Have anyone finished a DL course?

[Heather Baba]

Hello

It's about the end of the academic year and I am just wondering if anyone has recently finished a DL course?

How do you feel?
Was it worth it?
What were the low and high points?
Would you do it again?

I've just finished a second MA by DL and would never, ever do such a course again - no dreams of a PhD for me! However, I would definitely do a short course again by DL but preferably one without major credit-bearing assignments - and definitely NOT a dissertation!

Best wishes and have a great holiday!

Heather

[Paraskevi Andreopoulou]

Hi Heather

Why do you have such a negative attitude to those courses???? I'm asking you,for I want to do an M.A. TESOL  by distance learning at the Sheffield Hallam University in U.K. ;are things so horrible????

Cheers

Vivienne

--
Website: http://ilearn.20m.com - wiki: http://tailearn.pbwiki.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Distance Learning Issues" group.
To post to this group, send email to
distancelea...@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
distancelearningi...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/distancelearningissues?hl=en

[James Buckingham]

Heather

I think it would be worth sharing just what you thought was either present or absent that resulted in the whole experience being generally NOT positive. It would be good fodder for others to dwell on if they are contemplating realizing a degree through distance learning. I’m a graduate of the Open U’s MA in ODE (Online & Distance Ed) and can say that while there were certainly a few things that I thought were not appropriate or needed to still be reviewed, generally speaking I thought the program modeled what it was “preaching” through the content / activities in the course.. and so have high praise for it. In fact, I have a pretty clear idea about what is important to look out for in any DE program. Should anyone be interested .. I’ll expand on this.

[Heather Baba]

Hi Vivienne and Jim First I'd like to say that I am an absolute fan of distance learning - given the fact I live mostly out of the UK it has been my only option for getting additional qualifications. This time I was doing a course out of field (Museum Studies) so there was a lot to learn as I have also never worked in a museum environment. The course was largely paper-based with occasional links to things. There was no real interaction on the discussion forum (that's not surprising - but that's another story ...), and no collaborative projects etc. Just essays and a dissertation.  Maybe my study skills are rusty, maybe I am too slow and careful - I don't know but when assignments were due, it was miserable - no matter how early I started - and the hours, days and weeks chained the computer doing the dissertation were awful. It was the editing, proofing, footnoting and all that that was the killer and kill-joy for me. The content was interesting, it was a great challenge and I'm an experienced distance learner ... however, it was exhausting and unhealthy at the end. As I said, I would do short courses again (by DL or F2F) but not a longterm commitment. I'll probably do some research and articles on my own initiative but not for a degree. I am definitely very positive about the potential of DL - but maybe I am getting too old for studying - there has to be more to life than combing through paragraphs rereading, deleting the odd word, putting in quotation marks and proofing footnotes in microscopic font! Best wishes Heather Vivienne - I have heard good things about the MA TESOL at Sheffield Hallam (and I did my LTCL thru them years ago). Hey! we used to have a wiki re DL but I think it's long forgotten and probably out of date - anyone want to revive it for sharing experiences? --- On Mon, 13/6/11, James Buckingham <James.Bu...@zu.ac.ae> wrote:

[Phil Cozens]

Hi Vivienne,   I don't think that Heather has a 'negative' view, but she also knows just how difficult they can be.  BTW, an old friend of mine took the Sheffield course and said that although it was hard, it was worth doing it.   Regards, Phil --- On Mon, 13/6/11, Paraskevi Andreopoulou <pandreo...@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Paraskevi Andreopoulou <pandreo...@gmail.com> Subject: Re: {DLIssues} Have anyone finished a DL course?

[Raymond Sheehan]

Heather wrote that she would do another shorter DL course: "but preferably one without major credit-bearing assignments - and definitely NOT a dissertation"

 

The objection seems to be not to the 'distance' aspect of the course, but the length, the demands, the 'credit-bearing' assignments and the dissertation. However, these are all realities that on-campus students must also deal with. The distance aspect per se does not seem to be an issue.

 

And I hope nobody would make the unresearched argument that on-campus students have less work, fewer family commitments, etc than DL students. Many on-campus students may be single parents, working part or full time to meet the fees, tutoring, ... The individual circumstances of students whether on-campus or DL. that affect study completion rates are extremely variable.

 

I also, as an ageing person (!) resent the insinuation that age has a detrimental effect upon learning, motivation, stamina, etc. On the contrary: Nowadays we older people should welcome the many opportunities that are available to continue learning whether it's an on-line quickie or a more structured long term course leading to a degree. 

 

Postgraduate students probably need to write dissertations for the same reason that our students on an academic path need to write essays: the value lies not in the product itself  (the essay or the dissertation) but in the student's successful engagement in the process, the different stages of research, organizing ideas, formulating and reformulating, structuring and restructuring, negotiating and compromising; setting a goal and finding the time, the means, the people to help reach that goal....The dissertation simply testifies to the fact that the demanding academic process has been sucessfully carried out throught its various stages, and completion is the ultimate stage in a field where many seem to drop out for whatever reason at various stages.

 

One can understand a feeling of exhaustion and 'never again' at the end of the DL process, particularly when it's for a degree. One  hopes the prostrate feeling is shortlived. One should also applaud the sense of achievement and give oneself a big pat on the back and celebrate, and most of all give thanks that we have such easy access to education nowadays if we have are among the better off on the planet.

 

Have a nice summer!

[Sohaib Sandhu]

Dear Heather,

 

Did my MA Education (Applied Linguistics) whilst in Saudi. It was a DL course from the OU in the UK.

 

My indiscipline was the casue of lows, but I had an underlying motivation to get the MA as it would open doors. I was extremely motivated and aged 40 when I started (I'm formerly an accountant much of which was also distance learning although I lived in London).

 

Now doing an EdD at Bristol in Tesol/Applied Linguistics which is part-time/distance and am loving it. So a few visits required. Some colleagues are doing the Sunderland MA, and all I can observe, is that time management requires further consideration on their part. No one has complained about difficulty.

 

Just imagine where you want to be!!

 

best,

 

Sohaib

 

Sohaib Sandhu

Taibah University

Madinah, KSA