Distance Education - or just good quality education?

Distant Learning – Is it so Distant with ACS Distance Education?

Many of us hear about different types of learning – different types of colleges, schools, blended learning, online learning and of course, Distance Learning.  The very word “distance” makes us think of something distant, far away, remote from ourselves.

So is that what distance learning is? Remote? Far Away? Well, in a way yes. Distance learning is not the same as sitting in a class room, face to face with your teacher or tutor. But distant and remote with ACS Distance Education – well, no it doesn’t have to be! 

At ACS DE we pride ourselves on being supportive to our students and potential students. We are happy for our tutors to speak to people who are thinking about studying and to talk to students when they enrol if they are not sure about anything. All of our tutors are encouraging, supportive and happy to help our students as much as we possibly can.

So remote and distant education? Well, no! ACS Distance Education is there to meet your educational needs in a friendly and support way.

And it’s not only ACS DE that thinks so. Our students think we are great too!  One student who recently enrolled commented that our comments are backed up by the fact that we firstly phone as requested, and secondly our website (www.acsedu.com) says you can ask for advice BEFORE enrolling. She said that ours was the only website she had come across that offered this, and she was impressed that we backed this up with a prompt phone call (she has been looking at universities mainly versus our courses and getting nowhere.)

And this student is not the only one who is happy. We have many, many, many student testimonials from happy students. Have a look -  http://www.acsedu.com/about-us/student-testimonials.aspx

AND, it’s not just our tutors who are helpful and supportive. Our administrative staff are the backbone of ACS DE, working hard to see that all of our students are happy, their assignments marked on time, sent back to and any questions you have dealt with promptly. And much much more....

We all work together as a team and want to help our students – and potential students – get a positive experience from studying with ACS DE.

Why not give us a try and find out why OUR students are so happy?

You can view our courses at www.acsedu.com

This is funny. A star fruit is being held for questioning.
http://ping.fm/uperO

Interesting research about 'Game Transfer Phenomena' where people transfer gaming behaviours into the real world:
http://ping.fm/NNOir

Study Hotel Management http://ping.fm/p4759 by distance education. Erik Verdonck from Indonesia directly attributes his Hotel Management studies with ACS to his career advancement. He says 'I needed a course covering the basics of hotel management to continue to the next level in my job and to be able to take on more responsibilities (and better pay). The contents of the course proved to be excellent for it and I have been promoted after receiving my certificate of attainment.'

Gardeners Beware - The Risk from Non-Indigenous Plants

Invasive non-native species are affecting the biodiversity of different countries. In the UK, the introduction of the grey squirrel has affected the population of our native red squirrel.  What about plants though? The introduction of non-indigenous species of animals and plants, such as Japanese knotweed is thought to be having a significant impact on the British environment.  Cabi (a scientific organisation) estimate that this is costing us £251 million in Scotland, £133 million in Wales and £1 billion to the British horticulture and agriculture industries.

Damaging species include rhododendron and giant hogweed. 

Giant hogweed and Japanese knotweed are squeezing native plants from road verges, riverbanks and wild land in Scotland.  Woodland habitats are being put at risk as a result of rhododendron infestation.

Native plants, such as the Scottish wild hyacinth is at increasing risk due to hybridisation from plant seeds escaping from gardens.

Exotic plants that are allowed to escaped into the wider environment can cause damage to the existing environments.

Whilst, most people would recognise that non-native plants can benefit the horticulture and agriculture of a country, the difficulties arise when the non-native species are planted in the wild and begin to spread into new habitats.

Tracey Jones

www.acsgarden.com

Is the use of social networking to promote riots and social unrest a new thing?

Social Networking and The UK Riots

Over the last few weeks in the UK, we have seen media images of the riots in many of the major UK cities in England.  One of the things that cause the most outrage was the “new” factor of social networking. Social networking sites such as twitter, facebook and blackberry messenger were used to encourage people to get involved in the riots.  The social networking sites have enabled riots to be planned quickly.  Presumably people who wouldn’t have known about when and where the riots were taking place otherwise. 

So this is all a new thing isn’t it? Well, no actually it isn’t.   Cyber networking is not a new phenomenon. This is the uses of blogs, emails, social networking sites and forums to organise riots or demonstrations. 

Organisations known as New Social Movements or NSMs have been organising and coordinating activities such as riots and direct action via the internet for some time.

The G8 summit in Genoa, Italy in 2001 is a prime example of where cyber networking was used to inform people about demonstrations. The events started as  a peaceful demonstration, but quickly became a violent riot.  Over 200,000 demonstrated worldwide in different cities.  Websites and forums such as the Genoa Social Forum were blamed for organising and encouraging the demonstration.  Other social media, forums, websites and media outlets were raided by the police.

In Egypt, in January of this year, the internet and instant messaging services were disrupted as the government believed that dissidents were using the internet to provide political unrest.  Texting services became slow or unavailable. And Facebook reported a substantial drop in visitors from Egypt.

So is the use of social networking to promote physical unrest a new thing this month? 

Interested in the way that society and individuals interact? Learn more in our Social Psychology course.

http://www.acsedu.com/courses/social-psychology-i-815.aspx

This is our new photography tutor's web site:
http://ping.fm/LU4fH
Check out his stunning photos!