Yes. The school is open during all class hours as usual. Student services, teachers and administration staff are available to help you. You are welcome at the school, but you cannot gather with groups of students. We are all also available online. Please use Facebook to send messages, as it will be checked continually throughout the day. During school hours, there is also a LiveChat on our website. You can make inquiries and we will get back to you as quickly as possible. You can also reach us at our email info@times.edu.au.
The school will be open from 8am to 6pm daily, unless the government decides that we must shut down.
Please see the government websites for what to do:
https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert
Or call the COVID19 hotline
1800 020 080
Please see the website and you call the hotline
Any type of computer with audio and visual will work. You can also use a tablet with the ZOOM app or your phone (however, phones are more difficult to use).
You are welcome to come to the school and use the school computer laboratory.
If you have the financial means to do so, you can also rent laptops and computers. Here are some suggested rental websites, but they are not endorsed by Times Academy. Times has not worked with these companies and it is up to you to find the best deal for you.
https://www.abacusrentit.com.au/
The English students will use ZOOM and the VET Students will use Moodle (their student portal) and Microsoft Team. Please see the student online portal on your first day of class for full instructions of what to download and use for your class.
All of these programs are free for students.
Your material fee for this term is being used towards more interactive software and platforms that will be integrated into your teaching and learning. We will use interactive and interesting sites, resources and learning platforms to help you learn and absorb the class content.
No. As social gatherings are banned you cannot come to school for social reasons.
Definitely. You must maintain 80% attendance. It is a requirement of your student visa that you go to class and Times Academy will be checking your attendance. You can still monitor your own attendance online through the student portal. You are also required to continue with academic progress. If you do not progress with your academics in this time of Virtual classes, you can and will be reported to immigration. This is a condition of your student visa.
Come to school. The school is open and you can get help or print things. You can also get help online from our website live chat or in our Facebook Messenger. Feel free to call or email the school as well. We are here to help.
Please contact the school if you are trying to return to your home country to make arrangements for suspension or cancellation of course.
Yes. Assessments, assignments and tests will occur online. You will be informed as to what is a formal or informal assessment. Reassessment fees apply as usual if you do not successfully complete for VET training. English students can still be promoted to the next level based on their achievement and attendance.
The teachers and trainers will be online continually to support and help you. If you feel your teacher or trainer is not helping you as required, please be sure to send an email to info@times.edu.au and tell us what you would like. We are here to help and support your learning.
Let us know! We will try to improve and adjust the Virtual Classroom to meet our student needs. Please email us at info@times.edu.au with your suggestions and comments.
See your GP and visit the government website for more information.
https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert
Be sure to take your Overseas Student Health Coverage Card with you to the doctor or hospital.
You can call the school to talk about counselling options.
See your GP and visit the government website for more information.
https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert
Be sure to take your Overseas Student Health Coverage Card with you to the doctor or hospital.
You can come to the school, call or contact us on social media or via email. We also have an online chat function on the website. The school is here to help you in this difficult time.
It’s student’s responsibility to remain satisfactory financial status at all times. We understand it is a difficult time for some of our students and we’ll support you where we can. Please consult our friendly finance staff for any extraordinary arrangements. These will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Please provide any supporting documentation that may assist your case. Please send a message to info@times.edu.au and ask for financial consideration.
Currently, online learning will be ongoing until such time as the government says it is safe to end lockdown and social gatherings.
Please make sure we have an up-to-date email address. Also, keep an eye on social media and our school website. We will release information as soon as we can to keep you informed and safe.
COVID-19 is a serious problem and the Directors of Times Academy take your health very seriously. As Times Academy has young children AND adults, we have a unique mix of students and ages. Therefore, we have decided that it is no advisable for students to interact daily in large groups.
You should receive an email about how to complete your online orientation. You will do a test if you are an English student which also needs to be completed. If you have not received an email, it might be because we do not have an accurate email address. Please write to us at info@times.edu.au and tell them your full name, email address and your start date so they can make sure you get your orientation information.
No. You still have scheduled class times where you need to be live online and interacting with the trainers and teachers. Attendance is taken and we expect you to be available, online and participating during class times.
We will send a copy of e-orientation package with clear guidance for the enrolment process to you and your education agent. Please make sure the school has a good email address for you. If you are not sure, please contact the school at info@times.edu.au and
Following the advice from Australian Government authorities, we will deliver online study for all our enrolled students at this stage so there is minimal need for deferments. The standard deferment policy stated in the student handbook applies for a deferment request. We’ll keep you notified for in case of any possible changes.
To apply for your certificate or re-enrol, please contact the school at info@times.edu.au. Then it will follow the usual procedure. We can post certificates to those students who prefer not to pick up in-person with student to incur postage costs.
About Virtual Class
Computer, microphone and a stable internet connection.
You need a web browser and an Internet connection. Moodle and ZOOM are compatible with any standard compliant web browser, namely, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Edge and Internet Explorer.
After you sign up for your account, you can join a test meeting by clicking here to make sure your audio and video is working. Feel confident you are ready to join your first virtual class. We can’t provide a lot of technical assistance during classes (or five minutes before your class begins!), so testing your set up before your first class is highly advised.
That’s up to you! Once you click to join the classroom, you will have the choice to join with our without video. If you choose with, the teacher and other attendees will see you. These classes will not be recorded, so you don’t have to worry about anyone seeing you other than your virtual classmates and your teacher.
No. So long as you are attending your online classes and maintaining satisfactory course progress, you are complying with your visa requirements.
Your VLE course information will be located in Google Classroom. Classes will be carried out via ZOOM video conferencing. Online resources and class materials will be available in Google Classroom.
“Speaker” view allows you to follow the teacher, while “Gallery” view will show other students in the class. Since a lot of us know each other, it can be nice to connect this way.
Courses follow the semester system like in a regular school. Semester 1 runs from September to the end of January and semester 2 runs from February to the end of June. It is recommended that you make application for fall courses no later than June and Winter courses no later than December.
For VET students, many of the classes will be available on your Moodle following the class. However, you may have missed out on group work or discussion periods
You will be completing your presentations online as much as possible and exams will be completed online. If there are any practical observations that cannot be done online, they may be postponed to the next term when hopefully, all students will be back in the classrooms.
You can check your course progress in the Student Portal.
Your teacher will continue to give you feedback on your progress through Google Classroom
ELICOS students can ask their teachers who will review their progress with them at least once every 6 weeks to help them plan for their own learning.
If your internet connection slows down during class, try turning off your video camera so you can still see the class, but the teacher and other people in class can’t see you. This helps decrease the load on your wifi connection.
It’s rare that this happens, but if it does, stay in the virtual classroom and the feed should resume once the problem is navigated by our host. We’re really working hard to get all the little glitches out of the system, be patient with us.
This very much depends on you and the course you are taking. Studies have shown that both students and teachers tend to spend more time working on courses delivered online when compared to the same course delivered in the traditional classroom setting. If you are not, at this time, comfortable with computers, some of your time will be spent figuring out how to carry out different applications on your computer. As a general rule, however, plan on devoting at least as many hours to online courses as you would to regular classroom courses.
We will attempt to provide minimal technical assistance. We encourage you to play with your free Zoom account (English) and/or to play around on Moodle so that you get used to the format. We won’t be able to stop class to help you if you are having trouble. If you have technical issues, you can chat and write questions within the Zoom platform. If you have had a difficult experience with your virtual class, please email us to let us know so we can remedy your account
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