Continuing Education | Meta-Education

Tips to Continuing your Education Successfully

Taking classes while gainfully employed is not just a way to get continuing education units (CEUs) needed to maintain licensure in some fields (i.e., nursing), continuing education can help you keep your job and even get a better one. Working at a full time job and juggling family and school can be daunting. The following are tips for making your three-ring circus work.

Take online classes—many courses are offered through accredited schools online, such as Kaplan University, DeVry University or University of Phoenix. Online courses offer the flexibility of working at your own pace, on your own schedule.

Schedule carefully—many brick-and-mortar universities now offer weekend and evening programs for people who work. When scheduling, limit the number of classes you take so you have time for your family and your job.

Time management—block out time on your schedule to review coursework and do homework. Leave the house and go to the library or a coffee shop (like you did in college) if you need to.

Tell your employer what you are up to—you might be eligible for tuition reimbursement and letting your boss know you are improving your credentials can help you get a bigger pay increase.

Get a study partner—it pays to have someone to call up if you miss a class and to study with when working on difficult material.

Keep your family involved—while it may seem easier to go it alone, having the support of your family can make it easier to get study time and reduce your stress level.

Filed Under: Continuing Education, Online Education Tagged With: Continuing education, Continuing education unit, Kaplan University

Occupational Changes of Heart Spur Continuing Education

It’s a fact that thousands upon thousands of students will graduate college every single year. Another fact is that thousands of those graduates will either decide they don’t like what they do once they enter the workforce, or find out their degree gives them little options for work. These kinds of occupational changes of heart has made continuing education popular.

With continuing education, full-time workers have the opportunity to learn new skills in diverse fields from book editing to advertising. And they do it all without sacrificing their current source of income. Most continuing courses are designed with the working adult in mind, and take place during night hours or even on weekends. Each course in a field of study generally costs a few hundred dollars, or two or three thousand for a year. Many end with the presentation of a certificate upon completion, which looks great on a resume.

Most people are familiar with continuing education courses offered my small, technical colleges; many of which are advertised on late night television. But because of their increasing popularity, and growing interest in more diverse fields, many Top 25 colleges from the University of Chicago to Stanford have begun offering their own courses.

The greatest advantage of continuing education courses is most are taught by people that work in the course’s respective industry. For example, a creative writing course would be led by a published author or journalist. Meanwhile, people taking an advertising course would find themselves learning from an advertising executive. This is a perk for two reasons. One, students will garner inside knowledge about the industry they would like to enter instead of just basic principles, theories and skills. Additionally, the connected teachers present a very valuable networking opportunity.

Continuing education presents a viable alternative to going back to school full-time to get another degree. It is substantially cheaper, and students are given real-life experience not often found in traditional classrooms.

Filed Under: Continuing Education Tagged With: Continuing education, Distance Learning, University of Chicago

How to fit Continuing Education Into a Full Schedule

Continuing education is for working adults. Thus, most students partaking in continuing education have received degrees in various fields and have even already had long careers in their profession. But like they say, there is always room for improvement, and continuing education provides a means to gather more experience and build better credentials for moving ahead in the work place.

But how do busy individuals find time for such educational improvement? On top of the full time job, there are usually children to take care of, or the needs of a spouse. Then there are the general adult responsibilities like managing a home. It would seem there is no time left to study. Yet, many adults take on the challenge by incorporating a few changes.

First of all, adults taking a continuing education program need to creatively rearrange their schedule. This means asking a spouse to take on some additional home duties, as well as cutting out other activities–be it nights out or playing cards with friends. It may also mean working with your employer to accommodate your schedule. While most continuing education courses are taught at night or on weekends, you may need additional days to study. A lot of employers encourage education and will make those arrangements, and some may even help pay for it all.

Second is finding the right program that will work for you. Most likely, there is a local college offer continuing education courses that would be easy to get to. But if you can’t make arrangements to attend those classes in person, then there is always online courses. Colleges across the country offer continuing education programs online.

Lastly, decide how soon you would like to finish a continuing education program. If you want to complete a program as soon as possible, then it will most likely mean a greater number of schedule changes. But, if you’re in no hurry, taking courses over a two-year span may be easier.

Filed Under: Continuing Education, Online Learning Tagged With: Continuing education, E-learning, Education

What you Need to get Into a Continuing Education Program

While continuing education programs are generally open to all, institutions that offer them are more interested in specific types of students. The process of getting into a continuing education program is certainly not as rigorous as getting into a university, but there are still certain requirements that have to be met. And since most continuing education course sizes are relatively small, each school is only going to pick the best suitable. That means a veterinarian may have a much harder time getting into an engineering program than someone currently designing planes at Boeing.

This leads to the first, and most important, thing needed for a continuing education program: experience. It is true that continuing education is for people to start learning about a certain field to begin with, but schools still want to know that you have an actual interest in the work and are capable of performing it. Sure, every school wants your money, but they also want serious students and that is especially so for continuing education. Applicants need to emphasize any experience that is relative to the program, no matter how far fetched. For example, being a secretary and talking to outside callers can be a valuable example of public relations experience for a marketing program.

However, some continuing education programs are going to ask for evidence of your work. So for a creative writing course, applicants will be required to submit a piece of writing. While schools won’t necessarily be looking for a masterpiece, they will take applicants with the better submissions. Therefore, those interested in a continuing education program need to tackle some work in the field before getting even accepted. There are many ways to creatively do this, and can be a great way to supplement a lack of experience, as discussed above. Thus, this stage is very important for those looking to enter a completely new career. Showing a natural talent can be the key to getting accepted.

Filed Under: Continuing Education Tagged With: Boeing, Continuing education, Education, School

Tips to Continuing your Education Successfully

Occupational Changes of Heart Spur Continuing Education

How to fit Continuing Education Into a Full Schedule

What you Need to get Into a Continuing Education Program

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