> Flexible modes widen study range
> Ian Gerard
> JANUARY 16, 2002 COLLEGES are offering more flexible modes of study to
> cater for a wider range of students.
>
> Mixed-mode learning, where students do part of their coursework online
> and part face-to-face, is firmly embedded and set to expand in TAFE
> and aligned distance courses across Australia this year.
> Online learning eliminates the practical difficulties suffered by
> people living in remote areas by making courses and specialist
> teachers available anywhere via the internet.
> But it is also proving attractive to a growing number of students who
> want flexible learning so they can do their coursework at a time and
> place that best suits them.
> In most states, students can enrol in online courses at any time of
> the year and study from home or work.
> Half the TAFE courses in Queensland have an online component and their
> websites had more than 2,604,000 hits in the last financial year.
> In September, the Canberra Institute of Technology launched its
> virtual campus, making 23 courses available online, mainly in
> information technology, bookkeeping and office technology.
> There is a total of 15,000 TAFE students studying any of 450 online
> modules in a variety of modes in NSW. This year, a total of 2000
> courses will have online options.
> NSW TAFE online project manager David Poynter said he expected 75,000
> students to take part in at least one form of online learning by the
> end of 2003.
> "There is a whole category of people that are either already employed
> and can't get to classes, or they have highly mobile jobs where they
> can't get to regular night classes, or they've got children and
> family, they want to be home with the kids for dinner and they don't
> mind studying late in the evening," Mr Poynter said.
> One of the most popular models for online coursework at TAFE colleges
> is to have the theory available online and then have students attend
> supervised classes to learn the practical units.
> The NSW Open Training and Education Network - Distance Education, or
> OTEN-DE, is believed to be the largest provider of external teaching
> in Australia.
> Its firefighting operations course is available in a mixed-mode format
> and students can enrol at any time of the year. More than 1500
> students nationally are enrolled in the course, which uses the
> internet to support printed coursework.
> Students can also have regular face-to-face contact with teachers in
> Sydney or at other locations depending on demand.
> "We have diagrams of alarm and sprinkler systems which would only be
> located in high-rise buildings, but students in country areas can
> access them online and get an understanding of the operating
> principles," said the course's full-time teacher, Michael Johnsen.
> "Because a number of our students are already working within fire
> agencies and doing the course as part of their continuing professional
> development, the flexibility that online delivery offers is a major
> bonus."
> http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,3556642%5E15841%5E%5En
> bv%5E,00.html
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