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big_fella1
Joined: 08 Dec 2005
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 Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 12:14 am Post subject: |
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Australia is a country 65 times the size of Korea with a population of only 23 million. Hence Australian universities developed distance learning as an addition to the on-campus offerings for those "that can't be bothered" travelling 2000km to attend classes.
Also as the government provides the funding, the formation of universities is tighltly regulated. Australia only has 39 universities.
Can we get the terminology right, a distance degree from a bricks and mortar or sandstone university even if studied online is a distance degree, not an online degree. |
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Paddycakes
Joined: 05 May 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 1:57 am Post subject: |
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Here's the definitive answer:
http://dl.pvamu.edu/programs/Pages/DistanceVsOnline.aspx
To me, the difference is pretty semantic.
Regardless, my question still stands:
For those who have MAs in Linguistics/TESOL that they got via on-line/distance ed programs, or whatever you want to call it, how was it regarded by universities in "western" countries when applying for jobs?
Did they actually give it any weight and count it as a real MA? |
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12ax7
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 2:10 am Post subject: |
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| Paddycakes wrote: |
Here's the definitive answer:
http://dl.pvamu.edu/programs/Pages/DistanceVsOnline.aspx
To me, the difference is pretty semantic.
Regardless, my question still stands:
For those who have MAs in Linguistics/TESOL that they got via on-line/distance ed programs, or whatever you want to call it, how was it regarded by universities in "western" countries when applying for jobs?
Did they actually give it any weight and count it as a real MA? |
Well, when I was doing my first degree I checked the credentials of the professors and found that most who were still working on their PhD were doing so through distance education. So, I would imagine that as long as you get your degree from a reputable school, it really won't matter to an employer. Besides, you're also earning work experience while doing your degree, and experience counts for something. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 8:48 pm Post subject: |
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| A slightly better chance to make 2.0 million won at a university and to be called a "fake" professor. Get yer debt on!!!!.... |
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big_fella1
Joined: 08 Dec 2005
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| Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 6:35 am Post subject: |
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| The real value is whatever you do with it. |
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bmaw01
Joined: 13 May 2013
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| Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 6:56 am Post subject: |
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| Does the degree actually say that it was obtained from online courses? How would an employer know? |
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misher
Joined: 14 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 1:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Does the degree actually say that it was obtained from online courses? How would an employer know? |
They don't.
Unless a) your resume has teaching experience in X country that overlaps with your "full-time" studies.
Or b) They ask you how you obtained your degree and you don't mind outright lying about it. In all 4 of my interviews in the ME (UAE, Qatar) I was specifically asked how I obtained my degree in the first few minutes of the interviews even though my teaching experience DID NOT overlap with my full-time studies.
Point is, unis that pay a lot (Zayed in UAE etc..) and still have pretty good conditions want to know upfront if your resume goes in the "completed residentially" pile or the "distance" pile. Fair? No not really but that is the way it is.
In SK I doubt unis would really care. Although becoming more common because of the relative ease of obtaining a distance AL/TESOL MA, having a distance MA is still better than what the vast majority of uni esl teachers have in SK. |
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tob55
Joined: 29 Apr 2007
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| Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 1:18 pm Post subject: |
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| misher wrote: |
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| Does the degree actually say that it was obtained from online courses? How would an employer know? |
They don't.
Unless a) your resume has teaching experience in X country that overlaps with your "full-time" studies.
Or b) They ask you how you obtained your degree and you don't mind outright lying about it. In all 4 of my interviews in the ME (UAE, Qatar) I was specifically asked how I obtained my degree in the first few minutes of the interviews even though my teaching experience DID NOT overlap with my full-time studies.
Point is, unis that pay a lot (Zayed in UAE etc..) and still have pretty good conditions want to know upfront if your resume goes in the "completed residentially" pile or the "distance" pile. Fair? No not really but that is the way it is.
In SK I doubt unis would really care. Although becoming more common because of the relative ease of obtaining a distance AL/TESOL MA, having a distance MA is still better than what the vast majority of uni esl teachers have in SK. |
The completion of an online degree is not noted on the degree, and as it was mentioned, the only way the employer finds out about your degree is by asking that information directly. South Korean Universities DO like to see that an MA, MEd, or MS program is at least two years in length. So if you happened to complete your degree at an online University which is shorter in length than that, it may be an issue. However, most institutions of higher education tend to follow the traditional semester system that brick and mortar programs have in place. So completing a masters program usually requires two full years of study. |
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misher
Joined: 14 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 7:58 pm Post subject: |
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The completion of an online degree is not noted on the degree, and as it was mentioned, the only way the employer finds out about your degree is by asking that information directly. South Korean Universities DO like to see that an MA, MEd, or MS program is at least two years in length. So if you happened to complete your degree at an online University which is shorter in length than that, it may be an issue. However, most institutions of higher education tend to follow the traditional semester system that brick and mortar programs have in place. So completing a masters program usually requires two full years of study. |
Well most of the distance UK MA programs are anywhere from 18-30 months but that is PART TIME STUDY. Full-time residentially it takes less than a year...
My program in the states took 2 years full time...some in my program took longer...funny that someone in Australia can get the same degree online in just 8-10 months. Something doesn't add up. |
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tob55
Joined: 29 Apr 2007
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| Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 8:06 pm Post subject: |
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| misher wrote: |
| Quote: |
The completion of an online degree is not noted on the degree, and as it was mentioned, the only way the employer finds out about your degree is by asking that information directly. South Korean Universities DO like to see that an MA, MEd, or MS program is at least two years in length. So if you happened to complete your degree at an online University which is shorter in length than that, it may be an issue. However, most institutions of higher education tend to follow the traditional semester system that brick and mortar programs have in place. So completing a masters program usually requires two full years of study. |
Well most of the distance UK MA programs are anywhere from 18-30 months but that is PART TIME STUDY. Full-time residentially it takes less than a year...
My program in the states took 2 years full time...some in my program took longer...funny that someone in Australia can get the same degree online in just 8-10 months. Something doesn't add up. |
Typically, those completing degrees in less time usually involve accelerated work with short or no breaks in between courses. Some of the program in the States back when I researching it had the same system with semester credit courses being taught in relatively short periods of time, such as Kaplan or American Intercontinental University for another. There systems are fully approved and accredited by the US DOE and other responsible governing bodies, so the education is legit and highly demanding. I would never shy away from an online course just as long as it was legitimate, high quality, and offered the program I was interested in. Some of my education has been done online, but most of it has been done in brick and mortar classrooms in the USA and here in South Korea. |
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sirius black
Joined: 04 Jun 2010
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| Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2013 1:16 am Post subject: Re: What is the value of an online masters? |
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| underatram wrote: |
I've got a choice between moving to Sweden for 1 year to study a masters at Lund University, or staying in Korea and studying for an online masters from University of London.
I was wondering if you guys had any advice on what would be more valueable for finding a job in Korea. An online masters from a London university or a masters from an English speaking Swedish university?
How do people generally value online masters?
Cheers guys |
As far as the vast majority of unis, they could care less. What they want to do is meet the government regulations.
The only unis where it MAY matter are the top ones. The SKY unis, Kaist, may...and I repeat may not look kindly on it and will almost certainly take a more prestigious school from a candidate if all things are equal but generally, they don't care.
As far as immigration, they don't care as well. As long as its nto a fake degree. If you can get an apostille, they pretty much don't care.
I recall a long time I went to the immigration on behalf of a friend who was considering a Master's program and whether it would accepted by immigration. The person at the immigration office just said as long as they get an apostille from it and its not a fake school, they're good.
The little dirty secret of immigration is they really have no idea as well. For example, in America there are at least 50 different apostilles. Immigration has no idea what a Florida, Texas or Montana apostille is supposed to look like as well as the other 7 countries. They don't have the experience or time to call and verify anything. My first boss told me that. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2013 2:15 am Post subject: Re: What is the value of an online masters? |
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| sirius black wrote: |
| The little dirty secret of immigration is they really have no idea as well. For example, in America there are at least 50 different apostilles. Immigration has no idea what a Florida, Texas or Montana apostille is supposed to look like as well as the other 7 countries. They don't have the experience or time to call and verify anything. My first boss told me that. |
Slightly off-topic for this thread but after looking at some 40,000 apostilles over the last 4 years, they do have a clue (and there are only 56 different ones (50 state level and one national from the states (51)and 5 from the other 5 countries who are apostille treaty signatories (UK, IRE, NZ, AUS and SA).
You are correct in that they don't/won't call to verify anything.
If something doesn't fit the model photo in the database they just deny the application and let you worry about why it was rejected and how to fix it.
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young_clinton
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2013 2:34 am Post subject: |
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| bmaw01 wrote: |
| Does the degree actually say that it was obtained from online courses? How would an employer know? |
They know from the school that issues it.
The University where I received my Bachelor's does not do online degrees. They most likely have online courses, but not degrees that are totally online. I think that is most likely true of most state and private universities and colleges where you attend classes. |
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big_fella1
Joined: 08 Dec 2005
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| Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2013 3:55 am Post subject: |
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| young_clinton wrote: |
| bmaw01 wrote: |
| Does the degree actually say that it was obtained from online courses? How would an employer know? |
They know from the school that issues it.
The University where I received my Bachelor's does not do online degrees. They most likely have online courses, but not degrees that are totally online. I think that is most likely true of most state and private universities and colleges where you attend classes. |
A quick websearch tells me that in Australia the only university offering very limited distance learning options was Australian National University. The other Group of 8 universities, Australia's traditional Sandstone research universities have at least some distance degrees available.
The type of people who dismiss distance degrees are the type that refer to both of the English Universities. They can say that the only universities are Oxford and Cambridge all that they want but other universities' graduates continue to have success, even those that graduated from LSE. |
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Swampfox10mm
Joined: 24 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Sun Jun 30, 2013 6:00 am Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| A slightly better chance to make 2.0 million won at a university and to be called a "fake" professor. Get yer debt on!!!!.... |
Actually, we have a few at our school making above 3.4 per month. They have MA's. |
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