Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Karabeara]

I would like to get my Masters Degree. From what I have seen, this will take me a minimum of 1 1/2 years (FT) or 3 to 4 years (PT).

Should I get mine here, or overseas? Is there more value to an MA from back home, compared to one from a Korean school? Online?

My uncle hires people for programming jobs. He hired one woman with an online degree, and he vowed never to do so again, even though the school is considered reputable. He says she does not know squat.

Due to this, and the fast increase of online degrees, I am a little scared to take that route. Also, I have to assume that there is a great deal that you are missing by not working/teaching PT at the university where you are getting your MA. Am I wrong? Feel free to correct me here. I am by no means an expert.

Should I return home for two years, after this contract, and get my MA in TESL? Should I consider continuing on to a Ph. D? Is it worth it, or does a Ph. D offer little value in Korea over an MA, given this racist, xenophobic, anti-everyone else society?

I would love your comments.

[laogaiguk]

First, why do you want to get one? Is it just for career advancement, salary or for education? I am not asking this to be high and mighty, as the answer makes a big difference.

For future career opportunities, do it at home. Some people say online degrees are getting more and more popular and hence becoming more prominent and respected. But in my opinion, the increase in online MA's just shows how pathetic the standards are to enter them and from the MA's I've worked with, a lot of them really do suck (and are actually becoming less respected due to these people, though it will take some time for that to permeate the industry). Finally, while no one will ever say this, if someone is looking at two resumes, one with an online degree and the other with a brick uni one, and not much else to differentiate the candidates, guess which one they will go for???

[Karabeara]

I found this. Very Jay-Me-So!

http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/dec/essay.phd.html

[Karabeara]

The answer:

I want to continue doing this for a long time (teaching). I enjoy it, and want to make myself a better teacher. In the future, perhaps an MA will be required if I stay overseas.

I really want to learn from the experts. I am not sure I can do that all online, and share many of your feelings.

[laogaiguk]

[cubanlord]

some online Master's programs (from good schools) provide the same curriculm that the residence curriculm has. The only difference is the delivery method. FYI - I will be starting my master's this June. Upon graduating, I will be receiving an MBA (in about 2.5 years part-time) from FAU (in Florida). Their requirements for admittance online are the same as in residence. THOSE are the schools you want. When you graduate, as is my case, your degree will indicate what you earned; not that it was online (as your online courses could have been taken on campus). Same degree, different medium used for information delivery.

WATCH OUT FOR THE FAKE CRAP THAT IS OUT THERE!#$@%@!@ Do your homework on these places.

I was admitted to FAU for summer term; waiting to hear back from FSU for fall term (will transfer if accepted to FSU).

If you need help or have questions, let me know. I may be able to help you.

[Paji eh Wong]

I'd suggest against wasting your time and money with a Korean University.

[fusionbarnone]

Woosong university is about to launch their MA in Tesol this fall(it's the advert. on Dave's homepage). The total cost, according to Dr. Pederson, is 5 million(won) and can be completed in one year. They will look at credit transfers too.

Graduation requirements consist of 24 units, at three units per course. Thesis credits are included. That makes 9 courses total for a cost of 4,500,000 won. Plus the one-time entrance fee of 550,000 won, puts the total at just over 5,000,000 won, of about $5,000 dollars US.

This is apparently half of what Korean citizens pay.

Compared to other courses I've seen, this is do-able. Especially, when you consider that there are outfits offering MA courses for a small fortune who aren't even universities.

[Karabeara]

Wouldn't you seriously call this the "dumbing down" of the Masters Degree to allow it to happen in just one year?

Just commenting. I know you're just offering a friendly suggestion, and I thank you for the interesting lead.

[fusionbarnone]

For a choice of TESOL related courses try Dave's ESL Cafe website under Teacher training discussions.

If you would like to research further; try these resources

Distance Learning Books:

John Bear and Mariah Bear, _Bears' Guide to Distance Learning Programs_
Marcie Thorson, _Campus Free College Degrees_
Matthew Helm and April Helm, _Get Your Degree Online_
_Peterson's Guide to Distance Learning Programs_
_Barron's Guide to Distance Learning_

Distance Learning Internet-Based Discussion Boards:

degreeboard www.degreeboard.com
degreediscussion www.degreediscussion.com
degreeforum www.degreeforum.com
degreeinfo www.degreeinfo.com
Distance Education www.aimoo.com/forum/freeboard.cfm?id=684455
USNews.com education ("prospero boards")
http://forums.prospero.com

Education degrees(Masters)
Salem International University used to have a DL TESOL MA

University of South Africa
http://www.unisa.ac.za/Default.asp?...ContentID=18101

Atlantic Union College www.atlanticuc.edu (BG15, 155)
Australian Catholic University www.acuweb.com.au (BG15, 99)
University of Calgary http://external.educ.ucalgary.ca/gder/index.html (BG15, 177)
Capella University www.capella.edu (BG15, 156)
Central Queensland University www.dtls.cqu.edu.au (BG15, 103)
City University www.cityu.edu (BG15, 105)
Curtin University of Technology http://cea.curtin.edu.au (BG15, 107)
Dallas Baptist University www.dbu.edu (BG15, 107)
Deakin University www.deakin.edu.au (BG15, 108)
Emporia State University http://lifelong.emporia.edu (BG15, 110)
Florida State University http://online.fsu.edu (BG15, 112)
University of Illinois Springfield http://online.uis.edu (BG15, 138)
Indiana State University www.indstate.edu (BG15, 161)
Institute of Education at the University of London.

http://www.londonexternal.ac.uk/educationleadership
Jones International University www.international.edu (BG15, 117)
University of Leicester www.le.ac.uk (BG15, 138)
Maryvale Institute www.maryvale.ac.uk (BG15, 163)
University of Massachusetts Lowell http://continuinged.uml.edu (BG15, 140)
University of Montana Missoula www.umt.edu (BG15, 178)
National University (California) http://online.nu.edu (BG15, 124)
University of Nebraska Lincoln www.unl.edu (BG15, 179)
University of Pretoria www.up.ac.za (BG15, 143)
Seton Hall University www.setonworldwide.edu (BG15, 171)
University of South Alabama http://usaonline.southalabama.edu (BG15, 145)
Southern Oregon University www.sou.edu (BG15, 173)

ntioch University www.antioch.edu
Ball State University www.bsu.edu
University of Bradford www.brad.ac.uk
California State University Fresno www.csufresno.edu
Central Missouri State University www.cmsu.edu
Chadron State College www.csc.edu
Charles Sturt University www.csu.edu.au
Concordia University Wisconsin www.cuw.edu
George Fox University www.georgefox.edu
Jones International University www.jonesinternational.edu
Liberty University www.liberty.edu
University of Massachusetts www.umassonline.net
University of Missouri http://mudirect.missouri.edu
Montana State University www.montana.edu
University of New England www.une.edu.au
Northern Arizona University www.nau.edu
University of North Carolina Greensboro www.uncg.edu
Northcentral University www.ncu.edu
University of Northern Iowa www.uni.edu
Nova Southeastern University www.nova.edu
Old Dominion University www.odu.edu
Oral Roberts University www.oru.edu
Oxford Brookes University www.brookes.ac.uk
University of Phoenix http://online.uophx.edu
Regent University www.regent.edu
Saint Mary's College www.smumn.edu
San Diego State University www.sdsu.edu
State University of West Georgia www.westga.edu
University of Tennessee Martin www.utm.edu
Texas A & M University www.tamu.edu
Touro University International www.tourou.edu
Union Institute www.tui.edu
Walden University www.waldenu.edu
Wayne State College www.wsc.edu
William Woods University www.wmwoods.edu

Anaheim University offers an MBA in 12 months.
Accreditation is here:
http://www.anaheim.edu/faq/MBAfaq/credentials.shtml $980 per course for 10 courses. they only have 3 majors, an MBA, an MA in TESOL, and a Master's in Intercultural Relations

Additional links:
DL MEd Programs (Under $10,000) http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showth...&threadid=19428
DL MEd Programs ($10,000-$15,000) http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showth...&threadid=19430
DL MEd Programs ($15,000-$20,000) http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showth...&threadid=19509
DL MEd Programs (Over $20,000) http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showth...&threadid=19517
DL MEd Programs (No Pricing Info Found) http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showth...&threadid=19425

Is it dumbing-down, I don't know as I've never completed an online degree(current MA is 2 yrs brick and mortar attendance). The Korean National University of Education seemed to think so though(of all one year online MA degrees). Since I graduated BA one year and MA( gained permission for a 2 year masters and had to complete one paper for BA during the first MA year) following year, the Koreans 'assumed" it was an online degree(ala, uno ano) and refused to pay a masters level salary. Presented a transcript to justify the 500k per mth pay increase.

Thought that experience would be worth mentioning.

[Big Mac]

I think the online schools have their place. I don't think earning a degree online is the ideal situation.

I'm thinking of taking a few English courses online with Athabasca University. I want to go to teacher's college and I don't have enough English courses to make it a teachable subject.

Since Athabasca is an accredited online university the courses are recognized by other universities in Canada.

So for someone in my position, I think it is useful. But I would never try to earn a degree with a place like that.

[Francis-Pax]

[Keepongoing]

I did a 2 year resident MA TESOL program at California State University, San Jose. It was a smal graduate program with a broad mixture of students. Some were from Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Thailand. I value the face to face interactions we had both in class and outside of class. I also valued to face to face interactions I had with my professors. I think the spontaneous exchange of ideas and information made the residential course quite valuable.

I am sure the content and textbooks would be the same for an online course, but I doubt it could duplicate the experience of being face to face with someone.

IItis not practical for everyone to take two years out and go back to school. I have some friends who did an online MA TESOL' from an Australian University, and have no doubt that they learned a lot and worked very hard to get those degrees.

If you are young, I am not sure an MA has that much meaning to an employer in Korea. There are some universities that state they require it, but I know many working in those Universities who do not have an MA.

[PRagic]

If you want to teach English, I'd suggest doing your degree on-line while you bank away the coin here in Korea. The credits from a good on-line program will transfer over to a Ph.D./Ed.D. program, and you'll go in flush rather than impoverished. Good luck.

[guangho]

I'm doing an MA through http://www.mastersinpoland.com and it's premised on the idea that you do not pay tuition if you work through them. However, they have a hard time placing students and the Polish (host) Uni tends to do everything half-assed anyway. BUT it is an American, accredited M.A. (Framingham State College-framingham.edu) so your degree will be legit. Classes run for two weeks every semester (2 classes a semester, 8 hours of classes every day for those two weeks) and that allows you to work elsewhere and just come in for the classes. The next session will be June 19-30. If you are an EU citizen, so much the better b/c there is no need to worry about work permits and you can just find a job Europe-wide on your own. If not, you can just take the courses and commute every four months or so. Or you can roll the dice and accept employment through the Polish Uni and thus not pay tuition but you'll need to have a high tolerance for incompetence.