Korean Job Discussion Forums

Wovaki · Joined: 28 Sep 2012 Location: Ontario, Canada

Hello!

I have a couple questions about master's degrees I'm hoping someone can help me with!

1. Does Korea accept distance/online master's degrees?

2. Can I apply for master's degrees with a 3-year general BA from a Canadian university?

Thanks!

Rob

tardisrider · Joined: 13 Mar 2003 Location: Seoul

1. Maybe. It depends on where it is from.

2. Maybe. It depends on where you're applying.

ThePoet · Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 12:28 pm Post subject:

1. When I lived in Korea, I worked at a university for 3 years with an online Masters degree from Athabasca University (Formerly M.D.E., now recognized as an M.Ed.)

2. If you are referring to the AU BGS, it is possible to apply for Masters programs but if you do not have a strong major declaration, the university that takes you may require you to complete some bridging courses before taking on the full Masters. I know AU will take BGS grads into their M.Ed. program.

Wovaki · Joined: 28 Sep 2012 Location: Ontario, Canada

Ginormousaurus · Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Location: 700 Ft. Pulpit

Wovaki · Joined: 28 Sep 2012 Location: Ontario, Canada

ThePoet · Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 2:18 pm Post subject:

Wovaki,

Yes I meant a Bachelor of General Studies. the description is here: http://www.athabascau.ca/programs/bgs3as/ and if you notice there are no residency requirements over 90 credits, so theoretically you could get 90 credits from all kinds of different sources, and then hand them in and get the BGS degree handed to you (as long as the credits were accredited of course).

I took a Masters in Distance Education (M.D.E.) which has now been changed to an M.Ed. in Distance Education. Sorry I didn't make that clearer. I would recommend AU because I found I excelled in that type of learning environment, I liked the instructors care and work with me...my advisor was nothing short of amazing, and I liked the fact that when I paid my tuition for a course, they sent me all of the materials for that course (readings, texts, workbooks, etc) at no extra cost and I didn't have to run around looking for the materials.

Have a great day

Wovaki · Joined: 28 Sep 2012 Location: Ontario, Canada

ThePoet · Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 9:43 am Post subject:

A "Strong Major Declaration" is usually 36 (or more) credits in a specified subject area such as chemistry, English, geography, etc. In a General Studies degree it can sometimes be an integrated studies program so that you get a few credits of everything but not a concentration of any one thing.

As to your second question, the fact that I hold a B.Ed. gave me the credentials to teach in Korea, and because I had taught in Canada for a few years before wanting to experience the world, I acquired the skills to become a good teacher, even though there was some culture shock on my part. I don't really know the hiring committee's logic in hiring me, but I would assume that it was based on 3 or 4 intangibles I brought to the table:

1. I hold a Masters. The fact that it was a distance specialization and acquired by distance may have been discussed by them - I don't know, but eventually it didn't seem to hurt. It could have helped my credential reputation that AU had been ranked as one of the top 50 MBA programs in the world, even though my degree wasn't an MBA. I don't know how many others with Masters degrees applied to that university that year, but 5 of us were hired for the Teacher Training program and a few others for general English, perhaps only 5 people with masters degrees applied and my online degree wouldn't have been accepted if a 6th Masters would have applied - who knows? I applied to 7 Korean universities that year (2005) and had 4 interviews and 3 job offers, so I cannot believe it hurt me.

2. I hold a B.Ed., had teaching experience in a K-12 environment and taught English at the high school level in Canada (however, niether my major or minor were in English); the university hired me for their Korean English Teacher-Training program.

3. I was over 40 when I was hired and I noticed all of the teacher-trainers that were hired were over 30 for this program - the "students" were Korean English teachers, and ranged in age from 25 - 55.

4. There is a possibility that, because I had a few years of instructional design experience before coming to Korea, and this was a brand new program in which we were going to have to develop the curriculum, that may have been to my advantage, although I may be giving too much credit to the hiring committee for knowing what an instructional designer was. There are still many people and organizations that have never heard of the skill before.

Based on the above, I think you can tell that (if my logic is correct) hiring criteria is based on education and experience and the type of education is secondary. In my case there may have been a perfect storm surrounding my credentials and experience, but I know that many people can boast the same types of experience and credentials and be better off than me today, or not so much. As I've said in other threads, it is not the degree, it is what you make of it, and how you can articulate yourself in an interview to demonstrate you fitting into an organization that will make that organization want you or not.

I hope this long-winded answer helped, and I hope you are getting a more complete answer to your original questions.

Poet