David Evans

Employment/ Place of Work:

Self-employed trainer and consultant in ICT / ODL

Country of Residence:

UK

How I fit the course work into my life

For the first two years of the course I was working full time in further education - but as I was managing ICT and open learning, the course complemented the work very nicely. I use a computer all the time at home as well anyway.

My most cherished interaction on the programme:

I'm afraid nothing springs to mind here - the interaction during the course, while useful was never memorable.

Which of the different course models suited me best?

I'm not sure that these models reflect my experience of the three courses I undertook (H801,H802 and H804). I think I remember most from H801, as much of it was new to me. I enjoyed H802, but most of it was fairly familiar. I found much of H804 simply replicated what had already been covered in the previous two courses - apart from the project.



Answers to the Vice Chancellor's questions:

In what ways am I putting into practice the ideas and understandings I developed on the programme:

I feel more confident in my current work in advising others on open and distance learning, having completed a Masters degree with the OU. Although the subject matter is changing all the time, I feel on top of it in a way I never did before the course.

What did I find the most stimulating part of the programme:

I particularly enjoyed the exploration of different, fairly traditional distance learning systems in H801, and the opportunity to work on small exercises in applying new technologies in H802.

What value was the global nature of the programme to me:

The examples drawn from all over the English speaking world were extremely interesting - I would however have liked to have learned more about distance learning in the rest of Europe and Asia in particular. I work with several Romanian universities on EU funded projects, and my H804 dissertation was about the development of open and distance learning in Romania.

Did I find it isolating or impersonal to study this programme?

Not really - my only concern was that the conferencing system we used didn't really encourage or facilitate spontaneous interaction.

Did I find this relevant to my work:

Very much so, both when I was working full time in FE and even more while I have been self-employed.

Has it changed my life in any way:

Between starting the course and graduation I have moved from a full time job in FE which I was growing rather tired of through a period of self employment which has been enormously enjoyable although not particularly remunerative. However, next month I will be working full time again for a small company developing online banking training around the world, making particular use of the skills and experience acquired on this course. So the answer is definitely yes, very much for the better !