Distance and online education

When you are thinking about how you will fit postgraduate study in to an already busy life, it is a good idea to consider distance or online education.

Twenty years ago, this option would not have been available. However, over the years, ‘traditional’ modes of study have increasingly had to compete with distance and, more recently, online modes, for postgraduate students.

Distance education is not just a good option for those who live far away, but it is especially useful for time-poor postgraduates who are juggling a range of commitments.

Getting a qualification does not have to mean changing your lifestyle or location. If you can’t get to the classroom everyday, you still have plenty of options for further study. Distance education means that you do your program wherever and whenever it is convenient. Here is how it works.

Distance and online education: what is it like?

Distance education means that you do not need to go to classes, but you access the same information in a variety of ways. Depending on where and what you choose to study, your learning experience will involve a combination of the following:

Same material, delivered to your door

Before internet technology, the only available method of delivering course materials was through the ‘snail mail’. It is still a quite common for distance students to be sent their course materials, main readings and a course guide in the post or, more commonly these days, by email.

The course materials contain a written version of the lectures or classes that on-campus students attend. Distance students look in the reading guide to find out what course materials or reading they must do each week. And of course, they will also be sent one or more assignments to complete.

Same material, different mode of delivery

Distance students now have access to resources that are just about the same as their on-campus counterparts’ — particularly in online programs, where it is all available at the touch of a button!

The internet has allowed lectures to be delivered in an alternative format through podcasts or sound recordings available online. The only catch is the need for good, fast internet access; students in rural and regional areas who may be candidates for distance study should consider this if their program of interest will rely heavily on the internet.

Same material, different time

In some distance programs — especially those with a strong hands-on learning element — the program might not be delivered so much at a distance as in large blocks on-campus so that students can get all of the classes out of the way in one hit. This is often called ‘block mode’ or ‘intensive’ study and it is fairly common at postgraduate level.

It can be handy to hear the program content first-hand in lectures or tutorials, face-to-face with teachers and classmates. The only drawback with this method is the sheer volume of information that you are required to absorb at once.

What can you study?

A wide range of postgraduate programs can be studied by distance, in almost any field and at a selected number of universities, TAFE institutes and private higher education providers. There are at least a couple of postgraduate programs throughout the country in the following fields that can be studied by distance education:

• Accounting
• Business
• Communications
• Computing and information technology
• Education and training
• Engineering and technology
• Environmental studies
• Health services and support
• Humanities and social sciences
• Languages
• Law
• Psychology
• Sciences
• Sport and leisure
• Tourism and hospitality.

But remember, while some programs, or even parts of programs, will be fine to study by distance, the practical nature of the learning process in some fields means that you should be prepared to commit to some time on-campus.

Any field involving a trade, as well as professional fields like architecture, medicine, dentistry, veterinary science and others, like creative arts, will demand some serious hands-on training.

Back to top