Part 2: Becoming a Student

Step One: Are you ready for the Diploma Programme?

Minimum Requirements

Each local academic institution has its own admission criteria. However, there are minimum requirements for admission to the Postgraduate Diploma Training Programme. At a minimum, students must meet the following requirements:

• A bachelor’s degree or higher in a field related to ICT policy and regulation
  AND
• Sufficient, applicable and verifiable prior learning through other training or work experience
  OR
• Adequate work experience and evidence of accelerated career progress since original training.

Currently, all NetTel courses are offered only in English. Also, many aspects of NetTel's Training Programme require a minimum level of access to the Internet. Students in the NetTel Postgraduate Training Programme must have:

• Demonstrable proficiency in reading, speaking and writing in English
  AND
• At least 5 hours of weekly access to the Internet for web browsing and e-mail. 

Additional Requirments

Each academic institution may impose additional admission requirements for their own students. Please learn more about the admission requirements of your Home Institution. Step 2 provides information about participating NetTel Home Institutions.

Registration Process

The Registration Process begins with the prospective student learning enough about the NetTel Postgraduate Training Programme to make an informed decision. In making this decision, it is suggested that potential students fully review the registration information describing the Training Programme, giving particular attention to the Policies and Required Learning Resources (steps 4 and 5). When possible, we recommend that all prospective students contact a NetTel Advisor at the nearest NetTel Academic Institution to ask questions.

Once the decision is made to proceed with registering in the Postgraduate Training Programme, the student will need to do the following:

• Choose a Home Institution (Step 2)
• Learn about the admission requirements of the Home Institution (Step 2)
• Discuss Registration with the NetTel Advisor at the Home Institution (Step 3)
• Determine which courses to take (Step 3)
• Enroll in the course(s) prior to the close of the enrollment period for the Home Institution (Step 3)
• Understand the Policies established by NetTel and your Home Institution (Step 4)
• Understand the Requirements for accessing Learning Resources (Step 5)

What you can Expect

The NetTel@Africa Postgraduate Diploma Training Programme is offered through a distributed eLearning environment. The distributed eLearning environment will be provided through a combination of information technologies (CD-ROMs and web-based tools) and face-to-face interactions. The content of the NetTel curriculum is developed and delivered by an international network of universities and training institutions. Because NetTel's curriculum resources are distributed across vast geographic areas, the learning environment is also distributed. What this means is that sometimes your instructor for a particular course, as well as some of your fellow students, may not be located at your Home Institution. Your instructor and some of your fellow students may be located at different institutions in other countries.
One benefit of NetTel's distributed eLearning environment is that students can receive training from leading experts regardless of their geographic location. Another benefit is that students have the opportunity to interact with people who have similar interests but live in other countries. NetTel strives to capitalise on the international aspect of its distributed eLearning environment.

Contemporary telecommunications issues are largely international in scope and require an awareness that stretches beyond one's national boundaries. While there are deadlines for course work, the distributed eLearning environment allows students flexibility to complete most of their course work during times that are most convenient to each individual student.

The many benefits of NetTel's distributed eLearning environment are not without certain challenges. For one, students who require constant pressure from their instructors to accomplish assignments and learning objectives may discover a lack of this type of influence. Successful students in this Postgraduate Programme will be those who are able to motivate themselves and remain on task. Another challenge has to do with the ability to contact students and instructional staff from other institutions. Students are strongly encouraged to maintain frequent contact with their classmates, instructors and expert practitioners through Internet-based communications applications (e.g., e-mail, discussion forums, etc.). NetTel offers various ways for students to stay in contact; one of the main tools used by NetTel is called KEWL.
 
As a student in this programme, you can expect the following:

• To be successful, you must be self-motivated, able to access the WWW and e-mail on the Internet, fluent in English, and willing to engage in self-directed studies.
• The instructional staff for a given course may include faculty from other institutions who will communicate with you through e-mail or web portals such as KEWL.
• Your Home Institution will provide you with access to computer resources connected to the Internet for completing course-related work, access to library resources, and face-to-face access to a learning facilitator (a member of the course's instructional staff) located on the premises of your Home Institution.

Level of Effort

Students participating in the Postgraduate Diploma Training Programme must be prepared to dedicate a considerable level of effort to all course work. Specifically, for each course in which a student is enrolled he or she is expected to spend approximately 36 hours engaged in some form of communication with members of the course's instructional team (Face-to-face, e-mail, or other) AND approximately 84 hours engaged in some form of learning tasks (working independently or in groups). In total per course, each student is expected to spend 120 hours interacting in various ways with the course's lecturers, expert practitioners and learning materials.