Education: which path should you take?
When you think of education, you probably imagine stuffy classrooms and fusty lecturers with elbow patches on their tweed jackets. You sit in a classroom, flicking a pencil against your desk and staring at the clock on the wall with the intensity of a man waiting for a train that's been delayed by 17 hours.
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Whether you want to become a supremo of leadership, a don of entrepreneurship or want to delve into the history of culture, there are plenty of educational roads for you to travel down.
So what can you try?
Distance learning
Back in the bad old days, when the world was in black and white and George Formby seemed as cutting-edge as electro-dubstep, distance learning was the homeless person to brick-and-mortar university's suited and booted millionaire.
To gain the relevant course materials for your course, you'd have to shell out hundreds of quid on books, or else scour your local library for texts that might not even be there. Studying was an isolating experience, casting you adrift from lecturers and limiting you to what you could pick up from books and Open University shows broadcast at 2am on a Thursday morning.
Now, however, the picture is far brighter where distance learning is concerned. Since the advent of the internet, education at a distance has become simpler than attending class. In many ways, it's become the preferred method of study for people with fulltime jobs.
This demographic of working professionals means that most distance learning qualifications are vocational and business-focused. Anglia Ruskin University, for instance, has a variety of degreesto improve performance in the workplace, including a leadership and management degree ideal for those looking to work their way to the top.
MOOCs
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been making waves in the past few years, gathering an endless screed of media headlines. But what are they?
Essentially, a MOOC is a free university course that will give you a foundational knowledge in a subject, although won't get you an official qualification.
Although they won't officially help you in the workplace (no boss is going to be overly impressed with a MOOC), these free courses are perfect for deciding if you enjoy a subject before you fork out for it. Check this site for more info.
Night courses
You don't want to hang about the internet - you want face-to-face contact with a tutor while you learn. And with a few tweaks to your budget, you could be able to afford just that.
Various colleges and universities offer night-time courses, and you can join them for a reduced price with the help from bursaries or loans. The price of the course will depend on the subject you're studying, but you'll enjoy a new and improved set of skills by the end of your cramming sessions.
Posted on 7 Dec 2015 13:47
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