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OTEN, the Open Training & Education Network is the distance education institute of TAFE NSW.
TAFE itself is the largest supplier of vocational training in Australia and, so it claims, one of the largest in the world.
OTEN, in turn, is the largest provider of distance education in Australia, with 32000 students in some sort of open or distance provision.
The site has an unusual flavour. Parts of it are carefully and attractively setout, and look to have had considerable thought given to the layout; other parts look suspiciously like tracts of text dumped into a file with little thought of page lengths or layout. Font sizes vary from very small to quite large, which adds to the impression of a site half designed and half not.
The virtual campus for IT courses, delivered online, is good: attractively presented with touch sensitive cartoon classrooms, campus maps and excellent design features such as a red door to mark the exit.
The elaborate Virtual Tour of OTEN's premises, with 360 degree rotating panoramic views. is also impressive, though its relevance to marketing a distance education provision is debatable.
So far, only five further courses are supported online - a curious mix of titles such as firefighting, nutrition, and assessor training. But more is promised, and the list of conventionally-delivered courses from OTEN is impressive. And there is good information on the underlying purposes and philosophy behind OTEN's work.
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