The Best and Worst of Online Education

Thursday, October 28th, 2010

Despite concerns, acceptance of online education is continuing to grow and at a fast pace. The increase in demand for distance learning shows that there is a need for online education and more and more people will continue to get their education online. Although getting a degree online has many advantages, there may be a few drawbacks to online learning. This article will help you to see the best and worst of online education and give you a more realistic view of both sides.

The Best of Online Education

Flexibility: You choose when and where you want to study – It’s that simple. And you can continue working while reaching your educational goals at the same time.

Attractiveness: Online degree programs are an attractive alternative as they help busy adults balance work, family and other activities.

Reduced overall expenses: There are no travel expenses; no time spent commuting to and from school and overall lower tuition than traditional courses.

Efficiency: Minimizing time-as an online student you are able to register, access the learning and support materials, engage in discussions, give feedback, interact and collaborate with your instructor and fellow online classmates via chat room, email and discussion board.

Designed with the students in mind: Students can continue working while reaching their educational goals at the same time

24/7 accessibility: Round the clock access to support staff, instructors, course work, assignments, and much more.

Increased retention: According to research, most online students have a stronger grasp on the subject matter than their on-campus counterparts.

Reusability: Utilizing the information for multiple purposes such as documentation stored in a single repository can be made available to all.

The Worst of Online Education

Computer problems: Some of the biggest problems with online learning are when the technology just does not function correctly. This can be a major problem and learners can get quite frustrated and discouraged.

Not marketing your Online Education: One of the biggest problems with online degrees is most online degree holders do not know how to market their online degree to its fullest potential and make their online degree work for them.

Employer’s Acceptance: Not all employers may view online degrees as credible, but do not let this prevent you from pursuing your online degree. There are many employers today who are beginning to jump on board – hiring candidates from reputable accredited online institutions.

Accreditation: Some online colleges and institutions may lack the appropriate accreditation so students interested in online programs need to do their research before selecting an online program.

Degree Mills: There are many degree mills operating online. Their diplomas are not worth much more than the paper they are printed on, avoid them. You need to do proper research and make sure the school is legit.

Overall the numerous benefits to online learning far outweigh the bad. If you are considering an online education or if you are already in an online degree program, do not let the bad turn you off from pursuing your online education and accomplishing your academic goals.

If you have anything to add to the best and worst of online education we would like to hear it. It is always a pleasure to hear what your experiences are as an online student.

Tags: Online Education, Online Students
Posted in Online Degree, Online Education, Online Students | 1 Comment »

My favorite waste of time while studying online

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

Studying online requires great dedication, planning and the ability to block out external influences. Unfortunately, many students misunderstand the whole principle of online studies where students are expected to develop their independence and capitalize on their ability to study in an environment that they think is most conducive to their learning. As a result, many students fall by the wayside because of them not sticking to these principles.

Several studies have been conducted by various online education and student bodies to ascertain the reasons behind the failure of some students during their online studies. The studies all point to one common factor of distraction: the wasting of time while studying online. Now, these modes of time wasting vary from one student to another and include:

Excessive time in chat rooms:

Spending time in chat rooms is one of my favorite waste of time while studying online

While doing an online course, students will spend a lot of time on the internet. Some networking programs such as Windows LIVE Messenger, SKYPE or Yahoo Messenger only require your computer to be logged unto the internet for them to be automatically signed in. Even if you do not sign to a page such as Facebook, your friends can still know you are online. Now many online students do not like to be impolite to their friends and, when contacted, spend hours chatting online instead of studying.

Playing video games:

The internet is buzzing with both free and for-profit video game sites that allow users to either play alone or compete remotely with each other. Some online students easily get caught up in video gaming and before they know it, 3 hours have elapsed that could have been better spent studying.

News addiction:

Checking News is another of my favorite waste of time while studying online

This affects many adult online students who believe they must catch up on all the latest news from all over the world before they can settle down to study. Therefore, in the first hour and a half, they must surf through the web pages of BBC, CNN, NBC, etc. If this is done two or three times per day, they have already lost almost five hours per day that could have been spent studying.

Computer tweaking:

Now, we all want our computers to perform at their best, but it still does not justify spending hours on the internet searching torrent websites for the latest application that increases your speed or gives you access to some program crack. Some online students also search these sites for books that they think they need but really do not and end up losing a lot of precious time that could have been spent studying.

Talking on the phone:

Talking nonstop on phone is one of my favorite waste of time while studying online

Some online students have not been able to separate their study time from their leisure time. As a result, they broadcast to their friends “hit me up on the phone, I am home all day studying.” Getting this invitation, their friends will call and they spend hours chatting away about everything but schoolwork. Before they know it, the day has elapsed and that is another valuable day lost from their studies.

Tags: Online Students, Online Studies
Posted in Online Students | 1 Comment »

Top 8 Signs you are addicted to Online Degree Program

Monday, June 14th, 2010

In our quest to be the best in our line of profession, many of us become lost in our own drive for education. Often we over shoot our goal and become over educated or too qualified for the jobs that are available around us. This has left many students in a precarious position as many employers become intimidated after seeing the entire alphabet rolled out behind the names of some applicants.

Many students opt for online versions of degree programs due to the many benefits they offer. As a result, they can continue their studies without interrupting their daily routine. Other use online degree programs to keep their minds occupied. However, on close examination, one may just realize that their drive for academic excellence was propelled by a mere addiction to online degree programs.

Top Signs you are addicted to Online Degree Program

There are many signs that will indicate to students if they are addicted to Online Degree Programs. These include:

1. As an employer, you display a preference to online students:

Even after graduation, you carry your addiction to online degree programs into your professional life. As a result, you show a direct preference to students who have been educated under the same online educational module.

2. Always looking out for course updates:

Although you have already received a degree in a particular area, you are always insistent of having your degree in the latest version. This will allow you to gain knowledge about the latest trends and concepts being promoted within your field.

Always looking out for online course updates

3. Always promoting the concept of online education:

Although you have not been appointed an official ambassador of online education, you keep bragging about the benefits of online education at every opportunity.

4. You receive emails from various online colleges:

Wait endlessly for emails from Online Colleges

Even though you have no intention of attending a particular online college, you still fill out their online application form just to receive emails about their latest offer. You become satisfied by just being aware what courses are offered by online colleges.

5. You fail deliberately just not to graduate:

For some unexplainable reason, some students want to remain associated with some online college. As a result, the deliberately scupper exams just to get a failing grade. They do this on the premise that they will remain in in their online school.

6. All of you friends are from your online class:

when your entire social life is built upon your online college community, you become so dependent of your online college to the extent of becoming addicted. As a result, just to communicate you must be in a forum governed by your online college.

7. Always searching for an internet connection:

Online degree programs are delivered through the internet. As a result, addicted online degree students are always searching for Wi-Fi or hard wire connections anywhere they go to log online to see if there have been any announcements from their online college.

8. Offer scholarships only to online students:

Although you have the means to offer scholarships to student right across both form of education, you stipulate that only online students should benefit.

Friends, can you think of other signs to tell someone is addicted to online degrees by simply following their daily regime? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Tags: Online Colleges, Online Degree Programs, Online Students
Posted in Online College, Online Degree Programs, Online Students | 1 Comment »

Online Education – Am I fish out of water?

Monday, June 7th, 2010

Online Education course lets students conveniently study accredited courses from their homes. The convenience and flexibility of Online Education gives people a chance to continue higher learning without much disruption of their professional or family lives. Most Online Education students discover that they enjoy more control of the educational process and can fit their learning to match their busy schedule as they see fit.

Are you an online fish out of the bowl?

Some students that are new to Online Education think that convenience and flexibility mean not much effort and lax course work and when they start to flounder they feel like a fish out of water. A significant number of fresh online students do not realize that it will take lots of effort and time to be a successful online education student.

Online Education - Am I fish out of water?

Online Study Is Different From Campus Life

Online education put more emphasis on students than on teachers. Here student has the burden place upon him to learn from what is made available by the teacher. Online student usually do not have the kind of cordial relationship with their teachers classroom student would have.

No Online Babysitter

A online student must be more aggressive if he is going to succeed. There is no one there to hold the students’ hand and students are also required to grasp difficult concepts by themselves.

Ask Yourself

Can you motivate yourself to work independently with not much interaction and pushing from a teacher or professor? This is just one of the factors you must consider before you become a fish out of water. Online student should be able to stay focused and stick to a certain time table. It may be hard on some to sit by themselves then in a classroom with other students and a teacher as motivators.

Avoid ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ approach

Are you a procrastinator? Then maybe you will end up on table flopping around while the other guppies are swimming around the bowl. An online student must be disciplined enough to set his/her own standards besides being committed to work schedule and coursework. Online student should give the same amount of time for coursework as a campus student would for theirs.

Do You Have What It Take To Be An Online Student?

These are some of the skills you will need to master in order to complete an online degree;

organizational skills
reading skills
writing skills
typing skills
computer skills

Being Online Students you will not have much one on one interaction with your teacher, so to make up for this you should be able to fill in gaps with working even more harder to grasp concepts teachers usually clarify to campus students. The communication that you will have with your teachers and other students will mostly be done in written: emails, IM, chat rooms, forums, social networking communities etc. You should be very comfortable using computers & paraphernalia because online education is all about technology & this is how homework and other assignments are handled.

Online Degree Does Not Means Easy Degree

So if you do not want to be part of the 12% that dropout of online classes in the first week. Be prepared online does not means a cakewalk at accredited online colleges

Tags: Online Education, Online Students
Posted in Online Education, Online Students | 2 Comments »

To Study or Not to Study Online?

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Every year after graduating from high school, millions of students are faced with the same question. Should I or should I not study online. The answer to this question is a personal one and depends on each student’s situation. Students must first weigh the pros and cons of both types of institutions then compare them with their career goals, financial support and educational capabilities.

Studying Online

Studying online has many benefits but also some weaknesses. To begin with, online studies are great for those individuals who are employed and do not want to disturb their work schedule to attend school. As a result, they can study from the comfort of their homes or wherever they desire, as long as they have an access to the internet.

Online students are able to revise past lectures as much as they want to ensure they get the true understanding of the lecture. In addition, they can easily contact their lecturer by email to query any discrepancy. Turnaround time at most online colleges is within twenty-four hours so students can expect to be always up to date.

Online students are relieved of the hassles of travel to reach to a particular class on time. They do not have to contend with rush hour and the cost of paying the taxi driver to take shortcuts to get you to school on time. For those who would normally drive themselves to school, the cost of fuel and maintenance associated with commute to school is eliminated.

The course work of online course is more adaptable to changes in the trends of society. Lecturers are always wired into the latest trends in course work delivery and developments in their specialty and are capable of quickly passing on this information to their students.

Finally, most of the popular online colleges are now fully accredited. As a result, online students can earn an accredited online degree with less stress and hassle.

Studying on campus

Many students profess that have not been to college until you study on campus. This statement is based on several factors.

Campus based students always brag about the personal, face-to-face contact they have with their doctors. They term this as an invaluable experience that cannot be replaced by speaking to a doctor over a screen.

Students of campus-based colleges are given the opportunity to attend labs under the direct supervision of their doctor. This is a sour point with online students, as they must find their own resources to conduct labs.
Campus life is said to play an integral part in shaping the personalities of many students. Students are able to join clubs, attend parties, play sports and just interact generally with other students. As a result, they are able to form lifelong friendships, meet their spouses and form alliances for future business ventures.

Studying online is not for everyone. Many individuals experience problems reading from computers let alone sitting and watching a teacher go on and on about something you do not understand. In addition, I you are one of the many students who are lacking on motivation, at an on-campus college, you can easily draw on the strengths of other students.

Tags: Online Colleges, Online Students, Online Studies
Posted in Online College, Online Students | 1 Comment »

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