Always the same countries?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by angela, Jan 2, 2004.

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  1. angela

    angela New Member

    I can't help noticing that all the DL discussions (and google) focus on offerings from UK, USA, Oz and Canada, with a little of "Old Europe" ;) thrown in occasionally.

    Is there nothing of value emanting from the other ex-Brit colonies? (esp West Indies, India, Pakistan, HK). Nothing wrong with the software skills in some of these places!

    And what about Eastern Europe/Russia? They had an awesome reputation in some of the quant fields.

    The obvious answers are that either no-one in the "first world" wants a degree from one of these places, or that the academics with the wherewithall (and English) skills, have emigrated, or that they don't have the infrastructure.

    Any thoughts? Any options out there?
     
  2. -kevin-

    -kevin- Resident Redneck

    Infrastructure is an issue as you move past the UK. I have an acquaintance who is Russian and travels frequently to Russia on trips. He was educated in the States. I'll ask him the next time I see him about the university offerings in Russia. Plenty of .ru websites though.....
     
  3. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    There also seems to be a lot of discussion on Australian and South African opportunities.
     
  4. Charles

    Charles New Member

    Hi Angela,

    I note you omitted South Africa. A few of us are pursuing degrees from South African universities. South Africa's educational trends are frequently discussed.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 2, 2004
  5. roysavia

    roysavia New Member

    Hi Angela,
    Actually there are some very good universities in the middle east and the orient. The only problem with taking courses through these institutions is language. Many of the programs are not available in the English language. As a result, such DL programs are not appealing to many english speaking students.
     
  6. Professor Kennedy

    Professor Kennedy New Member

    Students can take the EBS MBA in Hebrew and Chinese, and from June 2004 in Spanish and from December 2004 in Arabic. It is the same degree in all the languages as the English language MBA degree, and exactly the same examinations.

    In my experience, non-English speaking universities are a bit behind in DL developments but I expect this to change within three to five years.
     
  7. Jack Tracey

    Jack Tracey New Member

    I'm guess that Angela's omission of South African degree opportunities was a simple mistake as, I believe, she is considering a ZA degree herself.
    Jack
     
  8. Jack Tracey

    Jack Tracey New Member

    Beyond that, there are a few issues that I've identified. First, there's the language of instruction. Oooops! Did you miss it? There went Europe (although we recently had an interesting thread about schools in the Netherlands (wasn't it?) most European schools do not offer instruction in English (which remains the dominant language of this forum). Second is just the whole DL factor. Three fourths of the world population is illiterate (I made up that statistic but I wouldn't be too surprised if it were close to correct) and so it's difficult for many contries to consider implementing a DL infrastructure to reach out to who, people who are not prepared to accept this service? This is why all the South African newspapers cover stories of elementary school and high school education. They understand that the problem must be addressed down there. Other countries, I presume, are not unhappy with the current state of affairs. Next there is the issue of citizenship. There are some places (like India and Hong Kong) that do have DL programs in place but they are only open to their citizens. Finally, I recently posted a link to a Russian DL program. You might want to look it up. If you continue to be interested in exploring these prospects (and more) you might want to start here:
    http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/cdemello/geog.html
    It's a small world (but I wouldn't want to paint it)
    Jack
     
  9. George Brown

    George Brown Active Member

    The only thing emanating from the West Indies is degree mills.

    Cheers,

    George
     
  10. atraxler

    atraxler New Member

    Professor Kennedy,

    Will the study materials be available in those languages as well? Can a student in the US take the exams in Spanish?

    Thank you,
     
  11. angela

    angela New Member

    Ooops!

    Yes, I omitted South Africa in error. Pretty dumb, since I live there and am considering studying there!
     
  12. Professor Kennedy

    Professor Kennedy New Member

    "Will the study materials be available in those languages as well? Can a student in the US take the exams in Spanish?

    Alex Traxler
    Spring, TX"

    Answer: Yes. It is already possible to take the MBA exams in Chinese at any of 350 examination centres used twice a year and, on occasion, the 12 sites used four times a year. The English and Chinese versions of the exam questions are on opposite pages.

    When Spanish comes on stream this summer (Northern Hemisphere) the same will apply. Students may register to sit their exam in Spanish in the USA - whether they studied it in English or Spanish - at any of our US centres.

    One rule applies, for all languages - if the student answers a question in Spanish, he or she must complete the whole examination in Spanish (and vice versa for any language that is permitted). Mixed language answers create an administrative exception and in DL exceptions always cause problems.

    I think it is only time before multi-language degrees are the norm. The claim of English to be the only winner in the language contest is an ethnocentric bias. Its various forms make it an international language but not the only language. Written Chinese and Spanish are strong contenders too.

    The Internet is young and assumptions that it will drive local langauges out are in doubt. Television has not done so. Once local production is geared up to cope (as it is with TV), local languages continue. I suspect the same will happen in DL.

    The bias Angela sees is an expression of the bias on degreeinfo and most other English Boards. The world looks different from inside China, and from inside 'Globalespania', the 22 Arabic countries - and little Israel. Well, so it seems to me in little Scotland, home of the 18th century Enlightenment.
     
  13. Felipe C. Abala

    Felipe C. Abala New Member

    My opinion is, acceptability in the global market place.

    Just imagine how someone would think while reading a News Paper Job Ad which says like "...Wanted Systems Administrator - must be US or UK educated..."

    If you insist of sending in your Resume, it will end up in a trash bin if your degree does not sound like American or British or if not from the country of origin of the guy/lady who receives it.

    This might not be happening in the US and in the UK and in most advanced countries, but try to get hold of "Gulf News Appointments" and see it for yourself (do some google search on "gulf news" as I don't want to mention the place in this forum).

    Someone who dreamed of having a niche of this market (or just want to earn a living too) will not have a second thought obtaining a US or UK degree.

    Each has his own reason for pursuing his education in any place he wants.

    I could have pursued a DL Masters program in my country at approximately $250 per semester (2 courses), but to what extent of acceptability it will offer me in the long run?

    Many reasons to many people....
     
  14. uncle janko

    uncle janko member

    Quite a while back, somebody posted a bunch of links to legitimate Romanian universities ostensibly offering DL. I dutifully contacted each of them, and the overwhelming majority did not in fact offer DL, or the websites were so incoherent that everything contradicted everything else. Follow-up e-mails confirmed these findings. The few that did actually offer DL were much more rigid in procedures and schedules than many Anglophone DLers would be used to. There may have been progress in the intervening year or so, but there would need to be substantial changes before these (often rather prestigious) schools could become standard players in DL.
     
  15. hermes

    hermes New Member

    A solution to non-US degee problem

    Here the strategy I expect to take.

    1. Research which US/UK/Canadian/ Australian universities which have my major accept generous transfer credits. Thus I will be enquiring from Amerian Public University (same same Amercian Military University) and Washington State University.

    2. Study most of my favorite subjects at an awesomely lower cost university in second and third world countries.

    3. Then apply for a degree at a more prestigious university in the west.

    Problem solved?

    But I agree with the original poster that it is frustrating that ex-British colonies with high tech capabilities and where English is commonly spoken by the educated do not have a DL industry that caters to foreigners. Unfortunately UNISA does not cater to Indic or even Asian Studies.

    It's a bizarre business situation. They could be making a much higher profit (they could charge more for foreign students) and students would be still getting a huge savings, yet USA still dominates the market.

    Just consider IGNOU (New Delhi). Fantastic looking very cheap program in my field of studies (Indic Studies) . Yet they don't reply to my enquiries!
     
  16. hermes

    hermes New Member

    ah, 3 vs. 4 year degree...

    There is another problem with non-western degrees. A BA degree earned from a US university is four years in length. I presume the same is true of many other developed countries. However both IGNOU (India) and UNISA (South Africa) are three year degreees, yes?

    So when that job opportunity for an ESL teacher in Kuwait opens up and it clearly states 'Four year university degree' you are out of luck. Wasted time and money.
     
  17. Professor Kennedy

    Professor Kennedy New Member

    While graduates from Scotland would have no porblem with the four year degree requirement, those from England would have.

    First degrees in England, including from all the top universities (Oxford, Cambridge, London) are three year degrees. Oh dear! Graduates from one of the world's best education systems would not be accepted in Kuwait.

    I am sure they manage though. Judging the worth of a degree by non-relevant criteria (its duration, pre-course qualifications, 'gender' balance and inclusion policies, and so on) is a nonsense. Measure by outputs no inputs, and if anyone doubts that a three years first class honours from a English university is lower standard than a four year from Scotland (OK, I'll make an exception about Scotland!) or from the USA, they do not know what they are comparing. Final years Honours classes in English universities are comparable with those in US (and, Kuwait too).
     
  18. Felipe C. Abala

    Felipe C. Abala New Member

    Re: ah, 3 vs. 4 year degree...

    In the country where I came from, BS/BA degrees has a minimum of four years (all engineering programs - 5 years). We, officially, use english as primary medium of instruction, and the author of the books we use are either American or British. Some curriculum even have Spanish (language) - an influence of one of our former colonizer. The difference - instructor and name of school?

    :confused:
     
  19. Felipe C. Abala

    Felipe C. Abala New Member

    Re: A solution to non-US degee problem

    Good idea... and that's exactly what I had been planning to do!! second BS/BA degree (transfer/exams/portfolio and whatever) but on another major. Let me do it then, and I'll get you posted on its results.

    We would see if the real cause is name and place of school or something else...
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 5, 2004
  20. hermes

    hermes New Member

    best value BA in the world?

    See website...

    www.ignou.ac.in

    They even have the course subjects I intend to specialize in (indic Studies). However I have been thus far unable to elicit a response despite several emails to their office. If anyone else succeeds please advise.

    They make UNISA seem expensive...
     

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