Description

100 years of change gives rise to a new era of education

In April 1910 a correspondence course in sanitary engineering and law marked the start of a century of distance education. Now, the internet has unlocked a new era of learning and OTEN has the key.

Public distance education in NSW has gone from strength to strength and now enrols over 45,000 students annually from across the country and worldwide through the Open Training and Education Network (OTEN), TAFE NSW - Western Sydney Institute.

The paper-based notes delivered by snail mail in the time of plague, typhoid and tuberculosis outbreaks that sparked the sanitary correspondence course in the early part of last century have been replaced. In the online education environment students can simply log on and learn. The explosion of digital media means that training is delivered straight to the students’ desktop. Lock step instruction has given way to customised and flexible learning adapted for the workplace context. Students negotiate the way they want to learn and the order in which they choose to learn it. OTEN is also tuned in to the social networking media - Twitter, Facebook, You Tube and blogs and wikis are used extensively for learner collaboration and communication. 

Using these tools, OTEN helps break down the isolation distance students sometimes feel, helping learners who may feel “lost in cyberspace” to connect to a group of people with the same educational goals and work aspirations. In this way, learning experiences become more interactive and move closer to that of the classroom situation – without the inconvenience of having to get there!

Facebook, a traditional social networking site, is now being used for education and training, connecting students with their teachers and each other and promoting the breadth of courses and services offered by OTEN, while podcasts and videos provide short information segments, demonstrations and an introduction to subjects.

The OTEN Maritime section has created a series of visual presentations on practical tasks such as berthing a vessel, extinguishing fires and surviving at sea – topics that are impossible to do justice to in words. 

It’s not just learning that’s going digital.  In a first for distance education, in 2009 OTEN conducted a virtual graduation ceremony for students who completed their courses with OTEN. OTEN’s graduates live all over Australia and the world and a virtual graduation gives every student the opportunity to participate and celebrate the occasion with their families. How exciting it was to have people in 29 countries around the world watching and listening and celebrating together!

Technology now plays a critical role in all our lives. The use of new media technologies in the delivery of education and training for people who lead busy lives, live in remote areas or simply wish to study at their own place and pace, has never been more vital. OTEN continues to respond and look for innovative ways to provide education, training and support to give students the qualification they desire and the vocational outcomes they need.