Online Education

Online Education

One of the most effective and efficient distance learning programs, online education is the choice of millions of students. With more and more students turning their interest towards online educational programs, it has become an accepted choice of employers, who initially had reluctance in accepting a different stream of study. No doubt online educational programs not only helps their employees stay informed about happenings, but also complete the desired course of study without a time off from work. Traditional educational institutions are facing a tough competition from online learning as there is no restriction on the number of students enrolled which is indeed a blessing. More of such institutions have started offering online course to face the competition from newly emerging online institutions.

Types of Online Educational Degrees

Online degrees are spread across various levels such as bachelors, associate, masters and doctorate and law degrees. Online courses normally cover subjects such as IT, Health Care and Medicine, Law, Career and Vocational Training, Business and Marketing.

Online Educational Institutions

Apart from specific online schools a number of traditional schools have also started offering online educational courses. Two year junior colleges and community colleges are offering online courses. The list also includes traditional universities offering four year graduation courses.

Pursuing Online Education

Students, who look forward to complete their degree, proceed towards career advancement; look forward for a change in career and aim at personal development, work to earn a degree, diploma or a specialized certificate, online education offers the required environment and the support to the students irrespective of the back ground they come from.

Reassuring Online Education

Online education though widely known for its benefits is an acceptable form of learning only for those who are self masters, who can manage time effectively, can access computer and online facilities without hesitation, have the money, interest and energy to pursue education online which is based on self study methodology.

Advantages of Online Education

The greater the benefits offered, it is natural that the course of study is preferred among the rest. Online Education offers the following benefits which makes it the most preferred choice
* Online distance learning educational programs offer the benefit of studying from home or office as per the choice of the student.

* You can completely get rid of paper work. Course materials are offered online and you can access them at anytime of the day.

* How you manage your time is completely your choice. Schedule classes the way you want.

* You get the freedom of learning at your convenient time frame. There is no need for a competition among your classmates or friends.

* Did you ever think you can study while you work, taking no time off from employment? Online education makes it possible.

* Online learning offers cost effective courses, so you can save money unlike on campus courses.

* There is an opportunity for interaction between professors and peers, which may not conveniently possible in a classroom atmosphere.

* Managing both time and resource effectively you pave way for personal growth through online education

Choosing the Right Online Educational Program

Choosing the right online educational program is a matter of serious concern. The process involves making a choice of courses, looking for institutions offering them and picking the best among the colleges. The success of any online course greatly depends on the efficiency with which you manage your time and other commitments. Once you proceed enrolling for a program, never look back.

For more details kindly visit:
http://onlinedegreetalk.org/online-education/

Pros And Cons Of Online Education For The World Citizen

More and more young people are choosing non-traditional education to start and advance in their careers while completing and furthering their formal education.Visit Here http://special-online-education.blogspot.com

 ”Typical distance learners are those who don’t have access to programs, employees who work during scheduled class hours, homebound individuals, self-motivated individuals who want to take courses for self-knowledge or advancement, or those who are unable or unwilling to attend class” (Charp, 2000, p. 10). Three key elements surround the online learner: technology, curriculum, and instructor (Bedore, Bedore, & Bedore, 1997). These elements must be keenly integrated into one smoothly and operationally functional delivery tool.

While an online method of education can be a highly effective alternative medium of education for the mature, self-disciplined student, it is an inappropriate learning environment for more dependent learners. Online asynchronous education gives students control over their learning experience, and allows for flexibility of study schedules for non traditional students; however, this places a greater responsibility on the student. In order to successfully participate in an online program, student must be well organized, self-motivated, and possess a high degree of time management skills in order to keep up with the pace of the course. For these reasons, online education or e-learning is not appropriate for younger students (i.e. elementary or secondary school age), and other students who are dependent learners and have difficulty
assuming responsibilities required by the online paradigm.

Millions of students use e-learning solutions in over 140 countries: corporations such as Kodak and Toyota and education providers like ExecuTrain, New Horizons, the Enoch Olinga College (ENOCIS), Phoenix University amongst the hundreds of schools and colleges.

Studies have shown student retention to be up to 250% better with online learning than with classroom courses. Several recent ones have helped frame the debate. The Sloan Consortium published a widely distributed report titled “Growing by Degrees: Online Education in the United States in 2005″ that examined the growing prevalence of online education across U.S. institutions.

In addition, a study conducted by the Boston-based consulting firm Eduventures found that, while about half of institutions and more than 60 percent of employers generally accept the high quality of online learning, students’ perceptions differ. Only about 33 percent of prospective online students said that they perceive the quality of online education to be “as good as or better than” face-to-face education. Ironically, 36 percent of prospective students surveyed cited concern about employers’ acceptance of online education as a reason for their reluctance to enroll in online courses.

But what actually drives quality? A March 2006 report released by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education identifies six quality indicators: mission, curriculum and instruction, faculty support, student and academic services, planning for sustainability and growth, and evaluation and assessment.

The debate rages on while the Pros and Cons of Online Adult Education for today’s international students are constantly analyzed to determine if this type of education platform can deliver predictable and measurable results.

The Enoch Olinga College (ENOCIS) is one institution which uses this type of delivery system. ENOCIS enhances their learning experience by offering many other “value added”, cost reducing benefits to students. Online pupils can apply for scholarships available to students of excellence and other financial aid programs like the Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS), with attractive interest rates. They also provide convenient payment facilities, on line banking, Western Union Quick Collect, bank cards and a student who is granted a loan can start repaying it after two months if they have a corporate guarantor.

Pros of Online Education:

The key advantages of the online education experience are briefly explained below:

1. Cheaper: Online courses may be more affordable than those offered at colleges or trade schools. You may also save on transportation costs like gas, bus passes, and parking permits because you don’t need to commute to school and there are no housing or meals plans to worry about since you do not need to live on or near a college campus. Housing expenses and other costs associated with living expenses are usually the most expensive aspects of a college education, so by taking an online course you could save quite a bit of money.

The best part of online education is the absence of travel and immigration problems. Some students may prefer not to pursue traditional on campus education, as it involves traveling to attend lectures. With online education, an applicant does not need to travel. Courses simply require accessing the internet in order to begin the learning process.

2. More Convenient: By taking courses online, you’re able to decide when you study and for how long. You are also able to schedule your studying around your work or social schedule.

Since you’re not bound to a classroom, you may do your work wherever you have access to a computer and the internet. You’ll be able to set your own pace and decide exactly how fast you want to go over the material.

Take online courses when you need them, not based on some college’s annual or semester schedule. You can learn when you need it (Just-In-Time) A course is as close as a computer with an Internet connection.

3. Flexibility: with no set class times, you decide when to complete your assignments and readings. You set the pace. In some programs, you can even design your own degree plan. The online students can carry out their private or official work, along with the online education. As it provides the convenience of time flexibility, a student can login and logout as per his desire whereas, the traditional education do not provide such flexibility in learning.

Flexibility of online education allows the student control over their studies. They can allot more time in the topics, which they feel comparatively hard and vice versa. The speed of learning depends solely upon the students.

4. Technology: With the help of the scientific technology, students can do their online education at any place. The only mandatory pre-requisite is the availability of computer along with an internet amenity. Side benefits include the learning new technologies and technical skills

5. Availability: distance-learning opportunities have exploded over the past few years, with many accredited and reputable programs.

6. Accessibility: with an online course, you can work on the course just about anywhere you have computer access. Your learning options are not constrained by your geographic location. The new virtual classrooms have created a myriad of learning opportunities for global learning and education center. On line education is a new era experience adapting to the needs of the world citizen.

7. Self-Directed: you set your own pace and schedule, so you control the learning environment.

8. Time Spent in Classroom: now you can take a course on just about any subject without ever having to be in, or travel to, a classroom so you have very little wasted time. Note, however, that some distance-education programs still do have an in-class component and normally to receive a fully accredited US university degree an international student must spend one or two semesters on campus.

9. High Quality Dialog: Within an online asynchronous discussion structure, the learner is able to carefully reflect on each comment from others before responding or moving on to the next item. This structure allows students time to articulate responses with much more depth and forethought than in a traditional face-to-face discussion situation where the participant must analyze the comment of another on the spot and formulate a response or otherwise loose the chance to contribute to the discussion.

10. Student Centered: Within an online discussion, the individual student responds to the course material (lectures and course books, for example) and to comments from other students. Students usually respond to those topics within the broader conversation that most clearly speak to their individual concerns and situations resulting in several smaller conversations taking place simultaneously within the group. While students are expected to read all of their classmates’ contributions, they will become actively engaged only in those parts of the dialog most relevant to their needs. In this way, students take control of their own learning experience and tailor the class discussions to meet their own specific needs. Ideally, students make their own individual contributions to the course while at the same time take away a unique mix of information directly relevant to their needs Visit Here http://special-online-education.blogspot.com

When I was a business school student, veterans of the U.S. nuclear submarine fleet surrounded me. These men were mature beyond their years and happy to be verbally jousting in the relatively unconfined, sunny arena of a graduate-school classroom. The submariners did well as students, and employers eagerly competed to hire them.

Why would such naval service be a good background for a business career? One classmate explained it this way, “If you can perform well with other men in a confined area under dangerous conditions for months at a time, you can easily meet any challenge that a business will throw at you.”

If every submariner had learned that lesson, the American missile fleet would soon be decimated by seamen headed for business schools and new careers with higher income potential.

Over the years since then, I’ve wondered about other business career benefits that might flow from the naval experiences of those who didn’t serve on submarines. For instance, one of my college roommates became a shipboard supply officer in the U.S. Navy and attended business school after his enlistment was up. He now heads a successful company he founded that makes custom rubber components for original equipment manufacturers. In addition, one of my favorite bosses was a retired naval officer.

In 2005, those conjectures steered me in a new direction after I had the pleasure of being an online advisor to an outstanding officer in the Hellenic (Greek) Navy, Commander Papantoniou, who was studying for an MBA degree in Strategic Management. From his first assignment, I knew that Commander Papantoniou was an extraordinary business student.

While many new graduate students seek to do the least and gain the highest grade, Commander Papantoniou wanted to learn the most and was prepared to go well beyond the assignment to be sure that he squeezed every bit of value out of his studies. In the process, he displayed astonishing interest in details that most people miss.

Of course, there’s a reason for that attention to detail and doing the most: A ship can be sunk by a single mistake. Naturally, a naval officer would have to be detail oriented and able to use good judgment to advance very far in that service.

There was a bigger surprise. Commander Papantoniou’s imagination was outstanding in performing his assignments. One of my favorite courses to teach is based on a book I wrote about making breakthrough improvements in performance. Commander Papantoniou did his finest work in that course, identifying a way to take a simple administrative procedure and make it dozens of times faster and much less costly to perform.

I had a unique perspective to use in examining his course performance. Another brilliant student had completed a similar assignment for a different organization a few months earlier. That other student’s work was so effective that I still use it as an example. Commander Papantoniou, however, found a solution that was 96 percent less costly to use than my other brilliant student had discovered. Such a breakthrough made it seem the Commander was taking the course for the second time.

In the navy, an officer has to be continually prepared to outperform a deadly enemy and deal with the extreme conditions that nature can bring. The consequences of a mistake almost always involve potential loss of life and severe injuries, and many millions of dollars are at risk. Carrying that heavy responsibility provides a clear focus that makes finding operating improvements a breeze by comparison.

There’s also a well-established hierarchy in the navy based on centuries of experience in assessing the qualities that lead to success. Anyone who prospers in such an environment has resources for achievement that academic screening and evaluation usually don’t measure.

I asked Commander Papantoniou about my observations. Here’s what he said:

“A naval officer starts training in leadership very young, from the age of 18 or 19. An officer learns to live in a strict hierarchy. A naval officer climbs the hierarchy step by step, always from the stairways and not from the elevator.

“The training is a perfect combination of theory and continuous practice, the essential difference from someone who has only a theoretical background by graduating from a civilian university. Additionally, a naval officer has the opportunities to face very different or difficult cases, and people in a variety of situations. The officer has to find the best solutions, perfect balance and discipline, and give motivation to the crew to give their best.

“I believe that an ex-naval officer is different and maybe a better business leader because of the way that leadership aboard a ship differs from ordinary leadership roles. The sea gives people a different mentality and influences their way of thinking and leadership. Shipboard officers are open-minded, more adaptive, and more flexible than other officers.”

But earning an MBA online was just the beginning. Commander Papantoniou decided to study for a Certificate of Specialization in strategic management from Greece’s leading university and graduated first in his class. Then Commander Papantoniou enrolled in a second MBA program to earn a degree in Executive Management.

Commander Papantoniou next decided to retire from the Hellenic Navy with the rank of captain, an alternative that he had been considering before he started his business studies. What would he do next to use all of this new knowledge?

One of the largest, oldest, and most respected companies in the Hellenic marine industry soon hired Captain Papantoniou to be its Operations Manager. How’s that for starting near the top?

Not satisfied with what he knew about business, Captain Papantoniou enrolled in an online program to study for a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree, emphasizing change management and leadership. He planned to apply his new learning to the operations he headed. Once again, I had the good fortune to be his advisor.

With his very first DBA course, Captain Papantoniou identified and put into place a superb new business model that will greatly increase the growth and profitability of his company. I believe that by the time he has earned his doctorate the Hellenic marine industry will have been changed in fundamental ways through his insightful and effective leadership.

I asked Captain Papantoniou to share with me his insights into why online education had been so successful for him. He cited these reasons:

1. You can work at your own pace while continuing your naval career.

2. Costs are affordable.

3. Star professors who have written influential books are available at some online universities, enabling a lot of opportunity for one-on-one learning from the best.

4. You have the flexibility to design your own program and apply it to what interests you.

5. If your priority is to learn, there’s no better way to go.

Captain Papantoniou is still a relatively young man. After he completes the DBA, will even more degrees be in his future? Who knows? But I can say for sure that he will always be finding great ways to learn so that he can accomplish more.

What are the lessons for naval officers? According to Captain Papantoniou, they should:

1. Study online to check their interest in other careers.

2. Use online education to add knowledge that can provide career alternatives based on their interests.

3. Get practical support for new careers through on-going online studies.

Naval officers, welcome aboard the online study ship where you can gain many new leadership opportunities!