Korean Job Discussion Forums

TECO · Joined: 20 Jan 2003

Distance Education and post graduate work are not compatible.

Avoid The University of Southern Queensland.

Do it on-campus.

Zed · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Shakedown Street

Did you have to pay more for your tuition as a foreign student in Australia then you did taking the courses via distance?

Can you work on an Australian student visa?

Zed · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Shakedown Street

TECO · Joined: 20 Jan 2003

Zed,

you've been talking a lot about distance M.A. programs - are you in one or considering doing one?

In my view, your better off going back for the 2 semesters it takes to do one.

Australian programs are still the cheapest, shortest (and easiest ?)compared to the Canadian/American/U.K. programs.

Ryst Helmut · Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2004 1:26 pm Post subject:

Zed · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Shakedown Street

TECO · Joined: 20 Jan 2003

Zed,

You can work on a student work visa.

Macquarie is in Sydney, so it's going to be more expensive than other areas for rent.

I paid about $1, 400 per course at USQ in Queensland but I would not recommend that you go there.

Macquarie is more expensive than USQ but not sure how much more.

Macquarie is also a great school from what I've heard and their TESOL program is probably the best in the country if not one of the best in Asia.

I still recommend you try and save up enough to do 2 semesters in Australia just to give credibility to your degree.

If you do it solely by distance, you run the risk of some countries/universities not recognizing your education, as unreasonable as that may seem.

You don't want to spend $15,000 on tuition only to learn that your degree isn't accepted in some parts.

The reality is that distance degrees aren't as accepted as on-campus programs and are still considered 'second rate.'

Zed · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Shakedown Street

Thanks for the advice (over the past several months). If I can work there then it would make sense to do a year there surely. Not only that but I've never been to Straya.

Ryst Helmut · Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2004 6:39 pm Post subject:

TECO · Joined: 20 Jan 2003

Zed,

I'm happy to tell you what I know/remember from my time in Australia. If I were to do it again, I'd probably go to Macquarie also.

CELTA - getting those 4 credits towards your M.A. is sweet!! How many courses is 4 credits - 2? I'm guessing you're exempt from Methodology and SLA - right?

I now wish that I had done my CELTA before my M.A. degree and had gone to Macquarie.

You're definitely doing what I should have done more of - asking tons of questions!

Zed · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Shakedown Street

One course is 4 credits at Macquarie so I only have to take 9 instead of 10 courses and save $1600 (this year's prices). They haven't informed me that it is in lieu of a particular course so I'm assuming it counts as an elective. I'll have to check.

By November I should only need 7 more courses. I think I may take one more via distance and then do 2 semesters with 3 courses in each on site. That should qualify it as an on-site course I would expect and allow me enough time to do some PT work also. I better start putting my money aside.

TECO · Joined: 20 Jan 2003

taking 3 courses each semester on-campus is a good idea. 3 courses per semester is still considered full-time study as well.

The good thing about studying at Macquarie is that even though you may pay more for housing, Sydney has more choices for part time work and a good transportation system.

Hanson · Joined: 20 Oct 2004

I'm more confused than ever... Shocked

MacQuarie, USQ, UNE, Birmingham, on and on and on...

Distance vs. on-campus.

UAE, Taiwan don't accept distance MA's, or do they? Confused

CELTA first, or don't bother?

My wife is expecting in August, and she has an Australian passport (of Korean descent) - maybe I could do a few semesters in Australia...

SOOOOOOOO much to consider!

I'll keep on researching...

Fat Marley · Joined: 16 May 2005

Anyone have any information on the University of Liverpool?

Is it credible? Or is it an online rip-off?

Thanks

turtlepi1 · Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE

So my Masters isn't in Linguistics it is in Educational Technology.

It is delivered solely on-line through the University of British Columbia in Partnership with the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey. The entrance requirements are the same as for the "traditional" on-campus masters programs. The "father" of e-learning (Tony Bates, PhD) designed the program.

The courses range the gambit from using technology to enhance the traditional classroom to completely on-line education. The material is quite interesting.

Anyway earlier someone suggested that post grad work was not suited to an online environment. I would suggest the opposite. I would suggest the higher levels of study lend more to on-line because they become more research based (assuming you can access the reading materials). The one down-side is that in academia as in business it isn't always what you know, but who you know and sometimes building personal relationships on-line is more difficult.

But in the interest of how online degrees are perceived I decided to start doing research into the PhD programs I am interested in. I have looked at both traditional and online (with on-campus sessions twice per year). So far my research has turned up that not only will the online degree not hamper my acceptance, it is considered a very reputable program.

It all comes down to where you do your degree and the reputation of the school and the resources they put into a program. By the reasoning of some here, some would suggest that a degree earned online from Harvard would be less respected than a traditional degree earned from Butt-FUQ U.

The people who do traditional degrees need to believe on-campus degrees are better otherwise why did they invest that time and lost earning potiential. People who are too lazy to do a degree also need to believe that on-line degrees are inferior because once they believe that the have an excuse for not starting a degree. And traditional profs that have no interest in teaching online also have a stake in perpetuating the myth of on-line degrees.

Does this mean all on-line degrees are great? Hell no!! Are all traditional programs great? Hell no!!

Hell the degree is only $3000 a year. Once I stopped drinking I more than paid for the degree. Smile

The world today is about life-long learning. Pretty much no matter what your needs are, choose an accredited program with strong pedagogical outcomes and it will serve you in the long-run regardless of the delivery method.