Jennifer Nielsen is a full time UBC employee at the Student Financial Assistance & Awards office as well as a part time student. She admits “a lot of people have shown scepticism when I have told them I am taking courses via distance education.” However, her experiences deny such scepticism as she has “found the option of taking distance education classes to be essential to finishing and upgrading [her] Bachelor of Arts degree.”
Jennifer has completed ENGL 358: Studies in an 18th Century Genre: The English Novel and is currently enrolled in PHIL 349A: Philosophy of Religion, both by distance education. She opted for this format over on-campus equivalents “in order to spend more time at home.” ENGL 358 is a print-based correspondence course which involves the study of the early masters of English fiction. By taking this course Jennifer examined the beginnings of the realistic novel and its development from Defoe to Jane Austen. Although some of her friends said “that [distance education] would be uninteresting,” Jennifer emphasizes “the assigned readings for the 18th Century Literature class were particularly good (Jane Austen fans, please take this class) and the course readings had been engaging and easily read.”
PHIL 349 is also a print-based course and has Jennifer critically and analytically examining arguments for and against the existence of God. The course objectives include distinguishing among four world views and assessing the strengths and weaknesses of these positions. Perhaps these debating skills will come in handy next time an opponent of distance education crosses Jennifer’s path!
Although some friends question the adequacy of distance education over on-campus courses, Jennifer has found that there is nothing lacking in the distance courses. “I have found the instructors to be easily available by phone and by e-mail and they always provide detailed and insightful feedback on essays, assignments and exams.” In fact, Jennifer has found it a real bonus to take distance courses over on-campus ones. “Being able to study and work through the course material at home, in cafes and on lunch breaks has taken a lot of the stress out of studying for me since this style of learning allows for much more freedom than traditional lecture based classroom courses.”
Her sceptical friends also “said that they would fall behind” on the work because distance education does not have scheduled meeting times. Although this is a possibility for the unwary student, Jennifer assures us that this does not have to be case. “It can take a little tweaking to get the hang of setting a schedule for yourself and learning entirely by reading but the reward is well worth it.” There are many ways for a student to bypass these obstacles like “writing the deadlines for assignments on a large erasable wall calendar and setting weekly goals for getting the course readings done.” Jennifer used these tactics herself and found them “to be invaluable towards staying on schedule.”
Jennifer has proven her friends wrong. Her experiences have disproven the myths that distance education is uninteresting, one will fall behind, or that it’s too hard. With attention to time management, Jennifer made distance learning fit easily into her full time work schedule. In addition, Jennifer eloquently asserts “if you think the course would be interesting delivered in the classroom style, it will be equally so as a distance education class.” Now, go out there and continue to disprove your friend’s sceptical remarks and experience the flexibility and excitement that is distance education!