Other ACS SITES

OTHER ACS WEB SITES

Australian Correspondence Schools

Main Site servicing Australia, Asia and the Pacific, contains information across many disciplines beyond horticulture.

ACS Distance Education (U.K. Site)

Main Site servicing the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, for information beyond horticulture.

ACS Online Courses

Over 120 different courses available for online study.

ACS Distance Education (Global Site)

Through thiis site we service the whole world. This site also contains some unique services including courses on CD which can be purchased without tuition at a heavily discounted cost.

ACS Garden Ezine

Hundreds of pages of free information, a searchable plant directory, new product reviews and articles in each issue, forums, events and organisations directories, and more.

Careers Guide

Lots of free advice and information on careers. Career profiles for horticulture, Landscaping and others.

ACS Bookshop

Mail order books, videos and e books. Special offers, book reviews and more.

Web Photos

Hundreds of plant, landscape, and other photos to look at. Stock articles -gardening and more. A good resource for plant identification, and for publishers and people in the graphics industry, photos downloads can be purchased.

Australian Correspondence Schools incorp. Australian Horticultural Correspondence School

Established in 1979 by well known garden author, editor, nurseryman, landscape designer, John Mason. The college offers 150 different garden and horticulture courses, for general interest, careers, professional or job development. For full range go to http://www.hortcourses.com/courses/catlist.aspx

AFFILIATED INSTITUTIONS

Looking For an alternative to University, Vocational College or a Career Certificate?

University, Vocational and College education hasn't really changed that much in decades. In fact, the concepts and conventions we follow today are much the same as when universities and colleges started, -in some cases hundreds of years ago.

• The world has changed though!
• Our needs have changed too.
• We need a totally fresh and unbiased approach to education.

Quote: The world is changing faster than ever in our history. We need to evolve a new appreciation of the importance of nurturing human talent, alonmg with an understanding of how talent expresses itself differently in every individual. We need to create an environment -in our schools, in our workplaces and in our public offices -where every person is inspired to grow creatively.

Sir Ken Robinson (Author of "The Element" , Penguin Books 2009)

WHAT IS WRONG WITH UNI'S & VOCATIONAL COLLEGES?

• Often they take a long time from identifying the need for a course before they start running it. Many courses are designed to cater for needs that were identified a long time ago.
• Many institutions have become top heavy, or so heavily focussed on politics, finance, and complience (ie. satisfying audits & bureacrats), that actual learning is put in second place.
• Studies are too often focussed on passing exams rather than building creativity, passion and a capacity to thrive within a discipline, and ultimately an industry.
• Over the past few decades the content of many qualifications hgas been reduced, and courses shortened. This has led to more graduates for each follar spent on education....but one must ask, at what price?

One must ask...."If accredited education from established institutions is so good: why does it need to be promoted as being good?"

WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES

There are alternatives outside of the mainstream.

Colleges in the ACS Network provide alternatives that tend toward the philosophies outlined above:

Check out some of these:

Health Schools Australia

Warnborough College

Australian College of Sports and Fitness

Southern Cross International Learning Institute

Health Academy Australia

Courses Direct UK

Garden Design Academy

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