Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Distance Education Courses for Easy Access to Learning

There are many people in Australia who would like to continue their education to change their jobs, give themselves better promotion prospects, and get started in an industry or just purely for their own personal development and satisfaction. Some people think that they have to physically attend an education location and listen to lectures, make notes and so on. However it is far from a new idea to be able to carry out studies through distance learning courses. Many years ago these were entirely carried out via post, but now most are carried out through the posting of course books and also interactive online activities.

In many cases it is because there is a large distance between the physical locations of where someone lives and the place where the course is held that will stop them from attending as there is not only the course time that has to be accounted for but also travel to and from the course location. There is also the cost of travel to be taken into account as well. While some employers are sympathetic to the taking of development courses and allow a part time release for study, for others it is not practical. Distance education courses remove all of these impediments as you can study at home and work your study hours around you other commitments.

Some people think that a qualification gained through distance learning is somehow inferior to one that has been gained through attending a course in person. While this may have been true many years ago, now distance education courses are just as valid as taught courses and the qualifications that are gained through distance learning are recognised across Australia. In fact many of the courses on offer are supported by some of Australia’s top universities.

There are a range of facilities that you will have access to as part of your distance education experience. One of these is a place to get together online with other people from your course so that you can discuss elements of the course and help each other out. You will also have a tutor for your course that you will have regular contact with to ensure that any problems or questions you have are dealt with.

The validity of many courses is further backed up by the fact that they are accredited by national regulatory bodies. One example of this is the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers that has accredited several of the finance and bookkeeping courses. This also gives you the advantage of being able to become a student member of an institute to take advantage of magazines, conferences and other events that may provide you with contacts or job opportunities.

There is a huge range of courses that are available and that cover subjects from agriculture to art. There are a number of different levels that you can study at and so you can build up a study programme that will lead you to the qualification that you are aiming for.