|
|
|
www.southgatearc.org
|
Internet Teaching of Amateur Radio CoursesI've been somewhat concerned by the very patchy coverage of club based
courses. The email below from Adam VK4KSS of the Australian Radio & Electronics School http://www.radioelectronicschool.com/ describes a different approach to the problem, they use the Internet for teaching. With the widespread availability of broadband this may be something to
consider in the UK. I know some excellent CD-ROM Foundation/Intermediate
tuition material has been produced in the past, see 73 Trevor M5AKA
In 1998 Ron Bertrand VK2DQ floated the idea of the Radio and Electronics School past me and a few others. All correspondence courses were done by regular post or at club level at the time, and were prohibitively expensive with a very slow turn around. As the internet was a growing resource it was the logical choice for a new correspondence based school Some clubs did, and still do run courses for the Novice and Unrestricted licences but they are very rare and required not only a course fee, but club membership as well in some cases. I know of only 4 clubs on the east coast of Australia that are still active, but I'm sure there are more. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is currently reviewing the licensing structure in Australia and our current 5 levels of licensing is to be refined into 3 levels. I think you are aware of these changes so I won't repeat them here. These changes are due to be implemented during September. There will
be a new foundation licence, which is modelled after the UK example with
courses only being available at club level. By default the Radio and Electronics Exams are held by invigilators who are registered with the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) (RSGB equivalent). There are currently 92 invigilators around the country and most hold exams on demand. Initially all courses, novice theory, unrestricted theory and regulations, were run by correspondence over the internet. As the school grew, we moved the novice theory and regulations to a Multi-Media CD ROM course. This released a lot of the burden of having to tutor novices and those wanting to do regulations. Course fees are deliberately kept low so as not to deter people. The fees cover the costs of the domain, business registration and web hosting etc... All of us here at the Radio and Electronics School are volunteers who use our own resources to run the school and courses. We have facilitators (tutors) in all states of Australia except the Northern Territory, and as a result we use Skype VOIP (www.skype.com) extensively, as this is often the best way to contact other facilitators, or students, to discuss issues that need resolving cheaply. Courses are run on demand... when someone enrols they are started on their way within a week, usually less. We aim for a 24 hour turn around for assignments with assignments due one week after posting. Ron and I offer support to all facilitators and students should they require it. We get a lot of inquires from outside of Australia for people wanting to become radio amateurs, but as our resources are limited we normally decline to take them on, unless there are special circumstances. We have tried many times to enlist the services of volunteers in other countries for our on-line course, but none have put their hand up. This is a pity, because the assignments would need little modification for other countries - only the regulations would differ. In fact the revision could be tailored to local requirements and the assignments could be left as is. I look forward to hearing from you again. Regards Adam Jaroszuk VK4KSS
|
|
||||||||||||
|
