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young_clinton
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
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 Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 5:55 am Post subject: |
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| ttompatz wrote: |
| young_clinton wrote: |
| Obviously an online MA is more than just a toilet paper qualification. However when poised with the choice between a MA at a brick and mortar school or an MA that's online, I would obviously choose the brick and mortar. |
And as one who has both an MA and an MBA I can tell you that no-one has ever, at any job application or interview, asked whether any or all of the content was offered on-line or if it was done on-campus and the transcripts don't differentiate between the two.
IF you have the wherewithal to actually complete the on-line MA from a properly accredited uni AND get your work published in a peer reviewed journal then nobody will care where your degree came from (on campus or on line).
If you only did the comprehensive exams to get done (rather than a published thesis) then some (highlight SOME) employers might look less favorably at it.
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There is one exception. If the Saudis get it in their mind that the degree might have some online courses they will contact the University. Do not tell the Saudis that you received your degree in a foreign country if you are applying for a job in the KSA. |
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Francis-Pax
Joined: 20 Nov 2005
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| Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 6:07 am Post subject: |
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| Jodami wrote: |
I've heard mixed reports from Birmingham's online program. A few coworkers are very unimpressed with their supervisors. Birmingham has been a top 20-30 UK uni for decades though.
Just keep in mind folks, an online degree will NOT be accepted in many of the better gigs in the Middle East. |
Everybody's experience is different. I had a good supervisor, and I always liked how the faculty of the university would come to the University of Birmingham Korea Center in Seoul to hold seminars for the distance MA TESL/TEFL/AL students.
I worked at one of the highest paying TEFL jobs in Saudi Arabia and one of the best places in the UAE. I never had a problem. |
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Jodami
Joined: 08 Feb 2013
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| Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 10:25 am Post subject: |
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| Francis-Pax wrote: |
Everybody's experience is different. I had a good supervisor, and I always liked how the faculty of the university would come to the University of Birmingham Korea Center in Seoul to hold seminars for the distance MA TESL/TEFL/AL students.
I worked at one of the highest paying TEFL jobs in Saudi Arabia and one of the best places in the UAE. I never had a problem. |
Well done.
I reiterate though that I heard a few people who finished at Birmingham who said the course was way overrated and actually a bit rubbish. (not just crappy supervisors).
I also know a few Birmingham online grad teachers, who were turned down for Saudi visas. |
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Francis-Pax
Joined: 20 Nov 2005
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| Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 11:26 am Post subject: |
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| Jodami wrote: |
| Francis-Pax wrote: |
Everybody's experience is different. I had a good supervisor, and I always liked how the faculty of the university would come to the University of Birmingham Korea Center in Seoul to hold seminars for the distance MA TESL/TEFL/AL students.
I worked at one of the highest paying TEFL jobs in Saudi Arabia and one of the best places in the UAE. I never had a problem. |
Well done.
I reiterate though that I heard a few people who finished at Birmingham who said the course was way overrated and actually a bit rubbish. (not just crappy supervisors).
I also know a few Birmingham online grad teachers, who were turned down for Saudi visas. |
That's interesting. That wasn't my experience. I think that Birmingham is a good program, but there are other quality programs out there. There is no perfect program out there. Each one has strengths and weaknesses. Birmingham was one of the first to offer distance MAs in TESL/TEFL, and they were popular in Korea for a long time because of the Korean center they operated in Seoul exclusively for the MA program. I started the program in 2006, but it has changed a lot since then. They no longer have the Korea center, but the faculty still come out once a year to hold summer seminars and spend quality one-on-one time with the students.
Calling the program rubbish is a bit extreme. It is actually one of the more academically rigorous distance MA TESL/TEFL programs out. As I said in a previous post, the assignments are exactly the same as those assigned to the on-campus students, and they are graded anonymously alongside the on-campus students. In the end, you are doing the same work and it is the same degree. One of the things I liked about the Birmingham program was the ability to use a lot of the research I did in the coursework phase to advance my profile. I presented every paper at a conference. Several of them were at KOTESOL, but I also did a presentation at TESOL Arabia in 2008. That was something that helped me land the job in Saudi Arabia a couple years later. In any case, I am not here to defend Birmingham. I don't have to. If someone feels there is a program that is better for them, they should do it.
I am more concerned about answering the OPs question. My answer remains the same. A distance MA done at a reputable university goes a long way in this field. If a person has the time, money, and need to do an MA on-campus, then that is an option to. I am not trying to be prescriptive about it; however, I have been in this field for ten years, taught in four countries, and probably make more money and work in a better teaching position than a lot of the people commenting here. I am trying to share the wisdom of my experience. I really could care less if anyone disputes it. It does not matter. |
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anynag
Joined: 01 Jan 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 5:33 am Post subject: |
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When it comes to earning a master's degree in an education related field, ideally you should be doing said degree to become a better educator, not necessarily for a pay raise or a better position, although those conditions have more likelihood of coming to fruition after graduating. The delivery method is secondary and depends more on personal choices and/or circumstances. Would you rather be a master's degree holder eligible to apply for more teaching positions here and elsewhere, or somebody without one facing fewer and fewer employment options in a highly competitive job market?
Korea, which has become less than spectacular for university teaching positions, has raised the bar to the master's level, even for the lowest "unihogwan" positions. 5-10 years ago, a bachelor's degree and a few years experience would get you an interview. Those days are long gone. If it came down to choosing between being employable with an online master's degree versus being unemployable with a BA/BS/BEd + X years of experience, I'd earn the degree however I could. If you're worried about the so-called stigma of holding an online master's, you could always get a brick-and-mortar PhD later.  |
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young_clinton
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:07 am Post subject: |
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| young_clinton wrote: |
There is one exception. If the Saudis get it in their mind that the degree might have some online courses they will contact the University. Do not tell the Saudis that you received your degree in a foreign country if you are applying for a job in the KSA. |
But then again why should anybody care about whether or not you can get hired in Saudi Arabia? Although it is a stepping stone to better job localities in the Middle East. |
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I'm With You
Joined: 01 Sep 2011
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| Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 2:33 am Post subject: |
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| young_clinton wrote: |
| young_clinton wrote: |
There is one exception. If the Saudis get it in their mind that the degree might have some online courses they will contact the University. Do not tell the Saudis that you received your degree in a foreign country if you are applying for a job in the KSA. |
But then again why should anybody care about whether or not you can get hired in Saudi Arabia? Although it is a stepping stone to better job localities in the Middle East. |
No, that's not what Saudi old hands are saying on the main forum.
Too many rejects in Saudi.
Employers in the UAE see a CV from S.A. and they trash it.
But that's for those who have been in the Kingdom for a long period of time. Maybe not a problem for someone who is there for a contract and then gets out and also has a lot of professional development on record. |
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I'm With You
Joined: 01 Sep 2011
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| Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 2:51 am Post subject: |
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| ttompatz wrote: |
And as one who has both an MA and an MBA I can tell you that no-one has ever, at any job application or interview, asked whether any or all of the content was offered on-line or if it was done on-campus and the transcripts don't differentiate between the two.
IF you have the wherewithal to actually complete the on-line MA from a properly accredited uni AND get your work published in a peer reviewed journal then nobody will care where your degree came from (on campus or on line). |
First, everyone here now knows, and has for quite sometime, that you have two master's degrees and didn't have the heft to stick with a doctoral program.
Second, employers - both local and foreign profs on hiring committees - often do distinguish between on campus and distance degrees. The two are not considered equal. Not even by the staff and instructors that teach the classes for these degrees.
And if you are applying for a Job in Taiwan, forget it. It won't matter how many publications you have. You won't find a job with a distance degree.
Third, Jodami likes starting threads like this. So I guess the joke is on us for wasting our time replying to these nonsense threads like, "Do You University Teachers Look Down on Hogwan Teachers?" people take Jodami 's posts seriously while he sits back in his room drunk laughing his ass off at all of the gullible people he's once again fished in. |
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metalhead
Joined: 18 May 2010
Location: Toilet
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| Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 3:20 am Post subject: |
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I am doing a Master's now, and honestly I can't see how an online course could equate to what I am doing on campus - lectures, group projects, presentations, leading seminars, peer reviews, oral examinations along with written ones, then at the end having to present and subsequently defend my thesis - it just seems that because of this I am learning and retaining more than I would if I was doing it online/distance.
Seeing as how I am not paying for the degree/any other courses I take, I did take an extra recently that was online, it was probably the easiest course so far, and I think specifically because it was online. Reading a lot and writing a few papers at home is really not that taxing. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 5:47 am Post subject: |
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| I'm With You wrote: |
First, everyone here now knows, and has for quite sometime, that you have two master's degrees and didn't have the heft to stick with a doctoral program. |
Actually, I have completed a PhD but not the original one (for reasons that have nothing to do with "having the heft").
It wasn't about "didn't have the heft to stick with a doctoral program" but changes in my life that made the first one no longer relevant to my future.
Oh, and you can let me know when you have actually managed to complete 2 masters, a PhD (ABD) and a PhD (as I have).
When you do then you can criticize my academic performance as a peer rather than take pot shots from the back seat of the teacher's room at your Eikaiwa and bemoan your lot in life.
| I'm With You wrote: |
| Second, employers - both local and foreign profs on hiring committees - often do distinguish between on campus and distance degrees. The two are not considered equal. Not even by the staff and instructors that teach the classes for these degrees. |
Not my experience. If the degree was legitimate and you are published in a properly peer reviewed journal then they usually don't worry about your coursework.
| I'm With You wrote: |
| And if you are applying for a Job in Taiwan, forget it. It won't matter how many publications you have. You won't find a job with a distance degree. |
With a "distance" undergraduate degree, I agree.
In my experience, with a residential undergrad and (completed) post grad qualifications, it is more about what you have done, who you know and what you have published than where you got it (with the proviso that it was a legitimate degree and not from some US diploma mill - one of the few countries where diploma mills are in fact legal).
| I'm With You wrote: |
| Third, Jodami likes starting threads like this. So I guess the joke is on us for wasting our time replying to these nonsense threads like, "Do You University Teachers Look Down on Hogwan Teachers?" people take Jodami 's posts seriously while he sits back in his room drunk laughing his ass off at all of the gullible people he's once again fished in. |
While the premise of the original post may have been to troll the forum; the information brought out in this thread and others like it provide a valuable resource for others who may be seeking that information.
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 2:48 pm Post subject: |
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Ha, ha evidence that all the qualifications in the world won't stop people squabbling like a couple of school kids  |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 4:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Wait until fustiancorduroy (highly qualified) pops into this thread and makes a comment seen my edwardcatflap (highly qualified). (@.@) The sparks will fly! (!_!) |
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young_clinton
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 12:24 am Post subject: |
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| Jodami wrote: |
I also know a few Birmingham online grad teachers, who were turned down for Saudi visas. |
So it's out then. Not that being rejected for Saudi Arabia should be that big of a deal, however you don't want to spend all the money for the physical and flying to your home country only to find out that they reject University of Birmingham online degrees. With the way the SMAC is maybe they reject the University of Birmingham degrees all together. |
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