"I used to be intrigued by the Open University on BBC 2 years ago if that's any good  "
Having just graduated with an OU degree, I can say from experience that the OU had come on a mile since the 1970's. In 5 years, I only saw corduroy flares once. |
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By *icketysplitsWoman
over a year ago
Way over Yonder, that's where I'm bound |
I've done five different ones.
I'm enrolled on one at the moment that I haven't started.
Some are better than others, as to be expected. I find that they are better when the online discussions are like a really good interactive forum thread. Where people just give a thumbs up or contribute two words it's not as interesting.
I have used the material learned from a couple of them in work situations when I needed to get up to speed on a new area quickly. There are so many of them that I can usually find one covering something I need to know about.
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"I used to be intrigued by the Open University on BBC 2 years ago if that's any good
One late night OU programme explained why buses bunch together. Fascinating stuff.
"
Why buses bunch together 
Absolutely awesome I'm sure  |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"I used to be intrigued by the Open University on BBC 2 years ago if that's any good
One late night OU programme explained why buses bunch together. Fascinating stuff.
"
Truly. Can you give a synopsis please (and, maybe sadly, I am actually intuiged to know what they suggest!)? |
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By *icketysplitsWoman
over a year ago
Way over Yonder, that's where I'm bound |
"I used to be intrigued by the Open University on BBC 2 years ago if that's any good
One late night OU programme explained why buses bunch together. Fascinating stuff.
Truly. Can you give a synopsis please (and, maybe sadly, I am actually intuiged to know what they suggest!)?"
Bus timetables say the buses will be, say, every 10 minutes. To get to that you can't send them out from the bus depot every 10 minutes. Even without the traffic differences at different times of the day you have to factor the passenger load.
The model posits that the controller could release the first bus from the depot and the next 10 minutes later but if the first is trying to load every passenger waiting it will fall behind schedule. The second would need to be released, say, 5 minutes after the first and so on, to get to the even spacing. At peak times more would be released at the same time as the first bus will be slower than the last, which can overtake and pick up the next big load. It's also why they occasionally have to sit and wait to even out the service.
That's the gist... I'm a bit too thick to really understand what they were saying.
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"I used to be intrigued by the Open University on BBC 2 years ago if that's any good
One late night OU programme explained why buses bunch together. Fascinating stuff.
Truly. Can you give a synopsis please (and, maybe sadly, I am actually intuiged to know what they suggest!)?
Bus timetables say the buses will be, say, every 10 minutes. To get to that you can't send them out from the bus depot every 10 minutes. Even without the traffic differences at different times of the day you have to factor the passenger load.
The model posits that the controller could release the first bus from the depot and the next 10 minutes later but if the first is trying to load every passenger waiting it will fall behind schedule. The second would need to be released, say, 5 minutes after the first and so on, to get to the even spacing. At peak times more would be released at the same time as the first bus will be slower than the last, which can overtake and pick up the next big load. It's also why they occasionally have to sit and wait to even out the service.
That's the gist... I'm a bit too thick to really understand what they were saying.
"
Buses actually register their services to be at a certain place at a certain time, a timing point, so if they only name their departure, one timing point and arrival they technically only have to be on time 3 times the whole journey, the rest is just a guess!
Enough of this pillow talk |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"I used to be intrigued by the Open University on BBC 2 years ago if that's any good
One late night OU programme explained why buses bunch together. Fascinating stuff.
Truly. Can you give a synopsis please (and, maybe sadly, I am actually intuiged to know what they suggest!)?
Bus timetables say the buses will be, say, every 10 minutes. To get to that you can't send them out from the bus depot every 10 minutes. Even without the traffic differences at different times of the day you have to factor the passenger load.
The model posits that the controller could release the first bus from the depot and the next 10 minutes later but if the first is trying to load every passenger waiting it will fall behind schedule. The second would need to be released, say, 5 minutes after the first and so on, to get to the even spacing. At peak times more would be released at the same time as the first bus will be slower than the last, which can overtake and pick up the next big load. It's also why they occasionally have to sit and wait to even out the service.
That's the gist... I'm a bit too thick to really understand what they were saying.
"
Cheers! |
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By *icketysplitsWoman
over a year ago
Way over Yonder, that's where I'm bound |
"I used to be intrigued by the Open University on BBC 2 years ago if that's any good
One late night OU programme explained why buses bunch together. Fascinating stuff.
Truly. Can you give a synopsis please (and, maybe sadly, I am actually intuiged to know what they suggest!)?
Bus timetables say the buses will be, say, every 10 minutes. To get to that you can't send them out from the bus depot every 10 minutes. Even without the traffic differences at different times of the day you have to factor the passenger load.
The model posits that the controller could release the first bus from the depot and the next 10 minutes later but if the first is trying to load every passenger waiting it will fall behind schedule. The second would need to be released, say, 5 minutes after the first and so on, to get to the even spacing. At peak times more would be released at the same time as the first bus will be slower than the last, which can overtake and pick up the next big load. It's also why they occasionally have to sit and wait to even out the service.
That's the gist... I'm a bit too thick to really understand what they were saying.
Buses actually register their services to be at a certain place at a certain time, a timing point, so if they only name their departure, one timing point and arrival they technically only have to be on time 3 times the whole journey, the rest is just a guess!
Enough of this pillow talk"
It's sexy stuff.
|
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
|
"I used to be intrigued by the Open University on BBC 2 years ago if that's any good
One late night OU programme explained why buses bunch together. Fascinating stuff.
Truly. Can you give a synopsis please (and, maybe sadly, I am actually intuiged to know what they suggest!)?
Bus timetables say the buses will be, say, every 10 minutes. To get to that you can't send them out from the bus depot every 10 minutes. Even without the traffic differences at different times of the day you have to factor the passenger load.
The model posits that the controller could release the first bus from the depot and the next 10 minutes later but if the first is trying to load every passenger waiting it will fall behind schedule. The second would need to be released, say, 5 minutes after the first and so on, to get to the even spacing. At peak times more would be released at the same time as the first bus will be slower than the last, which can overtake and pick up the next big load. It's also why they occasionally have to sit and wait to even out the service.
That's the gist... I'm a bit too thick to really understand what they were saying.
Buses actually register their services to be at a certain place at a certain time, a timing point, so if they only name their departure, one timing point and arrival they technically only have to be on time 3 times the whole journey, the rest is just a guess!
Enough of this pillow talk
It's sexy stuff.
"
I know I can make it seem that way......but it's really not :P |
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By *haunMan
over a year ago
Halton |
"has anyone ever enrolled on one?
read about them recently and signed up to edx, just looking at what to do"
--
I have done several of them now over the last 12 / 18 months.
As mentioned above, some are better than others.
A lot depends upon what you are 'studying' and what you hope to gain from it.
You do miss out on the classroom experience (for good and bad) and are reliant on good discussion forums.
I enjoy them.
It allow me to find small courses that I may be interested in and take 3/4 hours a week for 4-8 weeks.
Nothing too time consuming and nothing that will take years.
Yes, it won't give you a degree at the end of it.
But as we are having a transition to modularised training.
Finding small courses that interest you and maybe will enhance your knowledge from a skills / work point of view are going to be a great help.
It also helps that a lot of them are free to take, and you only pay if you want a certificate.
But I have seen several courses run as specialisation courses, so they tie 4/5 courses together as a learning package.
These do have a small cost, but still a lot cheaper that taking a 1 or 2 day training course or attending a local college.
Several great providers.
edx is one.
Coursera is another.
Try class-central - This is a great portal site for a lot of the main MOOC providers.
So you can search for something and it will link through to the provider site.
THey all run very similar.
Sign up for the course, then the subject is delivered mainly via pre-recored video clips and some reading material.
Some have small weekly exams (as such) to ensure you are passing with enough marks before a possible final exam. (mainly multi choice).
Main suggestion would be.
Find something you may have an interest in.
Take the course (don't pay for it - Unless you finish it then decide you want the certificate)
And just test it out.
Plenty of courses available, and some of the more popular ones, will run several times a year.
I am currently a third through a 12 week course on 'Introduction to Psychology' just because I was interested in the subject.
3 to 4 hours a week.
It's free to take and if I want the certificate? then that will cost me £38 at the end.
Hope this helps?
Do give me a shout if I can help out anymore.
xxx |
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