Heaven be praised for distance education. How else would many of us get the learning we need?

Distance education, like much else, began as far back as in the early 18th century US. No surprises there, given the long distances between people and places of learning. In Australia, another land of huge spaces and scattered populations, the University of Queensland took up distance education via mail-delivered correspondence courses in 1911. And Queensland, as we shall see, has kept its lead.

Off-campus education over distances is a pretty complicated business for learning providers and learners both. When you consider how hard it often is to understand concepts face to face, hats off to the pioneers who devised distance learning materials – and even more the learners, who, after all, have to take the initiative in distance education and stay in the course.

With improved teaching method and modern technology – through each succeeding generation of electronic media – distance education has risen in content quality, testing and evaluation. And as economic realities compel so many to enter the workforce before deciding on further learning, distance education is a real option.

With the advent of online learning methodologies and sophisticated systems of teaching, testing and evaluation, the serious distance education learner can expect to get both quality time and quality content, to login any time, anywhere to learn at his own pace, to access study materials online, attend “webinars”, and even communicate with tutors through video conferences. Almost as good as “being there” – and more convenient!

In Australia, major corporations and thousands of individuals use AOT, the Queensland based Accredited Online Training, the country’s premier online training organization. Nationally recognized, with courses covering a whole range of subjects, it is independently audited by Government and industry to ensure the highest standards of excellence. The courses covered include

human resources management, Certificate III Business Administration, project management courses, computing, finance, industrial safety and more.

Visit http://www.aot.edu.au for those who are interested in distance education.