BA in 4 Weeks

This forum is now deeply entrenched with issues that have no connection whatsoever with distance education. Posters viewpoints are beclouded by chauvinistic nationalism. All that some posters seem to be saying these days is that "my system is better than yours therefore schools that operate in my country are therefore the best in the world". I guess I have to decamp to somewhere till further notice. Nationalism seems to be the order of the day.
The truth is some people will never stop thinking about the old empire days. It has been over for more than six decades. Get over it. Even the nationals from the country up north, which have been living under the shadow of the United States is claiming that their system is also the best. If your system is the best, all that your countrymen have to do is to prove it to the world. Please ask yourself the following questions: Is my country the most industrialized country in the world? Has my country won more Nobel price than any other country? Is my country leading other counties in global business? If the answers to these three questions are “yes”, then your country probably has the best educational system in the world. Let's deal with the realities of the 21st. century and stop chasing the shadows of the centuries past.
If discussion in this board continues to head in the current direction, many posters will loose interest in this forum. Please gentlemen (I assume that you are), lets keep it civil and to the point. Canada, U.K, and Australia are not the only countries in this planet.

 

Re: Re: Reputation

 

Re: Re: Re: Reputation

UNIVERSITY SURVEY
Rank University No. of
courses
Av. years of work experience
% students
who hold
a degree % female staff % female students Staff
rating
public?
1 Queen’s 26 14.3 82 20 21 Yes
2 Richard Ivey (Western) 19 14 92 13 20 Yes
3 Athabasca 25 9 65 25 29 No
4 Sobey (St. Mary’s) 16 17 91 15 31 No
5 John Molson (Concordia) 21 14 85 25 19 No
6 Joseph L. Rotman (Toronto) 23 16 56 21 30 No
7 Calgary/Alberta 20 14 87 27 18 Yes
8 Ottawa 34 15 80 19 33 Yes
9 Simon Fraser 13 12 75 25 25 No
10 Quebec 15 8 75 50 45 Yes
- Royal Roads* 37 14 65 40 43 No
Weight 5% 10% 5% 5% 5% 5%


You expect any sane academic or businessman to believe that Athabasca ranks ahead of universities like Toronto, Ottawa and the rest???

You must really believe what you write, because statisically, you should be a laughing stock! I can tell you outright that this ranking is nonsense and cannot actually be ranking performance.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Thesis

The MAIS program, with a concentration in Educational Studies. We're very excited about this program, as it seems like a perfect fit for her.

 

Sometimes I am amazed at the illogical arguments some will use to rationalize beliefs (i.e. the nobel peace prize argument).

It goes something thing like this (different context and my information is not current but I think the concept should be evident to any clear thinker)

The argument goes like this:
The wealth of the wealthiest individuals in the US is greater than the wealth of the wealthiest individuals Sweden therefore, the United States is wealthier than Sweden.

However that is not true:
Wealth is more unevenly distributed in the US than in Sweden, therefore the "median" (an approximation of the wealth of the "average" person) is actually higher in Sweden.

Similarly, the fact there have been more nobel peace prize winners from the US is irrelevant in a discussion of the level academic rigor an "average" person might need to perform at to earn a degree (the existance of Harvard doesn't somehow erase the existance of the University of Phoenix, if you will... please, no discussion of the greatness of Harvard or UoP as these are symbolic).

Fact:
The British system, and the colonies that have developed similar systems, have a very high level of academic standards. These standards are maintained through time and accross institutions via a rigorous cross-assessment system. These systems often have goals of maintaining a high, standardized quality accross institutions. Funding for these institutions is often partially provided on the basis of assessed academic rigor.

The US system has incorporated a relatively much greater level of market orientation into its higher education which has resulted in much greater differentiation with respect to degree offerings, programs, structure and, yes, academic rigor. An accreditation scheme was created to ensure that "universities" that purport to offer degrees do in fact engage in something which resembles an academic exercise.

So the question is, does the British system maintain higher standards than American accreditation? By far the consensous of the Australian academic authorities, the British academic authorities, any testimony I personally have read or heard (including on this board) by individuals (both Australian, British, Canadian and US) who have some level of experience on this matter, is that the British system is superior in guaranteeing a higher level of academic rigor.

So what does this mean for the DLr?
If you pursue a degree from the UK et. al you have few worries that you are not be pursuing a "world class" academic credential that will likely be accepted regardless of where you are or where may go (eg: An Australian degree will do you well in the UK, Canada and the US).
If you pursue a degree from the US, you may also be fine but you should perhaps do more careful research with respect to the reputation of the school, level of academic rigor, structure of the degree, etc.
Perhaps most importantly... this opens up a great deal of DL opportunities for by including the Canadian, British and Aussie schools the portfolio of opportunities expands tremendously.



What "should" this mean for a Aussie, Canuck, Brit or American... not a lot... what does this mean, apparently a great deal.