University signs up 1000th online student

The bursting of the dotcom bubble has done little to dampen enthusiasm for online degrees, as the University of Liverpool this month signed up its 1000th online Masters student.

The online MSc and MBA technology courses, the first of which was launched 18 months ago, have been developed with e-learning partner K.I.T, and target professionals looking to study for a Masters degree while they work.

The programmes have already attracted students in 55 countries, from Australia to Zimbabwe, as well as 450 UK-based students.

K.I.T. chairman Shai Reshef explained that the international nature of the courses is a definite advantage.

"The focus of the MBA is on the new world economy," he said. "A lot of the discussion revolves around the importance of IT, for example the importance of the internet and e-commerce."

Reshef denied that online courses were less well respected by employers than their more traditional, classroom-based counterparts.

"Because all students are professionals, and for the MSc you must be a professional working in IT, the discussions are very practical," he said.

"About 70 per cent of students are sponsored by their employers which suggests that they don't see it as less good than a traditional MBA."

Nonetheless Reshef admitted that the programme isn't for everyone. "You need discipline to study with us," he explained.

"We have programme managers to help motivate students, but for some people the only way to study is to sit in a lecture with a professor and take notes."

Forty-four year old IT consultant Tom Puluczek signed up to the programme 18 months ago despite having been rejected for a place on the University of Liverpool's online MBA course because of a lack of qualifications.

Puluczek is on track to complete his MBA by the end of this year, but admitted that the last 18 months has been "bloody hard work".

"You have to be prepared to lose sleep and get down to some hard work and hard thinking," he warned. "Don't bring your IT preconceptions to the door."