On Wed, Jan 21, 2009 at 7:58 AM, Dan Saffer <[email protected]> wrote:
> > On Jan 20, 2009, at 9:03 PM, Ben Vaughan wrote: > > However, I must respectfully disagree that the only way to benefit >> from a program is by personally attending. >> > > Based on what exactly? Is there anyone on the list who has attended design > school who thinks it can be taught remotely? If so, that's an opinion I've > yet to hear. It wasn't quite design school remotely, but I did take the postgraduate module on user centred design from Open University which is a highly respected institute of distance learning in the UK. It gave me a good foundation in the basics of UCD, though it has a IS/engineering bias (lots of use cases, etc.). I did that so that I could work full-time while studying - none of the UK HCI or IxD postgraduate programmes in the UK have evening classes. Even part time, they assume you will only work a few days a week. A few years later, I took a year off and completed an MSc in HCI from UCL. Although I learned a lot from the OU course, the UCL one was much more in-depth, partially because it was a whole MSc instead of just one module that was part of another MSc, but another was the fact that it wasn't distance learning and we had lots of design and other kinds of workshops. On the other hand, the basics/foundations of the course could probably be taught by distance learning. So maybe the solution is to create more programs that combine distance learning with workshops later in the program or more infrequently - i.e., 1-2 intensive weeks of workshopping that allow students to use their holiday time to attend full-time but can more easily keep their jobs while doing the rest of the study. It might take longer to get the course done that way, but it always does if you're attending part time. As for getting a job without a degree or considerable experience, it's very hard in the current market, at least in London. Before I had the MSc but with the OU course and some experience (plus years of industry experience as a producer/front-end developer), I got interviews. After the MSc, I got job offers and now work as a User Experience Architect. I think the KU course sounds like a good idea with evening classes for professionals in Lawrence and Kansas City. If I still lived in the area and didn't already have a degree, I'd seriously consider it, especially since Masters programs are 2 years full time in the US instead of just 1. (KU is my undergraduate alma mater, though I studied totally unrelated fields to what I do today.) -- Renée Rosen-Wakeford [email protected] Twitter: @lilitu93 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
