DD306 : Living Political Lives - Tutorial Shambles

Well it is the day before the course starts and still no news via the Open University website regarding when the tutorials are.

The website says,

DD306 Tutorial Dates

Your schedule of tutorials and day-schools is not yet available (if your module offers this type of study support). Please check again before your module starts.

This is simply inexplicable!

Why is it so difficult to tell people, at the very least, when and where the first tutorial is?

The Open University appear to be under the impression that now we have signed up for the course this is our only commitment in life, and we can therefore drop everything at the last minute to attend a tutorial which will be announced at the 11th hour.

Considering that there are so few face to face tutorials, you'd think they'd try and give as much notice as possible to enable people to attend.

DD306 : Living Political Lives - Tutor assigned...... great news.

Really happy to have the same tutor as last year, as they were by far the most involved and thorough tutor that I have had with regard to TMA feedback.

Probably not a huge surprise given that there are only a few tutors left on this course, but good news all the same.

Also, my 'banked' TMA scores from last year are now on the website, which is a relief. Also, it seems so long ago now, but I'd forgotten how well this was going. Given that I need better than a Pass2 on this course for the overall pass I am aiming for, I'd have to do really badly in the two remaining TMAs I have to complete to not hit that target - so it is all about the end of course project - and we don't get to see those questions until 10th December.

But still not tutorial details, which seems to be ridiculous given the course starts next week and we all have our lives to plan. This is a complaint I make every year, but the Open University seem deaf to my complaint.

DD306 : Living Political Lives - Course Website is LIVE

Well that is exciting.... sort of, the course website in now live and available for the eager beavers to start studying.

No sign of who my tutor is yet...... or tutorial dates...... and that is going to be important - hope it is the same tutor as last year.

I don't have to write an essay until TMA5, so the first part of the course is going to be interesting from a motivational point of view. I need to engage but I'm not sure how fully until I choose the EMA question - we will see.

DD306 : Living Political Lives - Take 2

Well that has been a bit of a busy three months since my last post.

Wish I had put my money where my mouth was as I had been predicting a narrow win for the Leave campaign, but that the government would wriggle about and try and avoid actually doing anything to advance BREXIT.

Shows what a complete clown Cameron was. There was a number of safe guards he could have easily put in place to stop BREXIT happening around percentage trigger point, participation and the like and failed to do anything. The result is that it has firmly proven that you don't have to be the brightest or the best to become Prime Minister. An individual's ability matters far less than their money. So, nothing new learned there then.

On a brighter note, I can modestly refer to my Edinburgh Fringe stint as a success. I won't be Live at the Apollo anytime soon, and there have been no offers of turning the story into a musical, but I had far better audiences than I had any right to expect and folk seemed to enjoy it, so all-in-all a really good experience.

Now that my desire to tread the boards has been sated, I'd better turn my attention back to finishing this degree. Deferring with only 2 essays and a project to go may seem an odd decision, but there was no way I could have done both the OU work and the organisation for an Edinburgh Fringe show at the same time without both suffering. So, I have just received the course reader book (again), am waiting on being assigned a tutor (I would really like the same one I had last year) and I guess I have to get used to studying again in October.

I am going to try and get ahead as far as possible, especially as I shouldn't have to do the first 4 essays again, and really push on and get the project done with as little drama as possible.

However, I have just 'inherited' a really nice electric guitar. I can't play the electric guitar ..... yet! But I have set myself the target of a Glastonbury main stage performance in 2019, might be a bit of a bigger ask than the Edinburgh Fringe project, but if you don't aim high........