The Online Degree Dorm Room

Engineering Degree Online | Stanford’s Online Masters Program

Posted by bposton on November 24th, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online

I just read about Stanford’s online master’s degree program.

The program is call the Honors Cooperative Program. It’s a degree that you can earn over 5 years by completing 15 courses - and it’s offered as both an on campus or online program. It’s open to 250 students, most of which live in the Bay Area, but quite a few of them live all over the U.S. and overseas.

Students hail from as far away as China and India. All foriegn students are required to hold a valid student or visitor U.S. visa, and they must be proficient in English.

The online students that are admitted to Stanford are held to the same academic standards as on-campus students. This degree which is offered through Stanford Online, established in 1996, is identical to those of other students.

Ben

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Engineering Degree Online | Planning for College

Posted by bposton on November 14th, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online

If you’re the average college bound high school senior, you have a lot of thing so think about besides ordering your cap and gown and getting a date to the prom.

You need to also be thinking about college - a lot

Such as - What major should I choose? (that’s always a big one), Should I stay in state or try forthat school of my dreams that happens to be thousands of miles away? What are my options in terms of financial aid?

Of course, another question you can also ask yourself these days is - should I be on campus, off-campus, or…

online???

Most high school guidance counselors probably don’t recommend online schools, but you need to know that they are an option.

Yes, you can argue that you’ll “miss out” on the whole “college dorm life” thing, but let me tell you - life in the online degree dorm room is pretty sweet

No roomates to wake you up in the middle of the night. No running to the next class after missing the bus on a rainy day…

…you get the idea, right?

However, either which way you go, you still need to think about planning for college. Here are some of the steps in that process:

Preparation - searching for and choosing the right college, including entrance exams, selecting the major, ect

Selection - Planning camous visits and finalizing on your major (at least the one you think you want to head for at this point). This is when you should also consider online degree programs as well.

Application - Applying for admission. This is a very important and often under-planned step. Applications can take a long time especially if they require essays or “personal statments”. And there are always deadlines for getting them in, along with your SAT, ACT scores and transcripts from high school. A college interview may also be required, espacially when a scholarship is involved.

Decision - Sorting through all those acceptance letters and deciding which college is best for you.
Payment - Applying for financial aid, work-study programs, education loans. scholarships and more.

So if you following this planning process, you have a much better chance of finding the right school, submiting the best application possible and developing a sound strategy to pay for it all.

Ben

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Engineering Degree Online | A Three Part Primer about Online Degrees - Part 2

Posted by bposton on November 8th, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online

Here’s part deux of my quick primer on taking online courses or getting a
degree online

So how much PC skill do you need?

Well, if you’re reading this I’m gonna assume you have some skills with a PC 

Here’s the skinny on how much skill and PC power you need to take an online degree program.

First of all, Universities and colleges hire companies to help them develop their E-learning programs,
at least from the technical end of things. In doing so, they try to make sure that those technical details
of “going to class” online are so easy enough that anyone who has surfed the Web can do it.

What kind of comupter do you need?

Well, I’ve taked about this in an earlier post, but bascially any Internet-ready laptop or PC
should be enough to tackle the class. However, it’s still a good idea to check with the school
you’re thinking about attending and finding out what their requirements or recommendations are.
 
You should also try to find out what hours their tech support staff are working during the week
and if their support is just via email, or if you can talk to a live human body on the phone.

Oh, and if you are still living in the dail-up world, you’re in trouble. Taking classes online
will require that you upgrade to a broadband Internet connection of some kind (DSL, Cable Satellite)
so you’ll moste definitely hae to bite the bullet and do that before starting a class.

So much for part duex. Next post will be about what to expect when taking an online class.

Ben

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engineering degree online : Another success story…

Posted by bposton on October 23rd, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online

Here’s another success story about a schoolteacher who was able to
“have his cake and eat it to” with an online degree program:

David Bergan was caught between a rock and a hard place…

He was a 25-year-old seventh grade mathematics teacher at Mason (OH) Middle School and he felt like he had to choose between his career and his passion.
  
He knew that to keep his career as a teacher moving forward, he needed a master’s
degree in education.

Problem was, if he when back to school on a part-time basis it would force him to stop doing what he loved, which was coaching the high school swim team during the school year, and his local Evendale Community swim team during the summer.

But Bergan found a solution that let him do both.

He enrolled in the University of Cincinnati’s (UC) online Master of Education in
Education Leadership degree program.

Here’s what he had to say about his experience:
“When I was looking for a master’s in education, my top choice was the
University of Cincinnati because I knew it was a great program,”
Since the only thing I was familiar with was the on-campus program,
I knew there was no way I could get my degree and continue coaching.
The online program was the only way that I could do both.”

David is on track to get his degree in March of 2007. He has set his sights on an
administration position as his top career choice.

Another benefit is that his master’s degree will allow him to keep up with the educational demands of his profession and the standards currently being adopted by the state of Ohio.

And he can continue with his passion for swimming, which he’s been doing since he eas five. The flexibility of the online program has allowed him to share that passion with the kids he coaches.

This is just one of many succes stories of students who are able to continue their
education through the convenience of an online learning programs like UC’s Master of
Education in Educational Leadership.

Ben

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