Has anyone done any online or correspondence study? I am looking into a couple of bookkeeping/small business management courses. Thompson Direct, ACS etc.
How did you find it? Ive had a look at the Thompson forums and there looks to be some pretty confused people out there, LOL.
I have done online study, but not through Thompson. I did it through TAFE and it was pretty good because I could just ring them up and ask them questions and get hints when I was totally stuck. It was just hard getting motivated... the problem was that the internet is full of interesting things and I am easily distracted, so the course took me alot longer than it really needed to because of that. It was also great that I didnt need to actually go to classes or go somewhere to sit an exam, so that made it so much easier for me.
Natalie, my brothers GF is doing a postgrad qualification online and on DVD. She finds it really good. They have on line discussion forums for the subjects etc.
I am actually on campus at uni and half of my stuff is delivered online anyway lol!! Its hard to stay motivated but the online stuff is great because I can do it at night when Em is asleep so it fits into my lifestyle really well.
It is definitely a good idea if the internet doesn't distract you and you can stay organized and motivated!
I did my degree via distance ed. My course did require me to attend on campus workshops a couple of times a year and I LOVED being on campus but loved the lfexible learning structure I had. Studying distance ed meant that I could fit study in around work and not the other way. It gave me so much flexibility in general. Another benefit I found is that, in my profession, people who did the qualification this way are held in higher regard than those who studied on campus as we are considered to be more motivated blah blah blah (don't think it is really an indicator but hey...). For me, the down side was how difficult it was for me to get in contact with lecturers (I lived in a different state to the Uni so couldn't just rock up and knock on an office door). I went to the same Uni as Lea but as an external I (and my friends) found it extremely hard to get hold of our lecturers when we needed assistance and that in most cases the online discussion boards were of little use towards the end of the degree. At the same time, the online disucssion pages were a massive support and fantastic network - especially around assignments and exams.
I truly believe that for a student to be successful with distance ed/flexible learning/courses by correspondence, they need to be self motivating, dedicated and above all FLEXIBLE. I wouldn't change my experience for anything and when I'm ready to do post graduate studies I have every intention of doing it via distance ed again.
I have recently been accepted into my course which is through OTEN. I looked at doing my course with Thompson but the same course was going to cost about $1000 more. I also looked into it a bit and also found that many people were not happy with the support offered offered by other couse providers. I also asked a few employers about what they thought in relation to what course company was best and all recommended OTEN. The other good thing is OTEN is a part of Tafe NSW so you get use of the tafe library. I plan to do around 10 hours of study a week which will set me the goal of completing my course in a year & a half. I also have to do on the job training for 100hours so I will try and do this in school holidays and get my cousin to look after my kids (she is doing the same course at tafe) as she get school holidays.
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