If you're looking for an academic degree of a high caliber but at the same time
suited to one's lifestyle and personality then Birmingham can supply
you with that type of program .IDD's distance learning program has a diverse
and experienced group of students of all different nationalities and most of
them are working in development-related jobs. The distance learning programme at IDD is
a fantastic opportunity to try and get in touch with as many people as possible
based in different countries all over the world who were studying because they
have a love of development.
I chose to study distance learning simply because it fitted with my
schedule. I work full-time and I have commitments outside of work and really
studying in and around work is ideal. It allowed me to continue working gaining
more experience and at the same time allowing me to pay for my tuition fees.
I chose Birmingham because it had a great reputation I've met many of the
people in the field who had studied here and who recommended that
Birmingham was good. And I think that it lived up to its promise for me. In IDD the
keyword with the distance learning programmes is flexibility. They recognised
fully that the students are usually working full time in very busy demanding
jobs, often with a lot of overseas travel. I do feel this excellent support from
the admin team whenever you need it, it's always available. The support you get is
quite individual which was quite a surprise for a distance learning programme -
you very much feel part of a wider community rather than just you're alone
in the experience. Academically, there was always somebody around that could help
me. I enjoyed the interactions with the tutors. The academic staff are always on hand
in terms of participating in discussion boards, sharing their experience, sharing
their ideas which is invaluable to the course.
All the distance learning students have the same access to campus services as
the on-campus students do. They're fully registered students at the University of
Birmingham. Those students get access to us as
lecturers and teachers we're always online, but also they get access to each
other and so those group discussions are always very, very fruitful, We try and
enhance the experience of distance learning students because we're very
conscious of the fact that they're not here on campus. Throughout the
programme there's continuous sharing of experience between tutors and students
and in fact students often say that they learn as much from each other as they do
from the course materials. My best points on the program were the
interactions on the discussion board with other students as well as the feedback
from the tutors. The one-to-one supervision I had throughout my
dissertation was probably one of the strongest elements of the course, in that
we had regular contact - my supervisor was always accessible always very supportive
and definitely assisted throughout the dissertation process which was a real
benefit.
What I've gained from doing the course most of all is confidence. Confidence
in myself and confidence in my academic abilities. As somebody who was born in a
developing country I never questioned inequalities that exist there until I
joined the programme. It certainly did broaden my horizons in terms of applying
various different techniques which I otherwise would not have done. I was
working with the government of Ethiopia, went into an office, was asked a
question that I immediately saw the answer coming straight out of the course
in organisation that I had just taken and could apply it almost instantly.
Which to me is the secret of great education. The advice I'd give to
anybody considering studying distance learning is just to do it. It is
rewarding, we certainly get a great sense of achievement, and it's definitely worth
doing at the University of Birmingham.
you