About Athabasca University
Athabasca University is Canada's leading
distance-education and online university: Canada's Open University. It
currently serves in excess of 24,136 students per year, following a period of
rapid growth which has seen student numbers double over a six-year period. Some
150,000 students have benefited from AU's individualized courses and programs
since the University was created by the Government of Alberta in 1970.
Athabasca University's programs are predominantly available through
individualized study, in which all materials and a collect-call link with a
tutor are included in the fees. Seminar and teleconference delivery modes are
also provided, and a growing number of programs and courses are offered online
or with online enhancements.
Information about the program
A Canada’s Open University that is one which admits students
without regard to their previous educational background or achievements. To
enter Athabasca University as an undergraduate student, you must be 16 or
older. AU is dedicated to removing the educational, geographical, financial,
social, cultural and other barriers.
Graduate
Programs
As Canada's premier
online distance education university, Athabasca University provides innovative,
Internet-based graduate programs that reach students around the world. Earn a
master's degree, doctorate, graduate diploma or certificate online. Each
program offers a spectrum of courses relevant to today's work environment.
Courses
It's offer more than
750 courses in a wide range of subjects. Our courses are designed for study
online, at a distance, or in a classroom so you can continue your education
without sacrificing personal, family, career, or community commitments.
* Start dates depend
on the institution and/or course
** Course length differs for funded students
Study on your own, at
your own pace, using the course materials provided and support from your tutor.
You will be assigned a tutor and given a recommended study schedule. You
determine the actual timing of assignments and exams within the course contract
period.
During grouped study
courses, you meet as a group in a classroom or online and you are taught by an instructor. Your instructor may use a variety of media
to reach students unable to physically attend the classroom. For example,
teleconferencing or videoconferencing courses allow students in one community
to interact with an instructor and class in another community.
Regulations:
1) Degree conversion is only available to Athabasca University graduates of
three-year programs. Graduates of other institutions who wish to obtain an
Athabasca University four-year degree must follow the Second Undergraduate
Degree regulations.
2) A student, who wishes to retain the three-year degree and also obtain a
four-year degree, must follow the appropriate second undergraduate degree
requirements as outlined in the Athabasca University calendar. Students
following the conversion route will not retain their three-year degree once the
four-year degree has been awarded.
3) Students are required to follow the regulations outlined in the Athabasca
University calendar for the four-year degree. Students follow the degree regulations
in place at the time of admission to the new program. Depending on the program
of study and the year of completion, more than one year (30 credits) may be
required.
4) The three-year degree will continue to be valid as awarded until the
students submits an application for graduation and the new degree is conferred.
There are no time limits associated with this conversion; however, program
regulations that require currency in a subject area (e.g., Computing Sciences)
will still be upheld. The student is required to complete the current degree
requirements as outlined for the four-year degree.
5) Students who have received transfer credit, PLAR or exemptions from
regulations within the three-year degree will have those carried forward to the
four-year degree as appropriate.
6) Once the four-year degree is awarded, the notation on the transcript
indicating the three-year degree will be changed from "awarded" to
"converted" and an additional notation will be added. The notation
will be:
a. Four-year awarded based on completion of three-year degree studies coupled
with fourth-year conversion requirements.
b. The student will be requested to return the three-year parchment although we
will not place any restriction on its return (we will award the four year even
if the three-year parchment is not returned). The four-year parchment will not
be any different from the regular parchment (no notation of conversion as this
information will be contained in the transcripts).
General Policy:
1) Students who have graduated with a three-year Athabasca
University degree and now wish to do extra study and convert to a four-year
Athabasca University degree will follow the regulations in place at the time of
admission to the new program. This conversion provision is available to
Athabasca University degree graduates only and only those wishing to convert
from a three-year program to a four-year program in the same degree area or
major. Students who have obtained a three-year academic degree from another
institution and wish to obtain a four-year Athabasca University degree must
apply to Athabasca University and follow the regulations stipulated by the
second undergraduate degree regulations. Students who have completed a
three-year degree that is now closed may be considered for entry into the
revised four-year program; however, there may be considerably more than one
year of study required.
2) Students who follow the conversion regulations and obtain the four-year
degree will be considered to have only one degree (i.e., the four year).The
notation on the transcript will indicate that the student has converted their
three-year degree to a four-year version. The four-year degree will replace the
three-year degree and thus the student is considered to have one four-year
degree only.Students will be required to return their three-year parchment;
however, we will issue the new parchment regardless.
Privacy policy:
1) The University's website has been created in full conformity with Alberta's
freedom of information and protection of privacy legislation.
2) Any personal information students provide through our website will be used
only for the purposes for which it was collected.
3) The University does not use cookies in any manner which could impinge on
student's privacy (i.e. it does not use “snoop” software).
4) Privacy also includes:
a. Intellectual Property Rights.
b. No Warranties
c. Web Pages and Links
d. Computer Viruses
e. Governing law: The laws of the Province of Alberta and the laws of Canada
applicable shall govern any dispute or action regarding this Site or any
content present on the Site.
Support:
1. First there is a complete web page describe what students may choose from
two main categories of courses, which are graduate and undergraduate courses.
And there is a search bar where students can type a course and search for it.
2. Academic advising is also available for students including:
a. AU ( Athabasca university) Locations.
b. AU program plans.
c. AU/MRC collaboration: AU offers several courses in collaboration with Mount
Royal College.
d. Financial aid: What can help students complete loan study plan.
3. There is a library service including distance library services to al AU
users. AU also launched a new library toolbar and a number of Web 2.0
applications. AU Library's LibX toolbar allows users quick access to specific
library web pages and to search specific library resources. And there is
tutorial provided to teach students how to use this library toolbar.
a. Moreover they use Facebook as place for the AU Library community to share
their experiences with AU Library, and to provide comments, suggestions, and
ask questions to other community members regarding library services. The AU
Librarians will be on hand to respond and share in the discussions with other
library members.
b. An RSS feed that users can subscribe to and receive the latest AU Library
news.
c. Shelfari: A virtual bookshelf highlighting new and notable books in AU
Library.
d. TagCrowd: A visualization of keywords in the library catalogue.
e. Zotero :is a free, easy-to-use Firefox extension to help you collect,
manage, and cite your research sources. It lives right where you do your work
in the web browser itself.
4. There are also multiple resources and services provided including:
a. AU space.
b. Databases:
c. Digital reading room.
d. Digital reference center.
e. Digital Thesis and Project Room.
f. Digitization Portal
g. E-Books
h. E-Journals
i. Help Centre
5. Voice mail response.
6. E-mail response.
7. Information regarding ( grades, exams, Tutor access to TRIX, Course
Availability, materials, copyright, printing, etc) is clearly described.
8. Search box is provided in whole pages to help students search for related
content.
9. FAQ service is provided also.
10. Help on how to reset your passwords is available also.
11. Call number is given.
Costs:
1. Undergraduate Course Fees: Depending on where you are
located, your course fees will vary.
a. Fees for Canadian Students
b. Fees for Students Outside of Canada
2. General Application Form/Fee: $100
3. Evaluation Fee: $100
4. Examination Fees:
a. Examination rebooking fee: $40
b. Late examination request fee: $50
c. Multiple examination fee: $50
d. examination is returned unwritten and requested again: $50
e. Supplemental examination request fee: $90
5. Extension Fee: per extension $165
6. Learning Resources Fee: $170
8. Prior Learning Assessment Fee: $500
The technology/system that supports the above type(s) of
interaction.
1) Wiki.
2) Blog.
3) Facebook.
4) RSS feed.
5) Zotero.
6) E- mail.
7) Moodle.
a. Chat room.
b. Discussion Forums:
8) computer mediated conferencing.
Types of interaction supported by the above DE program.
1) Social interaction by:
a. Blogs.
b. Chatting
c. Wiki.
e. Computer-mediated confrencing
2) Synchronous interaction:
a. Chat rooms.
3) Asynchronous interaction:
a. Email.
b. Discussion forums.
Describing this interaction system:
Wiki:
Some courses will include a wiki, which allows learners to collaborate on writing
projects by everyone writing and editing in a single online document. Students'
tutor will provide specific direction on how to use the wiki as a course tool.
In a self-paced course, learners will see what others have previously
contributed to the wiki. They will be able to make their own contributions to
the document and leave information in the wiki for future students.
A wiki is indeed a fast method for
creating content as a group. It’s a hugely popular format on the Web for
creating group documents, the most famous being Wikipedia.
Blog:
A form of online journal used by millions of people around the world for
self-expression and communication with family and friends. Blogs are usually
organized as a chronological series of postings created by the author of the
blog. Blogs are usually written by one person, although they can be authored by
groups.
If your course has a for-credit journal component, you will be asked to create
a blog. The assignment link on your course page will have additional
information on how to use a blog for the course. If you need help, you can
consult your tutor.
Blogs are personal. Generally only the author can edit, though in AU courses,
tutors are able to edit blogs as well. The link to your blog can be seen from
your profile page, and each entry is visible if you chose to share it.
Moodle:
Course sites in Moodle are accessed through the AU portal. When a student register in a course, he will automatically have a course tab applied to his portal page. In different AU courses he may see different subsets of modules. Depending on course settings, the People block allows him to see who is in his course and when participants last accessed the course. Clicking on Participants brings up a list of names with a link to each person’s profile and a link to their email address, if it is available. This is also where he can edit his own profile.
If instant messaging is enabled in his course, he can also see if someone has been trying to reach him by instant message in the Messages block.
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