I got this email from the OU today. While it seems like a good thing they are doing at first glance, I can't help thinking that it is a bit concerning as well. Either it is unnecessary and the OU are just virtue signalling, or else the students enrolling are really not up to it. Reading the online reviews on the OU, it is generally considered that the quality of 'student support' has taken a bit of a nosedive in recent years, mostly due to the cuts in funding but also in part due to staff morale. I'm a bit undecided really.
One thing which will support me with my studies is a better laptop, so I splashed out and bought a second hand Geobook Infinity 540 from eBay. I got it for less than £100. I had to give it a bit of a refurbishment to get it up to scratch but I'm there now I think. It has a 15.1in screen, which is a vast improvement on the 12½in I have at present, and came with 8GB of RAM and 256GB disk drive installed. I upgraded this to 24 GB of RAM, and 576 GB drive storage. I also reinstalled Windows 11, which was corrupted when I got it, and changed the dodgy network card driver because the Wi-Fi kept cutting out. A charger with a longer and more flexible power lead helped as well. The Intel quad core with hyperthreading i5-10210U CPU just makes things feel generally snappier than before. I'm pleased with this purchase because I've improved things without spending a fortune.