Go far with distance learning

In the pursuit of career advancement or a mid-career switch, upgrading one's skills or obtaining necessary qualification is the most logical step one would take. And those who do not have the luxury of being a full-time student will turn to part-time or distance learning.

With so many private schools offering a mind-boggling array of courses, it is important to select one that meets your interests and needs, and offers a quality education and can safeguard your welfare and interests.

A place for lifelong learning

One such school is the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS). Founded in 1956, it is Singapore's oldest not-for-profit professional institute for lifelong learning. As a tested brand name and voted as one of the top three private education institutes in 2013, MDIS offers globally recognized qualifications from overseas universities.

MDIS offers many well-accredited courses in various disciplines, the most popular ones being business and management, engineering, health and life sciences, mass communications, psychology and travel, tourism and hospitality management.

These programmes are offered in collaborations with universities such as Southern Cross University in Australia; University of Bradford and Northumbria University, to name a few, in the United Kingdoml and Oklahoma City University in the United States of America.

In fact, MDIS has a long standing partnership with the University of Bradford for their Business and Management programme and Oklahoma City University for the Mass Communications programme since 1992.

Going places with studies

It is precisely this longstanding record that attracted George Tai, 24, to MDIS. He just graduated in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts (in Liberal Studies with concentration in Mass Communications) awarded by Oklahoma City University (OCU).

"It was my sister and some friends who recommended MDIS to me, since MDIS has a specialisation in mass communications which I am interested in.

"I could have gone elsewhere, but I consider MDIS to be one of the most well-recognised private education institute in Singapore. They also have a track record with the mass communications courses.

"Another attractive selling point was the OCU's reputation. The course was fully taught by lecturers who flew in from the United States to teach us. Typical of the American style of education, the teaching style was very interactive, application-based and really stretches your communication and thinking skills."

Mr Tai found the cost of his studies to be affordable, taking into account the degree being awarded directly by the university, but at a fraction of the cost compared to studying on-campus in the US.

Oklahoma, here I come!

The three-week on-campus residency in OCU which was part of the programme was a game changer for Mr Tai. "To be honest, I wasn't that excited about going overseas, but my perspective changed once I was there.

"I did three modules during my stint there. One module was on television production where we did a "live" show at the university's television studio. Our lecturers also took the class to the Oklahoma television station to understand and see how television shows are made.

"The other modules covered wellness and environmental sciences and we got to visit a few nature reserves."

In those weeks, Mr Tai and his course mates learned to work as a team and also gained a more global outlook by understanding a different culture and embracing diversity.

"The visit was an eye-opener and gave us a personal attachment to OCU and I can tell people,'Yes, I have been there!' said Mr Tai.

By Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS)

Source:[The Straits Times CLASSIFIED 26042014] © Singapore Press Holdings Limited.

Reproduced with permission