There was a time when all university students followed a traditional study routine, attending lectures on a regular basis, dropping assignments in a box outside the faculty office and sitting exams with fellow students - all on campus. But with the advent of distance education, all that has changed.

Monash University's Centre for Learning and Teaching Support, one of the largest such centres in Australia, offers a flexible mode of learning where on-campus attendance is replaced by independent learning materials.

Currently the centre, based at the univer-sity's Gippsland campus, has more than 8000 students within Australia and overseas studying through distance education.

And two of these students have discovered that student life off-campus can be an adventure that does not always go according to plan.

When Heather Briggs decided to study abroad through distance education, she knew it would offer her a convenient way to study at home while looking after her two children. But she didn't realise there would be challenges before she even began.

Ms Briggs was living in Melaka, Malaysia, when she applied to do the Bachelor of Nursing (Post Registration) degree.

"Celebrations for the Chinese New Year and Hari Raya Puasa were taking place," she recalls. "But while the locals were out partying in the streets, exchanging money and gifts, I was sitting anxiously at home waiting to find out if my application had been successful."

Finally, she says, a note arrived from the post office informing her that a parcel had arrived for her. "The parcel turned out to be my first set of textbooks - the first hint that I had received an offer. Apparently my letter of offer had been stolen."

But although Ms Brigg's initial experience was not altogether positive, she says things went much more smoothly from then on, with prompt delivery of information and study materials so crucial to the success of her studies.

She says she regularly taps into the services provided by Monash's distance education teaching staff, who offer assistance and support by telephone, letter, fax or electronic mail. There are also arrangements in place to enable students to contact other students studying the same subject.

"It's important to be able to access these student support services quickly because distance education students can sometimes feel quite isolated in their studies," Heather says.

Another student who is no stranger to challenging situations is Colleen Kenny, a second-year Monash arts student based in Wallaroo, South Australia.

The full-time wife and mother of six got used to studying in a noisy environment with constant interruptions.

"I had to get used to studying with a book in one hand, while stirring a pot of soup with the other - not to mention carrying a toddler around on the hip," she says. "To say it was difficult would be an understatement."

But while Ms Kenny admits that studying off-campus can be difficult, she says it gave her the opportunity to study at her own pace and in her own time.

"It's a real challenge, because every subject studied in the distance mode has the same content and assessment as the equivalent on-campus subject," she says. "But it's really liberating to be able to obtain a degree without the inconvenience of going back to the classroom."

- Duyen Vo

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