Distance Learning –  A Key to a Million Futures

Prior readers of my monthly letters might be forgiven for detecting a little bias in my discussions on the traditional educational establishment.  They might think that, when I talk about their awful habit of ignoring the needs of individual students in pursuit of a one size fits all educational ideal that neither fits nor is ideal, I might, possibly, not be among the greatest of supporters of your regular colleges or Universities.  

Alright, I give up.  I’m guilty as charged.  Hands on my head.  Throw away the key.  I did say all that – and with good reason, which you can read about in my previous articles on the subject.  Or just wait till a future month when I’ll likely be pointing out the glaring flaws once again.  So again, there are a great deal of problems inherent with traditional educational courses, degrees and diplomas.  However, there are also benefits and advantages too despite that.   

Now before my assistant tries reaching for the medication again, I shall endeavour to explain:  the key advantage of many of the programmes offered by these institutions and universities is a simple one – accreditation and training at a level that ADL does not offer (caveat – yet).  But then, ADL is not, and can’t be, a one stop shop for every single student’s educational needs.
 
Certainly, I wouldn’t take much comfort from the fact that the doctor operating on me got his degree in medicine by post as he got out the scalpel – we all want to be sure that the people we are relying upon to do the critical jobs in our lives are trained and qualified from the proper accredited institutions.  

However, the problem for the aspiring student is how to get into these institutions.  If you have no prior training, how can you hope to get on a course to become a doctor, or learn essential agriculture skills to help you enroll on a Farm Management course at a local agricultural college?  Many quality courses demand prior experience and evidence of learning before they will even consider taking a student onto their programmes.  

This, of course, is where the ADL model shines.  I won’t pretend that our Pre-Medical course, for example, will teach you everything you need to know to be a doctor.  But what it will do, like with many of our other courses, is open doors for you to pursue future opportunities by demonstrating your learning and competencies both to educators and potential employers.  

Opening doors and making opportunities for life – that’s what we’re about at ADL. I hope, with the festive season right on the horizon, we’ll all be taking a moment to look for the best opportunities we can make for ourselves.

Until next time.