PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSE
Study eco-tour management, bushcraft and wilderness skills, tour guiding in ecotourism in this distance learning course.
The course requires the completion of three 100 hour modules - Eco-tour Management, Ecotourism Tour Guide and Bushcraft and Wilderness Skills and evidence of a 200 hour work placement/work experience.
COURSE CONTENT
This is awarded upon completion of:
a) Three Ecotourism courses (300 hours)
b) A workplace project or work experience (approved by a tutor and equal to 200 hours)
More information is given below on the three modules and the workplace experience/placement.
ECOTOUR MANAGEMENT
There are 9 lessons as follows:
- Nature and Scope of Ecotourism -
- Definition of ecotourism
- Negative ecotourism
- Principles of ecotourism
- Management Issues -
- Recreation and the environment
- recreational impacts on the environment
- ethical and legal concerns
- code of practice for ecotourism operators
- incorporating ecotourism principles into activities
- interpretation
- visitor guidelines
- planning for minimal impact
- quality control
- Industry Destinations -
- The ecotourism market
- what do ecotourists want?
- trends in international tourism
- understanding the needs of the consumer
- consumer expectations
- The Tour Desk/Office -
- Office procedures
- providing information
- employment prospects in ecotourism
- bookings
- business letters
- telephone manner
- Accommodation Facilities -
- Types of accommodation facilities
- layout of facilities
- Catering Facilities -
- Introduction to catering
- accepted practice for service facilities
- storing and preserving food
- Legal Considerations -
- National Parks
- land use/planning restrictions
- code of practice
- Safety-
- The safety strategy
- hazards
- first aid
- Planning an Ecotourism Activity -
A special project where the student plans out an ecotourism activity including:
- budget
- accommodation
- licenses
- meals
- destination
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
AIMS
- Describe the scope of ecotourism experiences available.
- Determine management issues related to ecotourism activities/enterprises, giving due consideration to environmental and ethical concerns.
- Develop in the learner an awareness of ecotourism destinations in existence and possibilities (in the learner's country).
- Explain the management and operation of an ecotourism office.
- Explain the management of ecotourist accommodation facilities including:
- camp sites
- cabins
- caravans
- resorts
- Identify catering options for different ecotourism activities.
- Identify legal and statutory requirements for the establishment and operation of an ecotourism enterprise.
- Identify/establish safety precautions/requirements/procedures for an ecotourism enterprise.
- Plan for an ecotourism activity.
Comment from one of our Ecotourism students:
"I am learning so much" J. Alderton
BUSHCRAFT & WILDERNESS ACTIVITIES
COURSE STRUCTURE
There are 10 lessons as follows:
- Understanding Wilderness Areas
- Equipment
- Protection from the Elements
- Natural Resources
- Navigation
- Dealing with Emergencies
- Camping
- Passive Land Based Activities
- Water Based Adventure Activities
- Active Land Based Adventure Activites
AIMS
- To appreciate the scope and implications of ecotourism opportunities in wilderness areas.
- To be able to prepare for an excursion into a wilderness area
- To determine appropriate methods of protecting against the elements.
- To determine different uses for natural resources in the wilderness.
- To be able to navigate in a wilderness area using a variety of different techniques.
- To deal with a range of emergencies in a wilderness situation, including developing contingency plans and determining appropriate first aid.
- Explain campsite establishment and management.
- Determine appropriate procedures for managing different passive wilderness activities.
- Determine appropriate procedures for managing different water based wilderness activities.
- Determine appropriate procedures for managing different active wilderness activities.
ECOTOURISM TOUR GUIDE
COURSE STRUCTURE
There are 10 lessons as follows:
- Ecotourism Basics –
- Definition of ecotourism
- Negative ecotourism
- Ecotourist profile
- Administrative concerns
- Safety
- Interpretive Services in Ecotourism –
- Interpretation as a key element of ecotourism
- Interpretation techniques
- Sign design
- Ecology and Conservation –
- Definition of ecology
- Ecosystem function
- The web of life
- Habitat and niche
- Humans in the environment
- Plant and Animal Classification and Identification –
- Classification of organisms
- Basic taxonomy
- Using keys for identification
- Other methods of identification
- Geology/Geomorphology –
- Types of rocks
- Types of minerals
- Soils
- Soil formation
- Soil classification
- Interpreting Aquatic Environments –
- Marine environments
- Freshwater environments
- Fish
- Shells
- Crustaceans
- Interpreting Land Environments –
- Introduction to interpreting land environments
- Relevance of interpreting land environments
- Planning an Ecotour –
- Destination
- Transportation
- Accommodation
- Ecotour Displays –
- Design concepts
- Zoo design techniques
- Leading an Ecotour –
- Advertising
- Group preparation
- Planning the tour
- Group surveys for feedback
AIMS
- An ability to analyse the structure of interpretive ecotourism in your country.
- To recognise factors of the environment and their significance to ecotourism.
- To plan an ecotour.
- Create/develop interpretation aids for a selected ecotourism activity.
- Develop a display with an ecotourism theme.
- Determine the specific name of a range of natural features in a selected wilderness area including:
- Birds
- Fish
- Shells
- Other animals
- Plants
- Lead an interpretive tour with an ecotourism theme.
- Develop innovative concepts in interpretation for a selected aquatic ecotourism activity.
- Develop innovative concepts in interpretation for a selected ecotourism activity in a land environment.
- Determine the specific name of a range of natural features in a selected wilderness area including, where appropriate:
- Fossils
- Rocks
- Land formations
- Soil types
- Geothermal features
Workplace Projects
There are four options available to you to satisfy this requirement:
Alternative 1.
If you work in the industry that you have been studying; you may submit a reference from your employer, in an effort to satisfy this industry (ie. workplace project) requirement; on the basis of RPL (ie. recognition for prior learning), achieved through your current and past work experience.
The reference must indicate that you have skills and an awareness of your industry, which is sufficient for you to work in a position of responsibility.
Alternative 2.
A one module credit (100 hrs) can be achieved by verifying attendance at a series of industry meetings, as follows:
-
Meetings may be seminars, conferences, trade shows, committee meetings, volunteer events (eg. Community working bees), or any other meeting where two or more industry people or people who are knowledgeable about their discipline.
-
Opportunity must exist for the student to learn through networking, observation and/or interaction with people who know their industry or discipline
-
A list of events should be submitted together with dates of each attended and times being claimed for each
-
Documentary evidence must be submitted to the school to indicate support each item on the above list (eg. Receipts from seminars, conference or shows, letters from committee or organisation secretaries or committee members. All such documentation must contain a contact details)
Alternative 3.
Credits can be achieved by completing standard modules Workshop I, II and/or III
Each of these modules comprises a series of “hands on” PBL projects, designed as learning experiences that involve interaction with the real world. (This approach is based upon tried and proven learning approaches that originated in American universities but are now widely used and respected by academia throughout many countries). See the web site or handbook for more detail.
Example:
Workshop I
There are 3 lessons, each involving a PBL project, as follows:
1. Workplace Tools, Equipment and Materials: Identifying and describing the operation of tools and equipment used in the workplace; routine maintenance of tools and equipment; identifying and comparing materials used in the workplace; using different materials to perform workplace tasks.
2. Workplace Skills: Determining key practical skills in the workplace; identifying and comparing commonly-performed workplace tasks; determining acceptable standards for workplace tasks; implementing techniques for improving workplace efficiency.
3. Workplace Safety: Identifying health and safety risks in the workplace; complying with industry OH&S standards; developing safety guidelines for handling dangerous items.
What is PBL? Problem-based learning has been defined as: “A learning method based on using problems as a starting point for acquisition and integration of new knowledge.”
Alternative 4.
If you do not work in the relevant industry, you need to undertake a project as follows.
Procedure for a Workplace Project
This project is a major part of the course involving the number of hours relevant to the course (see above). Although the course does not contain mandatory work requirements, work experience is seen as highly desirable.
This project is based on applications in the work place and specifically aims to provide the student with the opportunity to apply and integrate skills and knowledge developed through various areas of formal study.
Students will design this project in consultation with a tutor to involve industry based activities in the area of specialized study which they select to follow in the course. The project outcomes may take the form of a written report, folio, visuals or a mixture of forms. Participants with relevant, current or past work experience will be given exemption from this project if they can provide suitable references from employers that show they have already fulfilled the requirements of this project.
For courses that involve more than 100 hours, more than one workplace project topic may be selected. For example, 200 hours may be split into two projects each of 100 hours. This will offer the student better scope to fulfill the needs of their course and to meet the number of hours required. Alternatively, the student may wish to do one large project with a duration of 200 hours.
Students will be assessed on how well they achieve the goals and outcomes they originally set as part of their negotiations with their tutor. During each 100 hours of the project, the students will present three short progress reports. These progress reports will be taken into account when evaluating the final submission. The tutor must be satisfied that the work submitted is original.
If the student wishes to do one large 200 hour report, then only three progressive reports will be needed (however the length of each report will be longer).
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