The Open Training and Education Network, often abbreviated OTEN, is an Open education service offered by TAFE NSW. Students may enrol from anywhere in Australia, while operationally the program is run by the Western Sydney Institute of TAFE. OTEN courses are delivered using a range of media, including printed materials, videos, CD-ROMs and DVDs. Some OTEN courses and units are delivered online. OTEN students may also access local TAFE NSW library facilities.
The first use of distance education for Australian VET was in 1910 when Sydney Technical College launched an emergency correspondence course to train health inspectors at a time when the country was gripped by a typhoid epidemic. By 1917, what had become the Correspondence Division was offering more than 20 subjects to distance learners, using a mix of correspondence education and converted railway wagons acting as makeshift classrooms and workshops. It also later assisted Australia’s Second World War efforts by training 100,000 Australian and 43,000 US service personnel. In 1978, the service became known as the College of External Studies; in 1991, it was renamed the TAFE NSW Open Training and Education Network, or OTEN as it is now better known.
In 1995, OTEN was relocated to a purpose-built facility in Strathfield, 14 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district. Since that time, it has grown exponentially. In 1998, it became a Registered Training Organisation (RTO). In 2000, it introduced a custom-designed Student Administration System (SAM), an integrated online student records, educational resource and materials supply chain management system. In 2002, it created an online tracking system to monitor students’ progress. In 2010, it celebrated 100 years of public distance education in NSW.
Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OTEN
