On Line Degrees, Revisited

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
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It’s been more than six years since this subject was raised. The conclusion most people on Forumosa made was that the MOE was very suspicious of on line degrees and that they carefully scrutinized your transcript to see that no more than a certain percentage of your coursework was done online.

Fast forward to today… it seems many US accredited institutions are offering on-line degrees. Some even assured me that the words “on-line” or “distance learning” don’t even appear on the certificate. Now that online degrees are more acceptable in the states, what is the attitude in Taiwan?

I have a young family, I can’t really disappear for a year.

Do you have any suggestions for good and affordable programs. I’m interested in an Masters in Education for either ESL or TESOL. My goal would to have teaching credentials in the US and be able to teach at a “second rate” college or primary/secondary school here in Taiwan.

Is the guide to US Accredited Schools Recognized by Taiwan? The nearest copy I know of is in the Kaohsiung Normal University Library… It’s just too long of a hike. Thanks.

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Taiwan still does not recognize online / distance learning degrees.

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I don’t know, because many accredited institutions offers online degree and doesn’t say if it’s online or not but maybe you can deny that you did it online or something. I am not sure if MOE will check your transcript or coursework to see if it’s online or not. Do you have a PARC? if so it doesn’t matter what MOE thinks.

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That’s a good point. I don’t think degrees actually indicate how they were attained, in person or via distance. I know one person who got his masters via distance many years ago, and got a job working at a university in Taiwan afterwards. It didn’t state anything on his degree certificate, and he was never asked. So he evaded the radar, so to speak.

I guess you would just have to be careful on a CV, for instance, accounting for the time that they would ‘expect’ you to be away to study for a degree. What I mean is that if you say you got a masters at a US university from 2009-2011, for example, but you have work experience in Taiwan listed during the same period, it would raise some alarm bells. So I guess that should be taken into consideration.

There is some rule about how much time you technically have to be away from Taiwan when studying to qualify as non-distance learning, something like 8 or 9 months out of the year. Depending on the length of your program, maybe you could work it out where the final 9 months or so of study was completed in the country where the degree is coming from, just to be on the safe side.

5

This is really important to me. I would really like to get it from the horses mouth.

“Taiwan, still doesn’t accept on line degrees”- please give me chapter and verse on that, in Chinese is ok.

I have my own small business (small bushi ban owner/teacher/dishwasher) and pay taxes based on the business. I could lie, after all, I’m the boss. But I still have to pay all the taxes. Will they check?

(Some programs I find, just require a summer or two class study but the bulk of the work is still done on line. I was so convinced that Taiwan would not accpept it so I did not keep a notebook handy when I discovered them the first time. )

Believe me, I saw the official book of schools… it was lifted right from the American Accreditation list. A local (home town) Rabbinical Seminary is on the list. So are several Christian Seminaries as well. How many priests or Rabis are needed here?

What will they say? You school is on the list but since it’s an online program, we’re not accepting you. I need an insider or a “deep throat” who can give it to (us all) me straight and Anonymously.
I’ve got 3 young children and really can’t disappear to study. I also don’t have a poker face and too honest- I should be a minister or something… but… … please help.

PS: I’m a permanent resident here and attached to a Chinese spouse. Could a local degree buy me a way to a teaching postition? I’m tired of the night work and want to spend time with my family instead of turning them to latch key kids. The trouble is, I actually want to learn something and I don’t think a local degree would help me in the states.

(SPELLING BAD!? I’m not using FireFox, that’s why!)

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[quote=“Taiwan_Student”]This is really important to me. I would really like to get it from the horses mouth.

“Taiwan, still doesn’t accept on line degrees”- please give me chapter and verse on that, in Chinese is ok.

I have my own small business (small bushi ban owner/teacher/dishwasher) and pay taxes based on the business. I could lie, after all, I’m the boss. But I still have to pay all the taxes. Will they check?

(Some programs I find, just require a summer or two class study but the bulk of the work is still done on line. I was so convinced that Taiwan would not accpept it so I did not keep a notebook handy when I discovered them the first time. )

Believe me, I saw the official book of schools… it was lifted right from the American Accreditation list. A local (home town) Rabbinical Seminary is on the list. So are several Christian Seminaries as well. How many priests or Rabis are needed here?

What will they say? You school is on the list but since it’s an online program, we’re not accepting you. I need an insider or a “deep throat” who can give it to (us all) me straight and Anonymously.
I’ve got 3 young children and really can’t disappear to study. I also don’t have a poker face and too honest- I should be a minister or something… but… … please help.

PS: I’m a permanent resident here and attached to a Chinese spouse. Could a local degree buy me a way to a teaching postition? I’m tired of the night work and want to spend time with my family instead of turning them to latch key kids. The trouble is, I actually want to learn something and I don’t think a local degree would help me in the states.

(SPELLING BAD!? I’m not using FireFox, that’s why!)[/quote]

I didn’t have a teaching license in 2005 (but I DO/DID have a BA English and lots of experience), but was offered a teaching job at a local school. I didn’t take it because I decided to do something else, but it was offered. Great school–supposedly one of the best and populated by weathy kids.

I also was being considered for a position at Bethany, but called them before I heard back to say that I’d changed my plans. I expected to be offered that position as well.

If you have your own buxibusiness, you should know by now that connections are usually more important than else on the rock. You’re married so you can work, have your business, and you can study, if you want. I’m sure a local teaching license would qualify you to teach locally. Makes sense.

You don’t say what quals you have, but I remember reading something on these boards about, and the other day an American friend who lives in Taiwan was talking about, a program to study and earn a US teaching license, but I don’t know anything about it. It confuses me because each State in the Union has it’s own licensensing procedures, so I don’t know how it would work. I do know someone else who did all their ed courses on-line, but went back to the States for student teaching–and this person is now teaching in Taiwan.

So, I’m sorry, I know this is not exactly from the horse’s mouth and a bit confusing, but I mean to encourage you. There are options out there–just keep looking. Try searching here some more. There have only been about a hundred such threads, I’m sure one of them might have a nuget of info you could use as a good lead. Good Luck!

7

Sorry, I should list my qualifications… AA and BA in psychology, some master’s level coursework in Masters of Education (counseling and personnel services). Unfortunately, that was over ten years ago so I think any active credits I would have had expired.
My teaching experience came from on the job training, book publishers’ seminars and friends and who ever would lend advice.

I really could use a good training program that revisits the basic of large classroom management and other practical stuff. I do want some kind of degree to help me earn a living in the states because I don’t have confidence in the Junior/ Senior High School system here as yet.

Now House cat, thanks for the advice. That was probably true a few years ago but, the foreigners I met recently teaching as locals, not contract foreign slaves, seemed to all have a Masters Degree to teach at the university level and I think that also goes for public and private primary and secondary schools as well, but I haven’t met any of those teachers yet.

My wife, even though she had a Master’s Degree in English Literature in Taiwan was forced to get additional certification to keep and advance in her public school teaching position.

I think us foreigners can get away with a Master’s Degree in any subject the thing is, I really need the distance learning option. I know I can do any job that a Taiwanese can do, provided that I have the right qualification. Will the MOE look at my transcript or would they just rubber stamp my degree if a school chooses to hire me? I’m looking for a stable job. I can and have been a guest teacher or speaker, that’s no problem.
Thanks for the help.

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FWIW, I’m finishing up a Master of Arts in Teaching now–just one month to go! Anyway, my classroom management course was all about behavior theory. No practical advice at all–even attempting to corner the prof and force him to answer direct questions did no good–he was trained as a psychologist and would only say, "You should never have to deal with such a situation because of your good relationship with your students and your “withitness.”’ Blah, Blah. If you need help with large class management, google procedures. And read Harry Wong’s book The First Days of School. PM if you want to talk more about this.