Job Discussion Forums

[mr fred]

I'm in Indonesia with zero chance of the time to do another degree in the conventional way.
Maybe the open university but something on line without the need to visit a UK campus would be very good news.
Question is, are there any such things available in the social/cultural studies sort of line?
Real ones only, not some fake rubbish.

[Denim-Maniac]

I did my degree via distance learning with the Open University. Its modular, which means you can study individual modules of interest, and veer into the opposite direction with other modules that are unrelated if you arent bothered about a named degree.

I did a 9 month level 1 course called 'Understanding Social Change' so there are courses that might suit you. I only did that one social science course though, and found it pretty dull TBH. Most of my other courses with them were related to English.

[coledavis]

Yes, I did an OU degree too. It is a fully recognised degree, e.g. can be used to progress to higher degrees as well as applying for jobs requiring graduates. There are a range of subjects e.g. psychology, criminology, geography.

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=101124

[coledavis]

I believe that the University of London also offers an international programme, including distance learning options.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Are you looking to do another undergrad, or a graduate degree? If its the latter, then you might want to think about doing it through an Australian university. If it's the former and you already have a real undergrad degree, then you might want to ask yourself why you want to do it- for a teachable to do a teaching qualification, or just out of interest. If it's just out of interest, then you may find that an entire undergrad is a bit much while working full-time, especially if it won't get you anywhere you aren't already in terms of career. You could just order textbooks online and read them, of course. That would allow you to learn something at your own pace.

I did my MTESOL through Deakin University (which in itself was in the social / cultural line in that it emphasized sociolinguistics, intercultural communication and discourse analysis rather than psycholinguistics and theoretical linguistics). It was excellent. They have programs in many other areas available for off-campus study, too. Because of the population distribution of Australia (many universities want people who live way out there to do their programs) off-campus learning is extremely advanced there. Plus, the time difference would be better for you, you probably won't have to go there at all (unless you actually chose to do so) and it would likely be cheaper.

What you should probably do is look for real brick and mortar universities that have off-campus degrees as well as on-campus degrees, and that don't differentiate between them (they don't label the off-campus degree as such on your transcript or diploma, because there is no difference in the quality of learning and you can interact with other students and teachers on-line easily). Hint: Australia has A LOT of them.

Deakin University's course search page

[mr fred]

MOD EDIT - http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=76124
Basically, I've been looking at a lot of social stuff on the internet and it's grabbed my interest.
Maybe I'm mad, but I want to do it as much for fun and keeping my brain working as much as anything else.
I'd also be rather interested in middle eastern politics.

I've contacted OU but have drawn a blank as nothing is available in Indonesia.
The bricks and mortar, off campus idea at a local uni may be worth a look.
Many courses here are run in English so there should be little by way of a language barrier.

[santi84]

Perhaps our moderator was just trying to warn off anyone who gave you a poor suggestion.

Simon Fraser University is a well-regarded university here in Canada (I attended the actual campus) and offers a few majors via distance. It would be an expensive option for you as an international student. You can also minor in different education fields.

Canada also offers Athabasca University which has a lot of different choices for study, but again, an expensive option for a non-Canadian.

[MotherF]

[LongShiKong]

[mr fred]

MOD EDIT
Anyway, I have a couple of days off coming up so I'm going to have a wander around local unis. I'll just call in and see what's what.
That may sound a bit odd but it's no problem here and there are several local places.