australian distance ed for foriegn students

hello

http://www.thomsoneducationdirect.com.au


this is the australian branch of education direct.

can any of the ozzies on the board tell me whether their programs are considered legit?

are their australian programs delivered pretty much the same way as the american ones?


if they aren't considered legit are there any other institutions that are... that would allow foreign students to take their courses without coming to australia?


(already found oli.... am going to inquire there... any others?)

 

The programs all appear to be accredited by VETAB which is an approved AQF listed accreditor. National units of competence are taught, whilst some Certificate programs are part of the AQF. Should be no problems here.

Cheers,

George

 

It depends on what area you are considering.

I am fairly familiar with their courses having read several of them, and written/tutored for their opposition for some years - namely TAFE Frontiers [Victoria], and Open Learning New Zealand's Australian operations.

My comments are:

1. The courses are more or less rebadged ICS courses.

2. They are essentially paper based DE courses.

3. Not all are Australian AQF courses as some are one-off or tangental modules.

4. You need to be sure that you are doing an award e.g AQF Certificate 3 or 4, or and AQF Diploma, and not a Thomson 'Diploma' - some of these are more or less about a subject in comparison to typical Australian courses of several subjects bearing the same name.

5. Where the 'course' is accredited under AQF you also need to be sure that you are not just doing one subject that looks like a course - for example the 'modules' may appear to be separate modules, but could just be divisions within the one module. In these cases you MUST get the AQF designations of the modules, and if you only get one designation it may be as I found out recently, that it was NOT a course but one subject. It was very well done, but it was still only one subject.

If you care to give me more information as to what you are seeking, I can make a recommendation. Seriously, for the money ....

Remember - the area you are looking at is NOT, I repeat NOT the University of Higher education area, but Vocational ot Technical at best.

 

what i was looking at was the certificate IV in business or business admin....



mainly because im already doing an associate degree program in management here, but wouldnt mind possibly migrating sometime in the future... i just thought maybe getting some actual australian training might help me make the transition if i do?

would it even really be worth the bother? would i be better off finishing my bachelor's here before even trying?

 

A Cert IV in Business Admin won't get you very far here - compared to what you are doing it may be even be taking you backwards from where you are. It is about half of a Diploma, about 12 months fulltime worth, then you have to complete the Diploma and then the Advanced Diploma - Cert IV - Advanced Diploma is typically 2 years at 20 hours a week which is regarded as a fulltime load. At best that will get you 1 years credit at a University towards a Bachelors degree program e.g. Bachelor of Business.

If the FTA agreement goes through - don't hold your breath - there is provision for cross recognition of qualifications and your US degree makes more sense.

Hope this helps,

 

A Cert IV in Business Admin won't get you very far here - compared to what you are doing it may be even be taking you backwards from where you are. It is about half of a Diploma, about 12 months fulltime worth, then you have to complete the Diploma and then the Advanced Diploma - Cert IV - Advanced Diploma is typically 2 years at 20 hours a week which is regarded as a fulltime load. At best that will get you 1 years credit at a University towards a Bachelors degree program e.g. Bachelor of Business.

If the FTA agreement goes through - don't hold your breath - there is provision for cross recognition of qualifications and your US degree makes more sense.

Hope this helps,

 

one year's credit for that much time? yikes

doesnt sound very good lol


sounds like id be better off finishing my school here... or looking for distance ed classes from an actual university there


thanks for the help


p.s. time for me to sound even more uninformed what is "FTA agreement"?

 

And when will the FTA agreement come into affect?
And will it mean that I won't need to get my Australian university credit evaluated by ECE for transfer to Excelsior?

 

The Australia-US FTA comes into effect on 1 January 2005.

This is what I managed to find regarding mutual recognition of academic credentials at this site http://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/negotiations/us_fta/final-text/chapter_10.html

"Annex 10-A - Professional Services
Development of Professional Services

1. The Parties shall encourage the relevant bodies in their respective territories to develop mutually acceptable standards and criteria for licensing and certification of professional services suppliers and to provide recommendations on mutual recognition to the Joint Committee.

2. The standards and criteria referred to in paragraph 1 may be developed with regard to the following matters:

(a) education – accreditation of schools or academic programs;

(b) examinations – qualifying examinations for licensing, including alternative methods of assessment, such as oral examinations and interviews;"

Looks like good news, or does it?

 

You may want to look at the "Australian College of Commerce and Management" they offer a Diploma in Business (Frontline Management) that is more affordable then Education Directs courses (Australia). It also offers the program via distance learning and is a registered training organisation listed on the NTIS website.

http://www.ascm.com.au/