From a distance

With distance education enrolments in Australian universities increasing at three times the rate of on-campus enrolments, Monash is meeting the growing demand, writes JUNE YU

Twelve years ago, the Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education offered just 27 courses through its distance education program. But then the institute joined Monash University, and off-campus education has never looked back.

Professor John Harris, director of the Centre for Learning and Teaching Support (CeLTS), which provides support services for off-campus learning, says the university saw the potential for distance education and encouraged faculties on all campuses to offer off-campus courses.

"The majority of DE students are mature-aged people working full-time who wish to further develop their careers. They often also have partners and children so it can be difficult to come to classes on campus," Professor Harris says.

The first metropolitan course to go off-campus in the early 1990s was the then Clayton-based Bachelor of Social Work, soon followed by two business courses based at the university’s Caulfield campus. Today, the 2001 Distance Education Guide lists 134 courses, two-thirds of which are postgraduate. Since the guide's publication in mid-2000, Monash's Academic Board has approved a further 20 off-campus courses, with all faculties now represented.--

Corresponding to the extensive choice in programs, enrolments in Monash distance education courses have grown 94 per cent from 1991 to 1998. Currently more than 7800 people, including 2500 international students, are studying through distance education.

And distance education is the fastest-growing style of course delivery in Australian higher education, with statistics showing off-campus enrolments jumped by 58 per cent between 1991 and 1998 – to more than 90,000 students.

Internationally, off-campus delivery is also in demand – which Monash is well placed to meet. Of the 2500 existing Monash off-campus students living overseas, most come from Hong Kong and Singapore, where Monash already delivers off-campus learning programs with external partners.

Monash’s strategic plan, Leading the Way 2020, predicts the university will have 40,000 international students by 2020.

"Clearly, while many of those will be studying on-campus, both in Australia and overseas, there will also be a sizeable number who will be studying off-campus," Professor Harris says. "A major component of Monash’s projected growth will come from international students studying at home by distance education. We also have significant growth in Australian fee-paying postgraduates studying off-campus."

Currently, Monash Malaysia pro vice-chancellor Professor Bob Bignall is spearheading the push to establish a local Learning and Teaching Support office to provide administrative support and services for off-campus students. This would be similar to CeLTS in Australia, which provides support services including the development and production of learning materials, student support and liaison, processing assignments, and IT assistance.

Professor Bignall has 15 years’ experience in distance education, including a period as the head of the Gippsland School of Computing and Information Technology, which offers many off-campus courses.

"The school and its predecessors have had a long involvement in distance education and pioneered the use of computer networks for course delivery. We were using the internet as a way of communicating with our students even before the world wide web was invented," he says.

The Pioneer

Image: Helen Beyer Early mornings spent tapping away at a manual typewriter were the norm for Helen Beyer (above) when she began a distance education course 20 years ago.

The 53-year-old laughs about it now.

"That typewriter almost drove me crazy because I had to white-out every mistake I made," she remembers.

Technology might have advanced since then, but Mrs Beyer’s reasons for doing a course by distance education almost 20 years ago parallel those of today's off-campus learners.

At the age of 34 and with a three-year-old son, she had returned to work as a nursing educator at the Alfred Hospital. She wanted to move on, but her job and young child made it impossible for her to attend university lectures.

She then discovered distance education and enrolled in a secondary education degree at the then Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education, which later merged with Monash University.

"That was the start of eight years of part-time study from home," she says. "I had to be terribly disciplined. I discovered I couldn’t concentrate at night so I’d get up at 5 am and study until 7 am."

Mrs Beyer says she never felt disadvantaged studying by distance education.

"There was a telephone service you could ring any time you needed help with anything. By lunchtime the next day, one of the academics would call you back," she says. "You always felt they took a very personal interest in you."

Today, Mrs Beyer teaches English and Computer Studies at Bentleigh Secondary College, where she herself went to school. Studying by distance education, she says, gave her opportunities she might not otherwise have had.

The 2001 Version

With parents who run a vineyard, Kate Seager’s love of wine must be genetic. And the family passion for a drop makes her the perfect candidate to undertake the Masters of Wine Technology and Marketing, one of Monash's newest distance education courses.

Ms Seager plans to use the skills she acquires to market and brand the wines produced at the five-year-old vineyard Brinalon at Red Hill on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.

"I want to be able to assist my parents in that area because it’s one where they don't have much experience," she says.

The Monash course attracted her because it not only covers the practical side of winemaking, but also focuses on the marketing of wines.

"The first subject I did was an introduction to viticulture so you learn about the practical side of growing grapes, faults in the wines and what causes them, and the whole winemaking process," she said.

And with a demanding job as a human resources manager, the off-campus mode, which allows her to do one subject per semester, fits in well with her lifestyle.

"I've studied part-time before and found it hard – going to classes at night is difficult when you’re working full-time. This way I can study at my own pace," she said.

Ms Seager, who already holds an arts degree and a graduate diploma in human resources management, believes many job opportunities exist for people with know-ledge of the wine industry and the marketing skills to complement their knowledge.

"Graduates of this type of course can actually be working for a few different vineyards. Most growers and winemakers are so busy with growing the grapes and making the wine that they have little time left to devote to the important function of marketing the finished product," she says.

ACTION: For more information about off-campus courses at Monash, contact the Course Inquiries Centre on 1800 671 845 or at course.inquiries@CeLTS.monash.edu.au For advice about developing off-campus courses, email Jhn.Harris@CeLTS.monash.edu.au

<<Back Contents Next>>