The Online Degree Dorm Room

online degree programs psychology | 5 hard questions to ask before you start your online education

Posted by bposton on January 17th, 2008 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

OK, so you’ve finally realized and decided that this is the year you’re
gonna start (or finish) that degree - right?

And, you’ve also decided that you’ll be taking most (if not all) of your
classes online.

So welcome to the online dormroom, good buddy!

Now, for a little “tough love”

(”What? on my first day in the online degree dormroom? )

There are a lot of online degree sites out there, and alot of wisdom on
what it takes to get your degree online. But I’d like to sum all of it up with just 5 questions…

Call it - the 5 hard questions to ask before you start your online education:

Numero Uno: Is the Online College or University you’re considering ACCREDITED?

Probably the most important question. You HAVE to look into accreditation.
Get your online degree from a non-accredited institution and you’re soon fine that
your degree is not recognized by some employers.

Or, almost as bad, that course you took will not transfer to another institutions.

Did you know that, unlike the practices of most other countries, the United States government does not ensure all online colleges are accredited?

So make absolutely sure you can answer YES to this question.

2. Can I transfer my credits?

Every online college and university has a different credit transfer policy.
So it’s very important if you’ve already earned some college credits understand the credit transfer policy before beginning an online program. Check with the institution to clarify any questions about transfer requirements, so you won’t be surprised later.

3. Do you know your Financial Aid options?

One of the most important things to consider with When researching an online college it is to look into the institution’s financial aid options. According to a 2003-04 report by the National Center for Education Statistics, 63 percent of all undergraduates receive some type of financial aid. Financial aid options include scholarships, work-study programs, grants, loans and loan-forgiveness programs.

So make sure you know how to “follow the money”

4. Are you the right kind of “learner” for an online degree program?

OK, this is tough one, because you have to be brutally honest with yourself.
Although an online education is the ideal way to learn for millions of people, it doesn’t fit everyone’s learning style.

So before you even apply for an online degree program make DARN SURE that online learning is conducive to your lifestyle. You have to think about your technology access and skills, your personal motivation and overall learning style and then decide if online learning is right for you.

5. Can you rely on your family and/or employer for support?

It’s a must that to do your best academically, you have to have the support of those closest to you. Talk this over with your family, because it WILL have an impact at home. It’s also important for you to make sure you have buy-in from the boss.

Or his boss .

Make sure your employer and manager will support you when you take your lunch hour catching up on a paper or answering a discussion question for your class.

Getting an online degree is a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly and one
that will have a tremendous impact on your life. If you do things right, that impact will be very positive, such as improving your career, confidence and salary.

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online degree programs psychology | get your degree and save the world

Posted by bposton on January 10th, 2008 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

OK, so here’s another reason why a goal of acheiving your degree online is a good one.

…It can help save the planet

No, it’s TRUE!

It turns out that choosing an online degree program is an incredibly easy way for
students to make an environmental impact.

That’s according to a new article from WorldWideLearn.com, the world’s premier online
education directory.

The article titled “Nine Ways to Save the World with Your College Degree” reveals
the environmental benefits associated with online education.

While there has not been much research done on this in the U.S. a number of
European organizations have already released studies that show the potential of the Internet
and other e-learning methods to radically reduce energy consumption and emissions.

At least that what the article says…

For example:

The Stockholm Environmental Institute and the UK’s Open University Design Innovation Group
found that, compared to traditional campus college courses, distance learning courses:
-   Consumed nearly 90% less energy
-   Produced 85% fewer CO2 emissions

These energy reductions included:
-   A 92% reduction in travel-related environmental impact
-   A nearly 50% reduction in paper and print consumption

So there you have it - get your degree online and help save the world!

If you want to get the article, just go to WorldWideLearn.com

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online degree programs psychology | Online course evaluations fail

Posted by bposton on August 25th, 2007 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

Soooo…

there was this university that had both classroom and online courses, and they wanted to get feedback from the students on how they liked the delivery of each type of class, physical and online.

So they prepared evaluations for both types of classes…

And the online evaluations failed…:-(

Not because the students didn’t like the online course. They failed because the trial proved unsuccessful because of low student participation.

So if you’re an online student and get send an online course evaluation, make sure you understand the implications of course evaluations.

In this test case, forty-one percent of the student body responded to the online evaluations compared to 75 percent who filled out the paper-and-pencil option. 

So this college will not test online evaluations for at least a year. And that’s a shame.

Ultimately, course evaluations exist to serve the student body. With adequate feedback, professors would be better equipped to improve courses and programs.

Online course evaluations not only allow students to respond on their own time, they allow for course-specific questions, making it possible for students to offer more constructive and accurate feedback.

But, alas, the course evaluations don’t hold a high place in most students’ priority lists.

Some students say they prefer the hand-administered version of course evaluations because they would rather spend class time answering them as opposed to their free time.

The potential improvements the online course evaluations offer the university outweigh any excuse for these students’ failure to spend the two minutes to fill out an online evaluation.

Students should take time to think beyond their immediate convenience and consider the long-term benefits of their two-minute investment in course evaluations.

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online degree programs psychology | Drexel and Johnson Controls announce educational partnership

Posted by bposton on December 22nd, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

Another corporate educational parternship was announced yesterday by Drexel University.

This time it’s with Johnson Controls, a global leader in automotive technology, building efficiency and power solutions.

As part of this partnership arrangement, Johnson Controls employees will have the opportunity to complete an online degree or certificate program through Drexel and receive special tuition rates.

Very cool

These employees will have a pretty wide choice of degrees and certificates as well. Employees will be able to choose from a range of bachelor’s, master’s, and certificate programs that Drexel offers online in areas such as nursing and health professions, clinical research, public health, information science, business, computer science, communications, and computing technology.

Just some facts about Drexel. They are a winner of the 2006 21st Century Best Practice Award for Distance Learning from the U.S. Distance Learning Association, and ranked among the Best National Universities in “America’s Best Colleges” by U.S. News & World Report for 2007. And, of course, they are accredited by the Middle States Association for Colleges and Secondary Schools.

Not only that, but its curricula hold the highest accreditations from their respective accrediting bodies such as AACSB (Business), NLN and CCNE (Nursing), and ALA (Information Science).

Drexel University Online has been expanding its partner network for the past four years. Through a partnership with Drexel, participating corporations, health systems, and professional associations across the U.S. can offer their employees and members special tuition rates and career development opportunities, as well as the chance to earn a degree - all with the flexibility working professionals need. Drexel’s online programs are specifically designed to provide adult learners with the convenience they need to advance their skills on their own schedule.

So, good news if you’re an employee of Johnson Controls, and hats off (again!) to Drexel.

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online degree programs psychology | How to get out of debt if you’re in

Posted by bposton on December 22nd, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

I supposed that before I go much farther ranting on about the tremedous amount of college debt most students take on, that I should offer some suggestions on how to get out of debt.

No, I’m not a financial planner, but I did stay at a holiday inn express last night

Anyway, here are some tips that I’ve learned from the real financial folks on how to whittle down the debt after you get out of college - or even before:
Numero Uno - Set Up A Budget

In my opinion this is the first and most important step in the process of bringing down your debt. You need to start tracking your expenses on a monthly, weekly, or even a daily basis to find out where your money is going.

yeah, I know that you THINK you know where it’s going, but beleive me, you DON’T until you track it. :-0

Once you know where the money is going, you can make good decisions about where to curb your spending, and where to focus your debt pay-off strategy.

Number 2 -Pay off high interest before low interest.

This is probably well known, but deverses another mention. Take a look at all your loans, school, credit card, etc and make sure you’re paying off the loan with the highest interest rate. Part of this is also contacting the credit card company and asking for a lower rate. If they don’t give you one, switch to another card that will let you transfer your balance for a low or zero interest rate amount. Then, still work on the loan with the highest interest.

Number 3  It would be wise to stop using your credit card. Only keep it for emergencies.
And by emergency I don’t mean the guys all came over and you want to order 20 pizzas

Number 4. If you happen to already have money in liquid investments, like savings accounts or stock trading accounts, give that money out and pay off your loans with it. YOu can’t justify having money in a savings account that’s earning 3% interest when you have a balance on your loan that you pay 15% on. Understood? Again, you have your credit card to fall back on in a true emergency.

I hope this helps you if you are stuggling with college debt. If you have any other suggestions, feel free to post them.

Ben

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online degree programs psychology | So is $60,000 in debt worth a $100k job?

Posted by bposton on December 21st, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

Before I get off my soap box about college debt I’d like to share a few more opinions…

A few weeks ago there was a story in the USA Today about a guy who landed a job that pays $100,000 per year after piling up about $60,000 in credit card debt and loans to pay for his MBA at MIT.

He says it was worth it…

But instead of saving for a house he has to pay off debt at 15% interest.

Looking at his salary, maybe is is worth it, but not everyone will get a job like his.

It’s a pretty big risk, and one that most student just starting out may not be willing to take.

This is where a strategy that includes an online degree program would be helpful.

Think about it. If the student can live at home (which I know is asking a lot of 18-19 year olds, not to mention their parents) and avoid most or all of the room and board, they would come out much better financially at the end of 4 years.

Maybe distance education isn’t perfect for a teenager not yet used to the disipline that it would require, but what if?

What if the majority of the college students were online? Think about how much debt that would reduce. At least for most public universities, the majority of the costs of school is room and board, which is often higher than tuition itself.

OK maybe it’s a pipe dream

But I’m not sure what other good solutions are out there. If you know of any I’d love to read them in your comments.

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online degree programs psychology | What’s wrong with this picture?

Posted by bposton on December 21st, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

Here’s a few more sobering facts about the state of our college debt.

More and more students are working more and more hours in part time jobs. More than ever before.

The enrollments into college are way up, but the percentage of students who complete their degree hasn’t increased with the number of enrollments. In fact, a little over half of who are enrolled in a four year degree program will earn their degree in five years.

And while haveing a college degree is becoming just a jumping-off point for most careers it’s beginning more and more harder for the lower to middle income class to get a degree. That’s because the upper elite economic class can afford to send their child to the best primary schools, get tutors, SAT prep classes, essay consultants, you name it. So they’re becoming a larger majority of the new surge in enrollments.

Meanwhile, lower income students, and non-white students are winding up with fewer options for getting into college, and once they’re there they finish with a debt load that’s more than the $20,000 of debt that is now the average.

That’s IF they finish.

Statistics show that while 40 percent of students from the top 25% of the economic class in the country will get their 4 year degree in 5 years, only 6 percent of the students in the bottom 25% will acheive that same feat.

And while over 25% of white students that enter college get out with a bachelor’s degree, only 15 percent of black and Hispanic students will do so.

There is sometning very wrong with this picture…

I don’t claim to have the answer, but one suggestion is to speak up about this issue. Get involved in the process. Talk to school officials. Talk to your Congressman.

Maybe even run for congress!

This needs to make news. The media is spending all their attention on covering hazing parties and binge drinking. If this problem isn’t address, we won’t have to even worry about those things in the future…

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online degree programs psychology | Are we a generation of debtors?

Posted by bposton on December 21st, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

I’ve been hearing about a new book that goes into the problem of college debt.

The book is called “Strapped - Why America’s 20 and 30 Somthings Can’t Get Ahead”

The author of the book is Tamara Draut, who is part of this 20 to 30 something generation and wrote the book after discovering just how bad student debt from college was contributing to the financial instability of her generation.

Here is a sobering fact on that subject - college debt

Did you know that the average college graduate will come into the working world with an average of $20,000 of debt?

And that’s the AVERAGE…:-( very scary.

So it’s no wonder that about one-thrid of first year college students drop out after their first year; They see the amount of debt they are getting ready to take on, as well as the amount of work they need to do in college just to get by, and they decide “I’m outta here”

I think it’s an absolute shame. This great country of ours will be failing behind in about every area if our young don’t have the educational opportunties that those in other countries have handed to them.

And just as important, how can we stay by while the next generation stuggles finacially with thousands of dollars in debt, forcing them to do all work and no play?

I mean, look at how many college kids are going to school full time and also holding one or more part time jobs - that number is higher now than in the 1970’s or 1980’s.

In fact, according to what I’ve read about 75% of the nation’s college students are working part time.  And almost half of these are working more than 25 hours a week.

And it’s not for beer money - it’s to pay for next semester’s room and board!

Now, in general, working part time while at school isn’t a bad thing, but only if the hours are reasonable, say 15 hours a week or less. And working throught the college at on-campus jobs or internships are great ways to further a student’s connection with their career. But once you get past 15 hours a week, it’s been proven that grades are affected, and the students well-being is affected too.

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online degree programs psychology | Capella gives Vets a holiday present

Posted by bposton on December 20th, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

I just thought this was a great holiday story, with an online degree dorm room twist

The folks at the Minnesota Veterans Home in Minneapolis got a holiday present this week
thanks for Capella University and Implex, two local organizations.

The present - helping them enter the age of the internet…

Until this week, they only had the super slow dial up access in their library.

Now, residents of the boarding care unit can have high speed access for their
PC’s in their own rooms, and on the Veterans Home’s shared computers.

So how did this happen?

Earlier this year they had approached Implex CEO Stuart DeVaan, looking for a better way to connect to the Internet, because of his company’s extensive broadband and wireless networking capabilities.

“When the veterans told me they couldn’t get affordable, high-speed internet connectivity,

I was shocked,” DeVaan said. “Our troops serving in Iraq can connect faster than our vets back here at home. I knew something had to be done.”

And what he did was to bring the idea to Capella University, which has programs and scholarships for veterans and active duty military. In fact, over 15 percent of Capella’s undergraduate, master’s and PhD students are
affiliated with the armed forces.

Capella agreed to pay for the equipment, and Implex did the installation and will provide
ongoing technical support. The only cost to the residents is a small connection fee and $10 per month for high speed access.

Phase one of the project involves residents of the 77-unit boarding care unit, with accessto be expanded to other residents in 2007.

Now that’s a great Santa Story. Hat’s off to Capella and Implex.

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online degree programs psychology | Will men be weaker online?

Posted by bposton on December 19th, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

Interesting fact I noticed.

I was strumming through a report by the National Center for Educational Statistics.

Yeah, I know..I’m just a number’s man

Anyway, I saw a stat in there that was very interesting. Without going into alot of details about the numbers, it basically pointed out that between 2005 and 2015 the number of women age 35 and older enrolled in a 4 year degree program will increase… alot.

Meanwhile, the number of men that same age will decrease in enrollments.

ANd here’s something even more interesting…

If you look at 2 year institutions, instead of 4 year institutions, that trend is actually reversed - there will be an increase in men age 35 and older enrolled in 2 year degree programs while the number of women will decrease.

So what does all that mean? Well, I like to think - although the report doesn’t specifically point this out - that most of the folks age 35 and older attending any degree program will most likely be doing it online - especially by 2015.

And that would mean that there’s going to be a much larger number of women taking classes online than men by that time.

OK, it just a theory on my part, but take a look at today’s world. It’s a known fact that there are more women going to college than men these days. So why would that be any different if the college is online?

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