I just got an e-mail from the forum admin (Jim) who pointed out that the ratio of lurkers to posters on this forum if only going to improve if people take the plunge and write some actual messages!

By an amazing coincidence, I - along with some fellow students on the T175 course have just been effectively banned from posting certain topics on our course forum. I could understand if we'd been slagging off the institution, being offensive or publishing exam answers, but all we were doing was trying to establish whether a mistake has been made by the people who set the TMAs. So far there has been no real interest shown in the topic by the moderators. If anybody reading this has experienced a similar situation at the OU, perhaps it has the makings of a hot thread here.

(Needless to say, I'm not encouraging the exchange of answers in any form - a general chat about the quality of the set work and attitude of moderators would be a good place to start. And remember kids: You can always use a pseudonym here; an option not available on FirstClass!)


Greg

PS: Jim - please feel very welcome to relocate this message to another discussion area if you see fit.

Hi Greg and welcome to OUforum.com and thanks for taking the time to post.

You have made an excellent point about "anonymity" on OUforum. Firstclass does not give you this option, and firstclass does not allow former/potential students to participate either.

I don't want to move your post as it is a very informative and relevant issue, but it would make sense if you also posted this in the (T175) forum so google can index quickly.

On topic: I've found the OU to be very quick to clamp down on questions about TMAs, without any consideration of whether answers were being discussed or not.

If students get together face to face, they would have similar discussions, so why is it not OK to talk about TMAs here where the mods are able to keep an eye on things?

Let's remember what TMAs are for: they are a tool to help you learn the subject and consolidate your knowledge as well as assessing your knowledge. Discussing the question, without discussing the answer, is a good thing.


Off topic: Is your name really Withnail? That's great!

"Guest" was me, btw. The forum lets you post anonymously