The Online Degree Dorm Room

online degree programs psychology | MOre on Northwestern’s first online Master’s degree

Posted by bposton on December 5th, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

First, a correction. Northwestern’s Medical Informatics degree program is developed with the Feinberg School of Medicine. The program is being offered through Northwestern’s School of Continuing Studies.  This is the first joint development between NU and the Feinberg School of Medicine.

Sorry for my confusing statement on the first post :-0

Anyway, the school is using some great new technology.
The program will use streaming video, chat rooms and Webex online meeting services, which are now available due to the rapid development of Internet technology in the past decade.

SCS Associate Dean of Academics Linda Salchenberger said the program will use videoconferencing so faculty and students can schedule Web meetings to discuss interesting or challenging topics, work on a group project or even review for an exam.

The fact is that these emerging distance education technologies have become more reliable, and they now use broadband Internet rather than traditional communication lines.

And they are now much more accessible to anyone who has access to the Internet.

The school will try to keep the course fun and exciting over the Internet, but of course that requires a lot of work with faculty and students.

For example, last year the SCS moved from a semester system to NU’s quarter system so administrators could work with faculty in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Communication.

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online degree programs psychology | Northwestern and SCS announce their first online Master’s degree

Posted by bposton on December 5th, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

Northwestern University has announced their first online master’s degree program.

It’s called the Medical Informatics degree program and it will be offered through the School of Continuing Studies beginning next quarter.

This will be a program to train healthcare and information technicians on how to transfer hospital data to electronic form.

This also represents the first full academic initiative between the two schools.

The new online degree program is just one of the steps the School of Continuing Studies (SCS) has taken recently to increase its emphasis on distance education.

And their changes are a reflection of the growing trend accross the country towards online distance education as new technologies replace come on line to replace the traditional classroom experience.

There have been a number of attempts at some universities to develop distance education projects, but many have “gone bust” due to insufficient funds and lack of student interest, said Thomas Gibbons, dean of the School of Continuing Studies.

So SCS looked at where other colleges failed and how others have been been doing well.

As a result, they developed this program with newer, more reliable technology.

More to come:

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online degree programs psychology | More about SUNY’s tuition increase

Posted by bposton on December 5th, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

OK, so some more facts on SUNY’s request from taxpayers.

Bit of Trivia - SUNY enrollment is 424,000 students state-wide.

Not only did they request $2.2 billion more in operating aid from the state, the trustees are also asking for $751.6 million more in construction and maintenance, $142.7 million for SUNY’s three hospitals and $56.9 million for the community colleges.

What’s the timing on all this?

Well, the Trustees passed their budget and that’s the first step in their efforts to gain support from the governor and lawmakers.

Now NY Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer is working on the 2007-08 spending plan and will recommend his plan to the lawmakers in late January or early February. Then the Legislature has until April 1 to pass a budget.

So anything can happen between now and then. Some say that there is a strong possibility SUNY’s request could be cut.

The SUNY budget plan includes a $116.8 million spending hike for continuing its existing programs and covering increases in salary and benefits and energy costs.

And there’s an additional $123 million in the plan that would pay for new initiatives to:

- Prepare for an expected increase of 5,600 students at its four-year campuses.

- Implement an online degree-tracking program to make academic advising more effective and help students complete degrees on time.

- Increase graduate-level stipends and tuition assistance to attract the “best and brightest” doctoral students.

- Raise the state’s portion of community-college funding by 7.6 percent, to $2,717 per student.

- Increase the three SUNY hospitals’ state operating subsidies by a total of $2.9 million.

- Provide additional funding for the handful of SUNY colleges with fewer than 2,000 students.

- Give the four statutory colleges Cornell University runs for SUNY and the fifth statutory college, the College of Ceramics at Alfred University, an additional $34.8 million.

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online degree programs psychology | SUNY looks to increase tuition

Posted by bposton on December 4th, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

SUNY (State University of New York) trustees plan to for the NY state governor and Legislature to approve a plan to raise tuition for each new incoming class, starting in 2008.

ARGGGH - I hate any news about tuition increases…:-(

Anyway, their plan to increase tuition be based on an index would be tied to an inflation.

I guess the good news is that they’re not planning to raise it until 2008.

But the taypayers of New York probably don’t think that’s good news. That’s because SUNY is requesting 12.1 percent more in taxpayer money for the 64-campus system next year.

However their plan to tuition increases is somewhat eaiser to digest when you learn that tution would would be the same for the length of a student’s degree program, which is a policy SUNY has been seeking for three years.

SUNY leaders’ rationale for raising tuition for each new class is it would prevent sudden large tuition hikes and enable students and families to better plan for financing a SUNY education.

Not a bad idea, in my opinion.

But again, it’s just a plan - it’s not been approved yet.

And speaking of hikes - the last tuition increase at SUNY was a 28 percent increase in the fall of 2003, to $4,350, where it has remained.

Yikes! what a Hike!

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online degree programs psychology | Diploma Mill grow along with online programs

Posted by bposton on December 4th, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

Here’s the good news:

The number of students enrolled in online degree programs is growing faster than the overall growth rate for post-secondary student population.

Tha of course, is according to the latest Sloan Consortium report for 2006

So what’s the bad news?

The bad news is that the number of diploma mills are growing too.

And as you know…
(if you’ve been reading my posts - and you HAVE been reading haven’t you?)
Diploma mills and accreditation mills can create big problems for their graduates, who often times find that employers and other institutions may not recognize their certificates and/or degrees.

So you need to be vilagent against the potential fraud by making sure you enroll in an accredited distance learning program.

One place that can help is the accreditation section of websites like Online-Education.net

There you can evaluate home study courses and avoid wasting money on a worthless degree.

Just so you know, in order to receive accreditation, an online college or university must pass a rigorous qualification process set up by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) Accrediting Commission.

You should ask these key questions about home study courses if you’re considering one:

1.   Can degrees be purchased?
2.   Is there a claim of accreditation when there is no evidence of this status?
3.   Is there a claim of accreditation from a questionable accrediting organization?
4.   Does the operation lack state or federal licensing or authority to operate?
So things are looking up for online education as a whole, but you still need to be careful out there!

Ben

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online degree programs psychology | Ohio University’s online “Hybrid” associate degree

Posted by bposton on December 4th, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

OUt at the University of Ohio University-Southern they offer a unique associate’s degree in business management technology.

This associate degree is considered by the University to be what they call a “hybrid degree” program. What they mean by that is that class assignments are online, but it will also be offered as a Monday night class at the new Proctorville Center that opens early next year.

At the new center they plan to also have a technical and applied studies program which is designed to allow students with any associate degree to take two more years of classes and get their bachelor’s degree.

The program allows students to take night classes on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights at the Proctorville Center starting with the winter quarter in early January, she said.

So they have combination of online at on campus classes.

Just thought you’d like to know in case you’re near Proctorville.

If you’re interested in the bachelor’s degree program you can contact them at (740) 533-4604.

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online degree programs psychology | AIU adds Podcasts to supplement online classes

Posted by bposton on December 4th, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

The next time you’re in a busy airport or on the plane and you see all those folks with earbuds stuffed in their lobes, think about this.

There’s a good chance that a lot of them are not listening to music.

Instead, their taking a class.

Yep, podcasting has found a friend with online degree programs. More and more programs are starting to add podcasts to supplement their online courses.

Case in point,  AIU Online is now offering podcasts of their classes for those students who learn best by listening.

The now have podcast content that the student can download and listen to whenever time is available.

So AIU Online has solved one students dilemma; how to make the best use of downtime imposed by travel and other job and family-related activities.

Of course, for those who prefer to read or interact with course materials, there is available text and interactive course materials.

The podcasts make the audio content from one class session each week very portable, so you can simply downloading the audio and listening to it whenever you have time, you can continue learning when you’re offline.

ANd it’s great for students who prefer to listen and read, since a text of the audio content is also available for download.

AUI calls it another layer in the learning process.

Catchy phrase, I think.

Ben

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online degree programs in pyschology counseling | More about the first online degree program in Nebraska

Posted by bposton on December 3rd, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs in pyschology counseling

Here’s more about the online Bachelor of General Studies degree at University of Nebraska at Ohama.

Again, it’s the first online program in the University of Nebraska system.

The degree is a full, 125 hour, accredited degree from UNO, with coursework focusing on organizational administration, communication and business. And each course is similar in material covered in its in-class counterpart.

The university mentions that it’s also a great way for someone who has an associate’s degree and would like to earn a bachelor’s degree.

The collaboration between UNO and UNK (formerly Kearney State College) was necessary in order to be able to offer enough online classes. Each class is done through each individual university, but the actual degree is awarded by UNO.

That means that if you enroll in a UNO course, you’ll UNO tuition and the classes are taught by UNO faculty, and likewise for UNK.

Both Universities say that they believed that the online courses are equal or better to their in-class counterparts.

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online degree programs in pyschology counseling | The first online degree program in Nebraska

Posted by bposton on December 3rd, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs in pyschology counseling

Hey all you cornhuskers!

I just found out about the first online degree program ever offered by the University of Nebraska system.

It’s a joint effort between UNO…

(Not that’s not the card game, that’s the University of Nebraska at Ohama )

…and Kearney State College (Which now called UNK)

The program’s goal is to serve non-traditional students.

The degree offered is an online Bachelor of General Studies degree and it’s only for students over 21.

It’s part of UNO’s Division of Continuing Studies targeting the military as well as rural and working professionals who can’t reasonably travel to campus to take classes.

Enrollment is already open for the program’s first semester, which starts this spring.

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online degree programs in pyschology counseling | Online personal fitness degree

Posted by bposton on December 3rd, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs in pyschology counseling

Did you read about Perdue’s new undergraduate personal fitness trainer degree program in my last post?

Well I thought you’d want to know that there is an online option for fitness training want-to-be’s right now.

Its the  National Academy of Sports Medicine in Calabasas, Calif.

They certify about 10,000 people a year in the field, and they began offering a fully accredited personal training undergraduate degree online through California University of Pennsylvania this summer.

They also offer an online master’s degree.

Even though it’s online, the program is based on models that have taken 20 years to develop and it’s not a fly-by-night” certification program.

Here are the facts- there are about 275 certification programs in the fitness world, but only four are certified by a third-party accreditation organization.

Just last year, a 5000 health club member organization called The International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association urged its health clubs in the United States to hire personal trainers with at least one certification from a group that has third-party accreditation.

So eat right, and excercise, and if you need a personal trainer make sure he or she is not just certified, but accredited as

well.

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