I got great grades without studying at all. The only academic things I did outside of school were playing with equations in physics, and reading up on post-grad level physics and astrophysics.
At Reading Uni I was so exhausted, and in so much pain, that I barely got to study outside of the lectures.
So... I don't really know how to study.
I'm also dyspraxic and there's a very high probability that I have Asperger's Syndrome, and years of being ill and having to distract myself from pain has left me with concentration problems and I find it rather difficult focusing on things.
So I'm rather worried about that.
I think the latter will be helped enourmously if I can sort out a proper study area. Currently I don't have anywhere to study as such - normally I do stuff like that on my bed, but that's a really bad idea.
My computer desk doesn't have enough room for me to study at.
I'm also wondering if I can get a height adjustable desk so when I have to use my wheelchair indoors (I try to walk around inside my little house as much as is possible), I don't have to worry about not being able to fit my knees under the desk.
I have a thing about BIG desks though.
I remember the huge desks in the central reading room in Manchester's Central Library. I used to live there - spread my books out all around me and have space for everything.
I also spent a lot of time on the fourth floor and the desks there were pretty large.
I'm not really a fan of smaller desks and love having lots of space to spread notes out.
There are only really a couple of places in my house that such a desk could go - the living room (after a furniture rearrangement which is needed anyway) or the bedroom.
I'm very torn between the two.
I've read that it's good to keep studying things out of the bedroom so you don't get tired because the bed is there tempting you. Also I could use the tv and my computer for playing the DVDs that come with the course, and any visual media related to it.
But, there's also the problem of the tv and the computer being there and just being very tempting as a distraction.
Also, if I want the living room to be available for having people over, another desk in here won't help - I have a very tiny house and perhaps the space in the bedroom would be better so that other people don't have to cram into a smaller space.
Anyway.
Tomorrow I need to go through the parcel from the OU and check that everything is there and open up the books.
I will clear a shelf on the bookcase in the hallway so that I can put them all there.
And then I might just skim through them all, see what the material is like, and check bits that I might know already, and bits that are totally new to me.
Also I need to grab some software and start to learn it - I'll see if there's a trial version of MathCad, and I need to get LaTex and try out Mathematica and probably play with Octave some more.
It's certainly exciting, and I'm looking forward to the course starting a lot!
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