Distance Learning...is it worth it?

[sassyminder]

I am thinking about enrolling myself in a distance learning course, as for now I will not be ale to pay for uni and I think will be a bit complicated for me to chase all my school paperowork from my home country, tranlate it and apply/be accepted in a Uk uni.
I have a social work degree back in my country and here I would love to to something in social care working with disavantaged families/children.
I am currently working with children anyway
Would a distance learning course give me a head start ot open any doors for employment and further training...? I know it will be only like a NVQ4...
Any opinions please?

[Kladdkaka]

Distance learning is great, you just have to be very careful to ensure it's a proper course and not a 'not worth the paper it's printed on' course, if you want it to be taken seriously.

The most widely recognised one in the UK is the Open University, which is a proper distance uni set up by the government many, many years ago. I'm currently studying with them. I like the fact that their courses come in all shapes and sizes and each module stands alone but also adds up to qualifications as you study.

You don't have to provide evidence of previous study for the OU, it's up to you to decide whether you think you are up to it.

Open University website

[catsareevil]

If you have a social work degree back home wouldnt it be far easier to get the paperwork translated and then see what credit you get for it, rather than starting from the beginning? Even if it is a bit of an effort it will probably still be less work than your first essay for a new course.

[leicestershiregirl]

Doing Open University and throughly recommend it - way better than the redbrick university where I did my undergrad degree. A carefully selected distance learning course will open doors for you but I agree with the previous poster who said it might be worth getting your existing certificates translated (maybe - I used to work with somebody who was a teacher in her home country, the Czech Republic, but her teaching qualifications were not valid here so she could only work as a teaching assistant).