Philosophy via Distance Ed

[mseleanor]

hey guys,

I've applied to do a university extension subject next year, but if I don't get into that, I'm thinking of doing Philosophy via Distance Ed instead.

The other option is that I do either Biology or T&T at my home school. I wouldn't HATE T&T, and Biology I'm not terrible at despite my being a humanities person, but I would much prefer Philosophy.

Would this be a good option? Or would it be difficult to manage? I've got good self-discipline, so doing the work for me wouldn't be a struggle. But I've heard from some that studying via distance ed can be overwhelming.

And would having my practice exams and essays corrected be possible with distance ed?

[Special At Specialist]

I did philosophy via distance ed and I didn't find it any harder than any of my other subjects. You submit work on a weekly basis and you can always call or email your teachers, so it's not like you're on your own. Most of the studying you do in year 12 will be private study anyway, so it's not that much different when you do a distance ed subject. You should cope fine.

My only advice is not to get behind. Sometimes people neglect their distance ed subject and get about 4-5 weeks behind in their coursework (I am guilty of this too), which makes it difficult when you have a SAC coming up that you're not prepared for.

[mseleanor]

Oh okay good, so those teachers we'd have close contact with? I'd be able to have my essays corrected and whatnot?

Yeah, of course the keeping up thing is something I'll have to ensure I do.

[Special At Specialist]

Yeah, if the weekly work isn't enough, you can just email them whatever you want and get them to mark it. They also encourage you to call them (during work hours) and discuss topics with them over the phone. They can summarise each philosopher pretty well for you.

Every few months, there will be a lecture or meetup with other DECV students and the teachers, and they are definitely worth going to. They also have the occasional live forum (which goes for about an hour) after school where you can discuss topics with them and other students using an instant messenger program, usually a few days before each SAC. There are forums on the site where you can discuss things with other students, which can be good to get a few different perspectives. And there are heaps of links to other sites for really committed students who want further study material.

Infact, I'd argue that a committed student could actually score better in distance ed than he/she would in a regular classroom. The only difficult thing about it is finding the motivation to do work when you could be playing online games instead.

[mseleanor]

That sounds great!

One more thing - how are SACs run?

I definitely see your point there, because you yourself are able to designate time to specific areas of study and topics to suit what you find easy/difficult. I think I'll like that aspect of it.

[coffeeandcats]

Hello all. Just a distance education philosophy teacher here, stumbling upon this page whilst browsing through the vast expanse of interwebs.

Special At Specialist, I couldn't have said it better myself. This is the sort of advice that all distance education students should hear! Thank you for the wonderful explanation of how it all works. (I'd imagine that we've met at some point!  )

I realise that it is too late to respond to this thread for 2013 students. But if any prospective 2014 students happen to stumble in here like I did, then here is some advice: call up the school, ask to speak to a philosophy teacher! We will tell you whatever you want to know about VCE Philosophy or distance learning. Or other related things!

James