Higher Education | Meta-Education

The Reason for Education

Making the decision to further your education is the best decision you can make. These days it’s not enough to have your primary education. You need far more than that. So going back to school could be the most rewarding decision you could make for your future. However, if you are on the fence about it there might be some points to sway you.

First, the idea of going back to school should be embraced. It’s a chance for you to be connected to your future and to do the kinds of things that you love. You are able to get specific and specialized training in the area that really excites you. It’s one of the things that makes it so rewarding.

Many people worry about the cost of school and they should because it’s not always cheap, but with the advent of online classes, going back to school is both easy and affordable. These days you can go to an online school that isn’t paying for the overhead of a traditional university. It’s something that really makes a difference in the price.

Because so much secondary education is online it is allowing people to be able to do their schooling remotely. This makes it easy for the adult with a full-time job and or a family to get their education without ever having to put their life on hold.

If you want to go back to school you should. These days there is less and less reason to say no.

Learning Wherever you Are

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Some people say that wherever you go, that’s where you are. With this cryptic quote as your guide, it’s no wonder you can take your educational experience with you to any corner of the globe. You can even go to school from the comfort of your own local coffee shop. All you need is a laptop with wifi capabilities, and you’re in. Caffeine expenses notwithstanding, it’s even reasonably inexpensive.

Being educated means more than just having a fancy piece of sheepskin paper to hang on your wall. For a lot of people, it also means that you’ve grown beyond where you were before. If you spend your entire life in a small town and rarely meet anyone new or different, you won’t be as socially educated as you would be in a major metropolitan area. However, the people you can meet online are all but infinite, as well as infinitely varied. With this in mind, online education allows you to combine the best parts of small town life with the unbelievable amount of learning you can do when you’re online and guided by trained professionals.

Imagine being able to sit in a coffee house and sip your brew of choice while you pay little to no rent, because you aren’t living on campus. This is a pretty nice life in itself, but it gets even better when you realize that you can also be taking in an entire education, and even earning an advanced degree in a lucrative field while you live this kind of life. No matter where you want to get your education, you can do it. From there, you can go far.

Filed Under: Higher Education, Online Education Tagged With: Academic degree, E-learning, Education

The Difference between Non-Profit and For-Profit Online Colleges

The University of Phoenix has made a big name for itself as one of the go-to online universities. As a for-profit school, most people think of it as one focused on career, vocational or technology training, backed by investors and run like a business.

Non-profit universities like the University of Michigan or the University of California are typically four-year educational institutions which means bachelor’s degrees are conferred in four years.

Beyond these basics, do they really differ? Many students find the for-profit model beneficial. Because these universities follow a business model, students are often treated as customers ,so the colleges are often quicker to respond to a student’s needs. In addition, the colleges tend to be competitive across the market as a whole, including for-profit and non-profit universities alike, so they are quicker to improve and innovate than non-profits.

One competitive advantage for-profit schools offer is their flexible learning environments. Because many of them have campuses across the country in addition to online programs, students can function at their own pace in their own space.

In order to ensure that a degree or certificate earned from a for-profit school is all that you hope it is cracked up to be, make sure that the program you select is accredited. If it isn’t regionally or nationally accredited, your degree won’t be considered legitimate. Accreditation is the way in which the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) determines whether school meet the current standards of professionalism and education. This accreditation is what really guarantees that you get what you pay for at both for-profit and non-profit institutions.

Filed Under: Higher Education, Online Education Tagged With: For-profit school, United States Department of Education, University of Phoenix

What to Expect from the Online Classroom

The first day of class in a virtual classroom is very different than the first day of class in a bricks-and-mortar classroom. When you saunter into a physical classroom, you can easily strike up a conversation with the student sitting next to you. Not so in an online class. But that doesn’t mean you won’t be able interact with your classmates or your teacher.

Online courses are frequently hosted on secure websites. In this construct, the professor can post lectures and assignments to the site for students to access. There is usually a method for students to post queries and comments, either via a bulletin board or some other discussion forum. In many virtual classrooms, instructors will often set up specific times for students to log in for chat sessions. Communication in the online classroom usually takes places by one if not all of the following: email, instant messaging, streaming video and/or video conferencing.

Although these multiple communication forms can seem daunting if you are new to the world of virtual school, do not despair. Online colleges typically have excellent technical support available to students.

In addition to receiving your lectures online, you will be turning in your assignments via email, often in Microsoft Word, if not Excel or PowerPoint. Students also use email to correspond with professors, classmates and groups within a class.

Because not all students may be present online at the same time, blackboard chat sessions are often recorded and archived. A chat session or discussion board allows members to message back and forth as part of a topic thread. Colloquiums are often offered to augment the virtual classroom. A colloquium is a seminar often led by different instructors on different topics an each meeting.

One thing that won’t be any different from a regular classroom, you can still expect to buy textbooks.

Filed Under: Higher Education, Online Education Tagged With: Classroom, Microsoft Word, Student

Adult Educational Services

Returning to school as an adult or later in life can be a challenge that is both intimidating and frustrating. For many people returning, they have already established their careers and have made a good living until something forced them to make a change. For some they are looking for career advancement and are looking to make more money before retirement. Others simply want to change careers and they need more education to do so. Regardless of the reasons, many adults find that navigating the college market is not like it was a decade ago. They find that they need help getting to the right points in order to begin the process.

There are services that are exclusive to adults that are returning to schools, and many will assist in helping these students find the proper forms, services, and places to be in order to begin their adventure down the educational brick road. For adults that are looking for online programs that fit into their schedule they are in luck. Most of the online programs are geared for people that are over the age of 25, have had a job or career, and potentially a family, and they need something that will fit into their lives. This is much different than those that are simply indecisive, in which case online learning can still be a valuable tool while you are trying to decide what to do.

Some of the things that adult learners may be shocked to find out is that their old college credits may no longer be valid for their new program of study. College credits are only good for up to ten years. After that a student will have to consider retaking many of the older classes, and in some cases they will be required to start completely over.

Filed Under: Adult Education, Higher Education Tagged With: E-learning, Education

College Years Are The Best of Times

Just when you didn’t think there could be anything better than high school, along comes college. Welcome to the next chapter in your life. If you’re headed off to a four year campus, you’re in for a world of great new experiences that will set you up for the rest of your life. First of all, embrace why you are there: to earn a degree. It’s quite possible the plan you start out with in your freshman year is going to be drastically different than in your senior year. That’s not a problem. In fact, it is encouraged. As you navigate through your course work you’ll discover all kinds of facets about your major and chosen career path. There is nothing wrong with making course corrections. Just keep your eye on the prize.

One of the benefits of heading off to college is the sense that you are hunkering down for the next four years. This is going to be your home away from home. You’ll become very familiar with the campus layout in no time. You should also familiarize yourself with your professors. They all have open office hours. This time is for you to check in on how you’re doing and find ways to improve. Forging these kinds of relationships early on can make a world of difference down the line. Earnmydegree.com has plenty of helpful first year tips.

Is there anything else that makes college the best of times? Of course that would be all the fun you’re about to have. We all know you didn’t enroll in your campus of choice because it was ranked as a top ten party school, right? As long as you keep up your course work and go to class (either in a big hall or online environment), there is no reason why you can’t dive into the collegiate activity scene. Could there be a Facebook project in your future?

Filed Under: Higher Education

Overly Prepared to Pay Back Student Loans

You’re chugging along in school, studying, acing your finals, and turning in research papers. You take out student loans to help pay the cost of your education. Graduation will soon be here. Ah, a light at the end of the education tunnel.

But wait! There’s a ghastly beast in that light: student loans. Students defaulting on loans are up seven percent. Bad things happen when you default on your student loan. The lender could garnish up to 15 percent of your wages. (Not good.) The lender can take back your tax refunds. (More bad.) They can keep you from getting work in the future or getting a professional license. (Real bad!)

How can you slay the student loan beast and live happily ever after?

First, while you are in school, get a job. Working part-time will give you money in your pocket to cover the cost of your education instead of adding to the amount of your loan. Use that money wisely.

Second, if you must take out a loan, borrow only what you need. While it may be tempting to get extra money to pay for a special trip during spring break or to get new clothes, don’t do it! You’ll be paying lots of interest on that loan. Keep the loan as small as possible.

Third, start your job search before you graduate. If at all possible, line up employment before you walk through commencement. That way, you’ll have a ready source of income to apply toward your student loans.

And last, if you have already graduated, consider using a debt consolidation service. Loan consolidation is easier than you think. Instead of having payments going out to several lending institutions, you will have one monthly payment, which could cut your monthly payment up to 50 percent. And, your interest rate will be lower. Now that’s a significant savings!

Filed Under: Continuing Education, Higher Education Tagged With: Education, Graduation, Student loan

Online Educational Opportunities are Increasing

The Internet has given just about everyone a new way of looking at the world as well as experiencing it. Through the vast networks of the Internet, our world is shrinking when it comes to performing tasks or communicating with someone halfway around the world.

We have many more opportunities available to us than we did even in the recent past. One of these is online education opportunities. Traditionally, when we thought of obtaining a degree from a university, we thought of the usual brick and mortar on-site educational institutions. These scenarios included a professor or instructor standing in front of a classroom providing knowledge through a series of lectures. Students often made their educational choices based on distance rather than a school that would provide a better experience for their chosen field of study, due to geographic factors.

Because of the Internet and the rising popularity and availability of online degree programs, students have many more choices. There are now numerous universities, colleges and other educational institutions offering online degree programs. Students can enter certificate programs, obtain a Business Administration degree or even a PhD. Depending on the school you can even obtain a GED or high school equivalency certificate in order to pursue higher studies.

The flexibility of these online programs allow students to study when their schedules allow it because many of these schools have very flexible scheduling and course offerings. This will allow the student to work and still go to class. This flexibility can also be worked into a family’s schedule as well.

Students will be able to learn at their own pace and because of the open communication of these schools, student success is likely to be higher. Students are no longer stuck in a large lecture hall, unable to ask questions. Online programs allow students to communicate with the instructor and other students via emails, teleconferencing and other means of communication.

Filed Under: Higher Education, Online Education Tagged With: eLearning, Student

How Distance Learning Can Negatively Impact Your Career

Distance learning is an ideal option if you live far from a college campus, are working full-time, have a family, or are just simply turned off by the idea of traditional schooling. Distance learning has its perks. Virtual classes can be watched at your leisure. You can save time by jumping ahead and doing homework during class and not be reprimanded for it. You can study whenever and however you like, whether it be during a trip or at home in your pajamas.

An education solely from virtual classes does have its downsides. In some ways, this can negatively affect your future career in the long-run. Here are some points to consider:

• Virtual classes may not be as tough as tradition bricks and mortar classes. Although this sounds great in the short-term, you may not end up learning as much from the class. Keep in mind that you need to learn and gain skills through your classes to help you out in your career, not to just simply pass classes to gain quick access to a diploma.
• Distance learning lacks personal interaction. Unless you will have a career of jobs in which you telecommute or work by yourself, this will not do you any good. Most jobs require skills in teamwork. This is why many traditional classes require group projects throughout the semester. A lack of people skills may make certain situations difficult in your job.
• You will not gain public speaking skills. Sure, you may not plan on being a broadcast journalist or a great orator, but students of all majors benefit from public speaking in some fashion.
• Some companies solely want employees from traditional bricks and mortar schools. There is a misconception that graduates from traditional schools are better educated than those who obtained their education virtually.

Filed Under: Higher Education, Online Learning Tagged With: Distance education, Education

Virtual Classes: Why They are Offered through Traditional College Campuses

Students today have many choices of colleges. Traditional colleges are still the most popular because you take classes in person. Distance learning schools are also increasing in popularity due to their reduced costs and flexible class schedules. Most students in traditional schools are open to the idea of virtual classes, while some abhor them.

You might be caught off guard when you sign up for a particular class only to find that it is offered exclusively off campus through online venues. Do not let this alarm you, particularly if you are not a fan of distance learning. Most universities offer at least one virtual class. This does not likely indicate a new trend that the college is tapping into. The primary reason why large bricks and mortar colleges utilize virtual classes is to accommodate an increasing student body.

Universities are exclusive in student enrollment. Admissions officers want the college to grow but do not want to accept more students than the university can handle. In some cases, however, a particular program might gain popularity among existing students. There is a reason why there are a limited number of seats per class. But what happens when there are not enough classes in general to accommodate the students that need a particular class for their major?

This is where virtual classes play a role. In some instances, a professor will film his lectures for an on-campus class and then post them online for virtual classes. The University of Florida uses this method within its ever-growing and increasingly popular College of Business.

Some universities also offer a select number of degree programs for distance-learning students. This is to accommodate a growing number of prospective students without losing out on enrollment numbers for the college. Another example is the University of Florida’s Master’s program for business students.

Filed Under: Higher Education, Online Education Tagged With: Distance education, Student