Dr Mark Readman on part time and distance learning in The i newspaper

By Dean Eastmond

Senior lecturer in media education, Dr Mark Readman, highlighted to The i newspaper how accessible part time and distance learning postgraduate courses are becoming in today’s world for people in work.

“It’s harder and harder for people to take a year or two out of a career in order to study fill time”, he told the newspaper. “Therefore we launched a suite of postgraduate part-time distance learning courses to cater for this market”

Readman then goes onto explain how distance learning courses are not just face-to-computer courses and that long distance students at Bournemouth University receive a lot of face-to-face interaction with staff.

Whether this is on Skype, email, phone or in person, these postgraduate courses are far more interactive and personal than what people may think.

“Whether they’re studying for career reasons or personal development, distance learning lets them fit study into their often already busy lives”.

The report explains how at Bournemouth University MA courses such as creative and media education and screenwriting begin with residential trips to create and fortify bonds and interaction with students and teachers.

Dean is a student at Budmouth College in Weymouth, who is working at Bournemouth University in the Press and PR Department. He joined BU on a Sir Samuel Mico Scholarship, which provides 10 students from his college with essential work experience for four weeks over the summer.

Distance learning at BU featured in The Independent

A postgraduate student from Bournemouth University featured in an article in The Independent about distance learning.

The article, by Stephen Hoare, looked at how people manage to balance a career and professional development by studying for a degree via distance learning.

Lucy Harbor, who is halfway through a MSc Green Economy at Bournemouth University, also works part-time as a commissioning editor at the Royal Institute of British Architects. (RIBA)

She said: “I specialise in sustainable architecture, low energy buildings and bio-diversity, so the degree is an opportunity to develop my career in the area of sustainability and take it that bit further.”

She added that distance learning also meant that she did not have to worry about travelling to lectures, and could study from home in her spare time.

“When you have a job and a child you don’t have too much time to study,” she said.

“I find distance learning suits me very well. I’m getting better grades that I did when I was studying at uni the first time around.”