Germany - e-learning

The great thing about the internet - other than giving you access to Paguro! - is that many higher education institutions now offer courses and qualifications on-line. Before you embark on such a course, which can be difficult, as well as expensive, it's a good idea to get as much information about the course as possible. Enquiries you should definitely make are:

• Does the course have industry recognition?
• What do other students (or graduates) think of the course?
• How long does the course take?
• What assessment tasks are involved?
• Do I have the time, motivation and discipline to undertake the course?
• How much does it cost?
• Can I do the entire course remotely?

Pitfalls to distance learning can include difficulties obtaining the right text books and other research materials, loneliness and lack of motivation due to little contact with other students and teachers, submitting hard copies of assessment tasks promptly.

Above all, make sure that you are not just paying for a worthless piece of paper. There are many bogus internet universities that supply you with a degree, having required bsolutely no effort on your part. Bear in mind that a Bachelor degree typically takes 3-5 years of full-time study, a Masters degree takes an additional 2 years, and a PhD takes anywhere from 3-10 years after you have completed your Bachelor and/or Masters.

Many higher education institutions now offer complete degree courses on-line and via distance training. It may be that a school or university in your home country will have such a course in a field that interests you. For a wide, but not exhaustive list of institutions offering distance learning on-line, go to:

website: http://www.trade-schools.net/directory/online-schools-directory.asp 
website: http://www.distancelearningdegreeprograms.com/contact.html

The Open University (UK) which has offered distance learning programs via TV and radio also offers on-line courses:
website: http://www.open.ac.uk/

Many of the Fachhochschulen (technical universities) in Munich also offer formal on-line tutorials, lectures and discussion groups (in German, of course!). Check out:

website: http://www.fh-muenchen.de
website: http://www.fom.de (under "Virtueller Campus")