Posts Tagged ‘distance learning’
Gains from an Online Degree
Monday, December 8th, 2008
If you’re ever feeling discouraged with your distance learning courses, just consider the many ways earning an online degree can enrich your life.
You’ll learn new things. You might think that learning is such a boring thing, but if you really think about it, learning is actually helpful. Not only will you increase your knowledge, but you will also increase your brain value.
A degree on your resume may lead to a raise or a better job. Let’s face it, earning a degree will greatly make your resume look a lot better. It’s not just your resume, but it will make you as a person better because a degree would mean that you are capable of finishing something. A degree would also mean that you are certifiably knowledgeable on a certain field and that you could help improve the organization you would want to be in.
You’ll have something interesting to say at cocktail parties. On-line degree is a hot topic. Not lot of people know about it, more so, not a lot of people know people who are actually enrolled in on-line courses. Imagine just how interesting you can be. This is an opportunity for you to spread the word to people on how awesome it is to be an on-line degree student. Who knows, you might even be able to interest other people in investigating and ultimately, enrolling in the online courses.
Your list of helpful contacts will grow. One advantage in getting an online degree is that it is online. The internet world is actually a small world considering you are able to contact people from everywhere through the computer.
You’ll meet interesting people who share your passions. Another advantage with having online courses is that you can narrow down and choose the people you want to correspond with. Here, you can meet people who have the same interests as you and from there, you can learn more from each other.
Your mind will stay sharp and alert. The internet is a fast-paced technology. Every so often, new things come about. You always have to be updated; if you don’t, it is possible that you lose track of things. That is why it is your responsibility to always be present; sharpness and alertness is a prerequisite of that.
With all that time online, you’re sure to become a better typist. Typing is one of the basic skills that you will surely be an expert in when studying on line degrees. If you stay in the computer long enough, you will be amazed at the magic your fingers can work.
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Characteristics of Distance Learners
Monday, December 8th, 2008
Distance education offers a new type of system of learning. Remember that online learning is not for everyone and, while it is an excellent choice for some, others will always struggle with learning independently. It may be best for you to check some characteristics of distance learners and reflect on yourself if you have the same qualities.
Good distance learners do just as well, if not better, without people looking over their shoulders. While some people need teachers to keep them motivated and on-task, distance learners are able to motivate themselves. They realize that they will never be face-to-face with the people who give them assignments and grade their work, but they don’t need others to encourage them. The most successful students are self-motivated and set their own goals.
Good distance learners never (or at least rarely) procrastinate. You’ll rarely find them putting off assignments or waiting until the last moment to write their papers. These students enjoy the freedom of working at their own pace and appreciate the ability to complete their work in as much time as it takes them, instead of waiting for an entire class. However, they understand that putting off their work too often can end up adding months, if not years, to their studies.
You have seen some qualities and characteristics of distance learners. Try and see if you have the same qualities as these people. If, after comparing your personality and habits to those of successful distance education students, you’ve discovered that you have a lot in common, online classes may be the perfect option for you.
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Tools Used for Distance Learning
Sunday, December 7th, 2008
With the event of the rapid improvement and innovations on science and technology, so many tools and apparatuses have been very helpful in the expansion of distance learning. In the twentieth century, radio, television, and especially the Internet have all been used to enhance distance education. Computers and the Internet have made distance learning distribution very much easier and a lot faster. For example, a private, for-profit Phoenix University, which is primarily an online university, now has two hundred thousand students and expects to serve five hundred thousand by 2010, yet little is known about student success or lack of success in such a fast-growing institution. In 2006 the Sloan Consortium reported that more than 96 percent of the largest colleges and universities in the United States offered online courses and that almost 3.2 million U.S. students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2005 term. In short, there is an increasing number of student enrollees for the online courses.
Despite the fact that minimal data is available on the student success rate on on-line schools, there are some on-line educational institutions that show good student outcomes. One example is Canada’s leading distance education providers, Open Learning (TRU-OL) of Thompson Rivers University. TRU-OL educational goals are obtainable for anyone through accessible and varied courses that can be taken anytime and at an individually-determined pace. With over 400 individual courses and more than 57 programs available for completion by distance and online learning, students can take a variety of programs such as: adult secondary school completion; certificates and diplomas, including advanced and post-baccalaureate; associate degrees; and bachelor’s degrees.
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What is Distance Education?
Sunday, December 7th, 2008
The beginnings of distance education dates back all the way from the year 1728. It sprung from a newspaper advertisement, in which Caleb Phillips, teacher of the new method of shorthand was looking for students to be sent weekly school lessons. Since then, more educators added to the demand of learning via correspondence. By the 19th century, commercial correspondence colleges became wide-spread all through out the different nations because of the development of the postal service. Distance education, or distance learning, is a field of education that focuses on the strategies of instruction, learning strategies, technology, and instructional systems design that aim to deliver education to students who are not physically “on site”. Rather than attending courses in person, teachers and students may communicate at times of their own choosing by exchanging printed or electronic media, or through technology that allows them to communicate in real time and through other online ways. Distance education courses that require a physical on-site presence for any reason including the taking of examinations is considered to be a hybrid or blended course of study.
There are many private and public, non-profit and for-profit institutions offering courses and degree programs through distance education. Levels of accreditation vary; some institutions offering distance education in the United States have received little outside oversight, and some may be fraudulent diploma mills. In many other jurisdictions, an institution may not use the term “University” without accreditation and authorization, normally by the national government. Online education is rapidly increasing among mainstream universities in the United States, where online doctoral programs have even developed at prestigious research institutions.
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Proper Online Accreditation
Saturday, December 6th, 2008
Due to the enormous amount of information available in the internet, it is possible that information on the internet may misrepresent the truth, be out of date, biased, or just incorrect. One example are hoax websites. Hoax websites may portray themselves as another organization and ask for donations of money. Often, these types of sites not only contain unreliable information but are also criminal in their activity. For this reason, the most important thing to check out before you begin any kind of distance learning program is the accreditation the school has, or claims to have. You have to make sure that the online school or learning program you are interested in is a legitimate one. Simply having a statement about being “licensed by the state” isn’t an accreditation and may not mean anything at all. There have been many violators that claim accreditation from agencies that either don’t exist, have been created by the school itself, or are legitimate agencies but have no record of accreditation for the school. Students who are enrolled or have completed degrees from schools that are not accredited have wasted a lot of time, money, and effort on a degree that may be rejected by potential employers. Credits from schools that are not accredited cannot be transferred to other universities. There are several state-based and regional accrediting bodies. Each is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. To find out whether the school is truly an accredited college, contact the appropriate State Department of Higher Education.
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