Job Discussion Forums

[japanman]

Hello, I was wondering what the reputation of Athabasca University is within Canada. It appears to be very similar to the Open university in the UK. The Open University is pretty good from reports of two people I know who have done courses there. Has Athabasca got a similar reputation?
I am researching distance learning MAs at the moment and from the website they have a course which interests me a lot.
Any info would be gratefuly appreciated.

[seanmcginty]

Athabaska is a small town in Alberta. The University, so far as I know, only offers distance degrees and doesn't offer regular classes.

Its not a very well known school in Canada(I know some people who coincidentally come from Athabaska which is the only reason I've heard of it). But at the same time it is an accredited school and not any sort of fly-by night degree mill, so if they have a program that interests you it might not be a bad idea.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

IME the last poster is incorrect about how well known Athabasca U is (although I think it's a distance program only university). I'm from Ontario and everybody knows about Athabasca U. However, most people would be hard pressed to know the names of more than one or two other universities in Alberta (I guess Calgary would be guessed at, not because people are familiar with the university, but because as the most famous city in the province, it therefore should have a university with its name in it). Same with the other provinces (most people could name a few in Quebec, and probably at least two or three in BC, maybe one or two for all the maritimes combined, probably none in Manitoba and likely one at the most from Saskatchewan). The main issue I think people have with Athabasca is just the cost.

The Canadian universities seem to take pride in not only doing things that force you to go to post secondary institutions longer than other countries, they usually offer no full programmes by distance to force you to go on campus for the program. A TESL certificate from a university in Ontario is basically the same as an MA in TESOL from other countries, but it's called a certificate because that way people will go back to get the MA in Applied Lingusitics (because otherwise they are often trapped in the language school area overseas with people who did 120hour certificates from private providers).

Athabasca U is known because it offers real degrees by distance and there are hardly any other universities that do that. Although MAs in TESOL are a very common distance degree offered in many countries, it's not in Canada except by a university that requires you to explain how you would use your Christian faith in the career as a way into the program. Why Athabasca hasn't jumped on the TESOL MA bandwagon, I don't know. They should. It would almost definately be a highly successful program if they offered it to Canadians for less than other countries. In fact, there doesn't seem to be a reason for universities in Ontario to not be offering their MAs in Applied Linguistics by distance because the practicum is done at the university TESL certificate level.

I think there is still a bit of a stigma attached to distance degrees in Canada, but I think it is worse for an initial undergratuate degree than for graduate degrees. AFAIK Athabasca only offers a few masters degrees though (I know someone doing their MBA and it's basically killing her slowly- it's very definately not a fake degree).

I think it's common for k-12 teachers to go to them to take courses to get another teachable, as well.

[chirp]

I agree with GBBB. It is a well known university - definitely no fake degrees. I even took a course through them. It was fairly painless and they were very helpful, but I don't have the discipline required for distance Ed.

[seanmcginty]

I may stand corrected about how well known it is. When I did my undergrad degree in the mid 90s (in Ontario) it certainly wasn't well known, though that may have changed since then.

[japanman]

Cheers for the info. I've decided to opt for the MAIS programme there. I had two othere choices, 1) MA japanese studies from Sheffield, would be an excellent one to have but I couldn't get interested in some of the modules 2) MA TESOL from Birmingham, for professional advancement it would be perfect but I couldn't muster the interest to finish it with a good grade. The MAIS programme has a food mix of areas that interest me greatly.

[poohbear]

my friend took some online courses from athabaska while she was doing her JET to bump up her marks for teacher's college. Its apparently a good school for distance learning. I might one day take their distance learning courses if i return to asia. I noticed other schools in ontario offer distance learning, have u checked York and UofT?