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Question about a degree
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stuckinusa



Joined: 23 Dec 2015
Posts: 21
PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 3:58 am    Post subject: Question about a degree Reply with quote
Hello,
i'm about to have an associate's degree from a community college. Next year, i'm planning to transfer to a 4 year university to get my bachelor's degree. One of the universities i'm looking at offers an English online program. I'm considering doing that so I can start working as an esl/tefl teacher while I work towards my bachelor's degree. My question is would I be disqualified from getting jobs in Saudi with an online degree? I called the university,and they told me they give out the same degree for onsite and online programs. Furthermore, this is a legitimate accredited university with 120 hour bachelors programs. So, would Saudi Arabia turn their nose up at that? I don't see how they could considering the degree would be from an accredited university and wouldn't even specify that it is an online degree. However, a guy I talk to that works in Saudi told me it might be a problem. So, what do all of you think? Would it be a problem or not? Thanks
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 4:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Qualifying degrees that entailed any online coursework are not recognized by the Saudi government. The mode of instruction gets verified with the job candidate's US university registrar as part of the degree authentication process. (See www.sacm.org/pdf/DistanceLearning.pdf.)
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stuckinusa



Joined: 23 Dec 2015
Posts: 21
PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 5:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
nomad soul wrote:
Qualifying degrees that entailed any online coursework are not recognized by the Saudi government. The mode of instruction gets verified with the job candidate's US university registrar as part of the degree authentication process. (See www.sacm.org/pdf/DistanceLearning.pdf.)

Sheesh,
That's crazy. Most people take atleast some of their classes online. So you can't get any of your credits from online classes if you want to work in Saudi?
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 5:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
It is what it is. Every country can set their own rules and regs for foreign workers as well as for nationals.

By the way, you mentioned teaching ESL while completing a BA. You'll be limited as to where in the world you can teach with just a two-year Associate's degree. It's equal to having no degree in countries where a BA is the minimum requirement.

Last edited by nomad soul on Fri Jul 29, 2016 5:37 am; edited 1 time in total
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stuckinusa



Joined: 23 Dec 2015
Posts: 21
PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 5:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
nomad soul wrote:
It is what it is. Every country can set their own rules and regs for foreign workers.

By the way, you mentioned teaching ESL while completing a BA. You'll be limited as to where in the world you can teach with just a two-year Associate's degree.

Well,
the thing is virtually every course in any American University will have some online coursework, it is unavoidable. You said Saudi doesn't recognize degrees with any online coursework. How is that even possible? Can you clarify how they define online coursework? Because that really has my head spinning. Again, most courses at American universities have an online component. For example, you might take tests/quizzes, watch course related videos,participate in discussions, and turn in papers online. Foreign language courses also have a lot of online work.
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stuckinusa



Joined: 23 Dec 2015
Posts: 21
PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 5:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
nomad soul wrote:
It is what it is. Every country can set their own rules and regs for foreign workers.

By the way, you mentioned teaching ESL while completing a BA. You'll be limited as to where in the world you can teach with just a two-year Associate's degree.

Well,
the thing is virtually every course in any American University will have some online coursework, it is unavoidable. You said Saudi doesn't recognize degrees with any online coursework. How is that even possible? Can you clarify how they define online coursework? Because that really has my head spinning. Again, most courses at American universities have an online component. For example, you might take tests/quizzes, watch course related videos,participate in discussions, and turn in papers online. Foreign language courses also have a lot of online work.
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 5:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Acceptable: You're physically on campus attending courses a set number of days a week and hours. In other words, you're in the classroom with your instructor and classmates. Old skool, traditional.

Unacceptable: You log in online to access your course assignments, lectures, discussion boards, tests, etc. There is no physical classroom.

Look at the form I linked to in my initial post.
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stuckinusa



Joined: 23 Dec 2015
Posts: 21
PostPosted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 6:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
nomad soul wrote:
Acceptable: You're physically on campus attending courses a set number of days a week and hours. In other words, you're in the classroom with your instructor and classmates. Old skool, traditional.

Unacceptable: You log in online to access your course assignments, lectures, discussion boards, tests, etc. There is no physical classroom.

Look at the form I linked to in my initial post.

OK, just so we are clear, it's ok as long as you are attending lectures on-campus? I ask because virtually all the classes I have taken thus far have had twice weekly lectures on campus, but the meat of the courses (or at least part) was done online. Heck, even a lot of my textbooks have been digital where I bought the access code at the college bookstore and used it to access the text online. I did look at the sheet and it wasn't really clear what they are expecting, and that's why I asked. Thanks.
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