Australian university without classes?
July 10, 2013 9:34 PM Subscribe
Is there an external professional/creative communication undergraduate program with no class interaction at any Australian university?
- external: no class attendance; able to complete study without ever being present on campus
- undergraduate: resulting in a Bachelor degree
- no class interaction: this includes no participation in online forums/discussion boards, and no peer collaboration
Response by poster: More along the lines of creative/professional writing.
I have recent experience both with Open University and with external courses in regular universities. In my experience, class interaction takes up more time in such courses (compared to class interaction in internal courses with weekly set contact hours).
And I haven't been able to find (through direct enquiries) a relevant course that doesn't require online participation.
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 10:00 PM on July 10, 2013
I have recent experience both with Open University and with external courses in regular universities. In my experience, class interaction takes up more time in such courses (compared to class interaction in internal courses with weekly set contact hours).
And I haven't been able to find (through direct enquiries) a relevant course that doesn't require online participation.
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 10:00 PM on July 10, 2013
I did an undergraduate writing degree (on campus) and the interaction - sharing work for feedback - was an integral part of the course, and very valuable in my opinion.
I understand that you want to save time but IMO you may reduce the efficacy of your learning and the value you achieve from it if you don't participate in some of the online discussions and feedback. So much about learning to write professionally and creatively is gathered through feedback, not just from your lecturers/tutors, but from your classmates too. On the flip side, your lecturers/tutors have such a workload that they rely on the forums and feedback to assist them in their assessment and marking of your work.
posted by Kerasia at 11:58 PM on July 10, 2013
I understand that you want to save time but IMO you may reduce the efficacy of your learning and the value you achieve from it if you don't participate in some of the online discussions and feedback. So much about learning to write professionally and creatively is gathered through feedback, not just from your lecturers/tutors, but from your classmates too. On the flip side, your lecturers/tutors have such a workload that they rely on the forums and feedback to assist them in their assessment and marking of your work.
posted by Kerasia at 11:58 PM on July 10, 2013
Response by poster: Thanks, Kerasia, for your comments so far. I do have substantial university experience, and understand the arguments concerning class interaction.
But that's not what I want to discuss here. I just want to know if what I'm looking for (as stated in my question) exists.
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 12:13 AM on July 11, 2013
But that's not what I want to discuss here. I just want to know if what I'm looking for (as stated in my question) exists.
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 12:13 AM on July 11, 2013
Is the a actual learning you want, or the 'qualification'? I have a couple of suggestions based on your answer. Additionally, are you in Melb or Sydney or another city or regional?
posted by Kerasia at 12:20 AM on July 11, 2013
posted by Kerasia at 12:20 AM on July 11, 2013
Response by poster: I'm primarily concerned with attaining the qualification, but I'm happy to learn along the way. :-)
I'm in a capital city, but that shouldn't affect what I'm looking for ("able to complete study without ever being present on campus")
Your suggestions are very welcome!
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 12:28 AM on July 11, 2013
I'm in a capital city, but that shouldn't affect what I'm looking for ("able to complete study without ever being present on campus")
Your suggestions are very welcome!
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 12:28 AM on July 11, 2013
From the perspective of someone who teaches at an Australian university, and has been involved in many discussions about developing online courses, I think it's unlikely that what you want exists.
Without getting into the discussion of whether this is a valid viewpoint, there is a push in tertiary education to get away from the older paradigm of presenting material then testing it, and towards interaction-focused learning, putting the students at the centre, collaboration, peer evaluation, etc. Many if not most online courses are taught by educators who are either excited about innovation in teaching (and therefore likely to be experimenting with things like collaboration and interaction in the digital realm) and/or young and starting out in their career paths with insecure jobs. The latter are particularly vulnerable as they have to prove that they are successful and innovative teachers, and its much easier to showcase that you tried something interactive and cool than that you did something more old fashioned, irrespective of whether actual learning takes place either way.
Finally I would say that the academics I have heard discussing online courses believe that the majority of our "target demographic" are students who would rather do the full in-person student experience but can't for practical reasons (distance, full time work, childcare, etc), so they/we are quite invested in producing an online experience that mirrors the in-person one as much as possible, which is primarily achieved by encouraging interactions among peers.
So all of that is to say that I don't think what you want is likely to exist, but hopefully (for your sake!) Kerasia proves me wrong!
posted by lollusc at 2:06 AM on July 11, 2013
Without getting into the discussion of whether this is a valid viewpoint, there is a push in tertiary education to get away from the older paradigm of presenting material then testing it, and towards interaction-focused learning, putting the students at the centre, collaboration, peer evaluation, etc. Many if not most online courses are taught by educators who are either excited about innovation in teaching (and therefore likely to be experimenting with things like collaboration and interaction in the digital realm) and/or young and starting out in their career paths with insecure jobs. The latter are particularly vulnerable as they have to prove that they are successful and innovative teachers, and its much easier to showcase that you tried something interactive and cool than that you did something more old fashioned, irrespective of whether actual learning takes place either way.
Finally I would say that the academics I have heard discussing online courses believe that the majority of our "target demographic" are students who would rather do the full in-person student experience but can't for practical reasons (distance, full time work, childcare, etc), so they/we are quite invested in producing an online experience that mirrors the in-person one as much as possible, which is primarily achieved by encouraging interactions among peers.
So all of that is to say that I don't think what you want is likely to exist, but hopefully (for your sake!) Kerasia proves me wrong!
posted by lollusc at 2:06 AM on July 11, 2013
I've done some hunting around (when I really should have been studying my off-campus post-grad course..., ahh reasons for procrastination part 3) and I haven't found anything in the undergraduate writing programs I am familiar with that guarantees that at least a few units will not have an on-line component that requires forum participation for at least some part of your mark. One reason for that is that units change their assessment requirements from year to year, so a unit that doesn't require participation this year, may do the next year when you are enrolled.
Maybe you need to rethink either your need for the actual qualification, or rethink your perspective on forum participation.
I was a professional copywriter before I did my undergraduate so I know you don't need quals to do the work, only understanding and skill, and of course the network to get jobs in the field if that is what you want.
On preview, lollusc articulated very valid reasons why you may not find what you want. But I hope you do.
posted by Kerasia at 3:53 AM on July 11, 2013
Maybe you need to rethink either your need for the actual qualification, or rethink your perspective on forum participation.
I was a professional copywriter before I did my undergraduate so I know you don't need quals to do the work, only understanding and skill, and of course the network to get jobs in the field if that is what you want.
On preview, lollusc articulated very valid reasons why you may not find what you want. But I hope you do.
posted by Kerasia at 3:53 AM on July 11, 2013
Response by poster: Thanks both of you for your input.
As I mentioned above, I've made a few enquiries, and I concur that what I'm looking for doesn't seem likely to be found at this point. I was just hoping there might've been something I'd overlooked.
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 6:41 PM on July 11, 2013
As I mentioned above, I've made a few enquiries, and I concur that what I'm looking for doesn't seem likely to be found at this point. I was just hoping there might've been something I'd overlooked.
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 6:41 PM on July 11, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
Many online degrees do not require intensive schools at all. Many units in online degrees do not have mandatory forum participation. But some units in an otherwise totally non-interactive degree may require online forum participation for a percentage (maybe not a grade-breaking percentage) of your overall mark. It would be hard to tell which ones though without deep investigation of each unit for each course you are interested in.
Have you checked out the courses through Open University?
posted by Kerasia at 9:54 PM on July 10, 2013