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acornrevolution · Joined: 01 Jul 2007 Posts: 47

Hi!
I am getting my papers, essays, and work together to start applying to distance MA programs based in the United States. I have looked at a lot of programs, US and int'l, and have picked a few US schools, but I am having difficulty deciding which one to put more hope or emphasis or excitability on, and was wondering if anyone here can offer info regarding these schools, especially quality of education and reputability?

--Shenandoah University - http://www.su.edu/sas/tesol/
Pros: I like their coursework, and they seem to have a good distance ed. medium
Cons: They require 120 hours of class observation and to defend the portfolio in Virgina. They are also a small, perhaps not well know university.

--Indiana University - http://site.educ.indiana.edu/Default.aspx?alias=site.educ.indiana.edu/langdist
Pros: Coursework seems good, offers ability to take electives
Cons: Obscure course titles, would have to start in Spring, would like to start in Fall.

--University of Mass. - http://ccde.umb.edu/degree/apling/courses/
Cons: Would have to wait until next Fall to begin.

--University of Southern Mississippi - http://www.usm.edu/matl/
Pros: Decent university, nice coursework.
Cons: sloppy website, housed in the Foreign Language department, not education. Its a MA Language Teaching.

Any advice on these schools or OTHER schools in the US would be great! I look forward to reading responses.

~Acorn~

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

I've heard good things about Shenandoah University when I did an internship in WDC. They seemed to like theschool. BUt I htink it's pretty expensive. Supposedly the ones in OZ have good reps as well.

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 8:03 pm Post subject:

Not to complicate your search, but I've recently heard very good things about the New School MA TESOL in New York. Can be done completely at distance...

Jusitn

acornrevolution · Joined: 01 Jul 2007 Posts: 47

Oh, I have looked at New School, and it looks like a good program, but it seems to be nearly triple the cost, at something like $30,000+. The schools I listed fall in the $10-$12,000 range.

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

try looking at shcools in OZ, though the problem is that with the USD low, everything else is expensive

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 2:05 pm Post subject:

http://www.anaheim.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=48

Link to Anaheim University in California's distance MA TESOL program.

I can't decide what I think about this one- looks pretty good, and the profs may be people you've heard of. I'm nervous about a program with so little track record, though. (Recently established.)

Best,
Justin

PS- less that $15000, but only a little less...

natsume · Joined: 24 Apr 2006 Posts: 409 Location: Chongqing, China

Aneheim does look interesting, but I think I share your concerns, Justin. I am still wary of distance education, as I prefer the atmosphere in live classrooms.

One thing about that program that is a real sell to me, living in Japan, is that the real-time classes would all be on Saturday mornings my time. It is almost too perfect, as far as the scheduling goes.

acornrevolution · Joined: 01 Jul 2007 Posts: 47

Anaheim also isn't a real brick and mortar university, and so doesn't have any real world counterpart to it, which makes me shy away from it. It may not be looked at seriously by employers.

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 3:13 pm Post subject:

Exactly my worry, Acorn. But I have to admit that I'm not interested in actually seeing the bricks and mortar of my next uni. (Hoping for a completely distance course- for the future, I feel like I need my degree to be from an English speaking uni in an English speaking country, but I sure don't wanna live in one.) So maybe a distance only uni won't be so bad...

Best,
Justin

jillford64 · Joined: 15 Feb 2006 Posts: 397 Location: Sin City

I looked at Anahiem University as well, but also shied away because they don't have any kind of reputation ("bricks and mortar" counterpart or otherwise) to back themselves up.

acornrevolution · Joined: 01 Jul 2007 Posts: 47

I will apply to Shenandoah and IU, with more high hopes for IU. I have the qualifications to get into either I believe. I am choosing IU over Shenandoah for several reasons:

1. Their ranking: US news ranked them #75 for national universities, and #26 in education. My alma mater was a great school, and was no where near those rankings! So they are a well known school and that can only be a benefit.

2. No need to travel to the US or do inconvenient observation classes. I dont want to travel back to the US to present a portfolio, and I especially dont have time for 120 hrs of observation while working full time plus. Those were the 2 pitfalls of Shenandoah. If I end up attending SU, I will be fine completing those requirements, but at a cost of convenience. IU (and maybe SU) has courses that can involve your current classroom, which is good.

3. Optional thesis. Serious employers, I have read, often like to see that their prospective employees completed a thesis with their MA. IU offers the ability to do a thesis (though SU offers a portfolio, which is probably just as good, but you have to defend this portfolio in Virgina).

I'm sure there are others that I cant think of now. I think both schools and both programs are really good, and will be happy at either school. My only problem now is getting letters of recommendation. My old professors aren't returning my emails!

jillford64 · Joined: 15 Feb 2006 Posts: 397 Location: Sin City

Acorn --

Do you already have teaching experience? If so, have you talked to them about substituting that for the classroom observation or internship?

Jill

acornrevolution · Joined: 01 Jul 2007 Posts: 47

I have teaching experience, being a current teacher in S.Korea, but I dont think you can substitute, since I talked to someone who was working in Korea while doing this program, and the course says you cannot use your current classroom for observation, which makes think that experience doesn't matter. They want you to observe 3 different ESL settings, 40 hrs each, which is good, but would be very difficult for me to coordinate. Maybe they do offer substitution, and I will ask, just in case Smile

.

jillford64 · Joined: 15 Feb 2006 Posts: 397 Location: Sin City

I don't know how much it matters to those of you not working in the US, but Anahiem University is not accredited by any private, regional, or national accrediting association. I think if you were going to try to use the degree to teach at a community college, for example, this would be a problem.

jillford64 · Joined: 15 Feb 2006 Posts: 397 Location: Sin City

I like Shenandoah's curriculum well enough (I'm interested in a distance master's too) except 120 hours of observation seems like overkill to me. I did observation and practice teaching as part of my TESL certificate and after about 6 hours, the observation was a waste of time compared to preparing lesson plans and teaching classes. Plus, it seems really like a waste of time if a person already has lots of teaching experience.