Job Discussion Forums

[avolkiteshvara]

I was curious if anyone knew of or did a distance/internet MA through an accredited university while in Korea, China, or some other place?

[Chris_Crossley]

I am doing a distance-learning MA in Education with the UK Open University right now, and I am in China, where I have been for more than four years. (I say more about this in the thread "MA Linguistics - coursework or research?") At present, I am undertaking two modules, one of which is twice the weighting of the other, entitled "The Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages Worldwide" and "Innovation in e-Learning". I intend to follow these with "The e-Learning Professional" and "Language and Literacy in a Changing World" (the latter is twice the weighting of the first) in order to finish the degree by the autumn of 2007.

I am aware that the word "accredited" usually applies to universities and colleges in the USA (and some other countries, too), though the UK does not go in for "accreditation" in this sense. However, the fact that the Open University is a publicly-funded university (i.e., it receives money from the UK government) means that its degrees are fully recognised with the UK and also within the European Union (EU), since it is possible to study for an Open University degree or other qualification in any of the 25 EU states as well as Switzerland.

I intend to follow this MA up with a University of London MA by distance-learning entitled "Applied Educational Leadership and Management", which is offered by the Institute of Education. It takes three conventional (September-June) academic years, including a dissertation during the third and final year. All being well, I should finish this MA by the summer of 2010, by which I will have accumulated almost exactly nine years of TESOL experience in China.

It is my intention to return to the UK with the wife and child (or children if we have a second!) and get a position of responsibility, albeit not necessarily within the TESOL field, since I am also a qualified secondary (high) school teacher, albeit of science, not English. Working at an international school abroad is still a possibility, though, and I do not rule it out.

Talk about long-term planning!

[Gordon]

I just completed my Masters of Applied Linguistics through the University of Southern Queensland. I did the degree completly by distance while living in Japan and all unis in Australia are fully accredited and recognized by the gov't. I recommend the program and do not regret my choice of program or university. There are many options available and it is difficult to choose the right program. I spent the better part of 2 years researching programs before I chose USQ. It is not a perfect program, but what is. You need a lot of self motivation before starting a masters as there is no one around to hold your hand or remind you that you have a week left before your paper is due. "It is easy to start a masters, but harder to finish it" said my wise wife before I began my degree. How true it is.

[Sekhmet]

I just started my MA distance through University of Leicester. The course so far seems good, and I've had a lot of helpful feedback from my tutor. However, it is really difficult to do while tied up in the middle of my work as well! I'm doing their MA Applied Linguistics and TESOL. The other one I looked at (and almost accpeted) was the Institute of Education at the University of London, and their course also looks very good. However, I'm fascinated with linguistics, and the IoE course is only TESOL.

[naturegirl321]

I'm at FUNIBER

I'ts decent and the cost isn't too bad.

funiber.org

[moot point]

I did mine through U. of London's Institute of Education. It was a good program and well planned with a number of leaders in this field presenting (video) lectures (e.g. Jack Richards, Widdowson, and Ellis).

I especially enjoyed the lively e-mail discussions on each week's topics with fellow students living in all parts of the world.

[Chris_Crossley]

I chose the Open University MA in Education over the University of London MA in TESOL for the simplest of reasons - finance. At the moment, the London MA in TESOL costs over 5,900 GBP, whereas three modules in the Open University MA in Education programme will cost "only" 4,800 GBP at 2007 prices.

Having said that, though, the University of London MA in Applied Educational Leadership and Management, which I mentioned in my earlier posting, costs a total of 7,425 GBP, so I am prepared to splash out on that!

Glad to hear that Gordon got through his USQ master's. Ditto to moot point in getting through his London one. Yes, it sometimes can be struggle with both work and study, but I am fully committed to both, even if I do have a wife and a two-year-old daughter - although, for five days a week, my little one is with her grand-parents in another district of Wuhan, where I am living and working!

Like moot point, I am also having discussions with fellow students using the Open University's FirstClass conferencing software, although this is happening more with the course about innovation in e-learning as opposed to the TESOL module I am also undertaking at the same time!

[mep3]

I've found this a really interesting thread with some people who really seem to know first-hand what they're talking about. I have some follow-up questions for any of you if you don't mind:

1. How do distance-learning MA TESOL's fare in the job market compared to on-site brick-and-mortar MA's? Are they as respected? --by ESL employers in the U.S. as well as in other countries (I'm thinking of going back there to work at some point later on).

2. I've been out of school for awhile. I've taught ESL for an adult-ed branch of a public school system in the US and for universities in China. Will these programs accept letters of recommendation from my bosses?

3. Are there any problems doing it from a foreign country re -- A. lack of on-hand English language books and research materials, and B. slow internet connections for "virtual" classes where everybody is posting together in an instant messaging type format?

Thanks a lot all .... mep

[spiral78]

Did my MA TESL/TEFL thru University of Birmingham (England). Also a very good program, in my experience.

There are some advantages of doing a distance course as versus on site. I had daily opportunities to put theory to practice with my classes, and to choose projects (the course requires six papers of about 4,000 words + final dissertation) that gave me opps to do real classroom research that was applicable in my teaching situations.

It seems to me that doing an MA on-site would be somewhat like taking an entry-level TESL/TEFL without a teaching practicum. I suppose I can say my distance MA (like many others, I'm sure) is research/action/practice based, rather than theoretical. Maybe there are on-site programs that offer teaching practice, too - I don't know about this.

UBham has a solid reputation in our field, and my paperwork is exactly the same as students who did the on-site version of the course - there is no mention of 'distance.'

I, too, had been out of school for an unbelievably long time when I started (like 20 years, yikes). UBham required me to write an introductory paper describing the approaches and methods I currently employed in my classrooms.

I did sometimes have to plan far ahead to compensate for being in a country without good English-language libraries available. But UBham, like many other reputable unis, has extensive on-line library access, which helped a lot. We have chat rooms, but I did most of my communication with other students by email. I think the lack of good internet would have been a problem for me.

[Gordon]

I agree with spiral. I think the distance masters is a great way to apply what you learn. Furthermore, most people don't have the luxury to quit their jobs and go off to school somewhere, especially if they families.
Fast internet connection is an important factor. Try to get access to a uni library close by. Fortunately, my uni had a decent linguistics selection, very surprised since only a handful of people at my campus could even read it, much less understand it. These are things to consider if you want to start a program.

I was out of uni about 10 years , but it didn't take long to get into the writing mode again. Amazing how fast it comes back to you.

[mep3]

So the distance degrees are regarded okay by employers then?

As far as the internet connection, as far as I've experienced, ALL internet connections in China are slower, or at least unpredicatable. I don't think it would be a problem for reading stuff online, just if there were virtual classes online.

Any thoughts about my question about the letters of recommendation? Thanks again .... mep

[Gordon]

[sheeba]

I'm studying by distance at the moment and the internet here in China is a bit slow but I get by with it . Whilst I'm waiting for a page to appear I just look at different things .Anyway its really not a problem . I don't feel I need high speed internet .

As for books I must admit I do worry that I am missing a few but I just learn to find what I need online or in books downtown which are by the way extremely cheap in China . I'll give you a few examples . I got Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics for less than 50 kuai - thats less than 3 English pounds. I got Peter Roach's Phonetics course for 25 kuai.- about the same for Gimson's That's less than 2 pounds . In the UK these are being knocked out at about 15 quid a piece . When I have a problem I take a well earned rest and nip down the bookshop to buy cheap books . I actually quite enjoy shopping for books these days as I get so many good deals here !! Problem is I 'm developing a library in my room !!

[mep3]

Can someone just give me a real rough general ballpark idea in U.S.D. of what these distance-learning MA TOEFL programs cost on average from start to finish? What kind of dollars are we talking about? Thanks a lot..

Mep

[naturegirl321]

mine, with the University of Piura through FUNIBER. www.funiber.org costs 4000 USD, it's two years, however, I got a scholarship, so it's 2000 USD if you pay at once or 2400 if you pay 100 a month for 24 months.