The Online Degree Dorm Room

Associate Online Degree Programs | New Study about online degrees

Posted by bposton on November 25th, 2006 — Posted in associate online degree programs

Hey there dorm room buddy!

There’s been an important new study just released bout the growth of online education.

The study was don by the Babson Survey Research Group in partnership with the College Board, and was sponored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

The report, based on responses from over 2,200 colleges and universities, examines a number of key questions:

Has the Growth of Online Enrollments Begun to Plateau?

Who is Learning Online?
What Types of Institutions Have Online Offerings?

What are the Barriers to Widespread Adoption of Online Education?

This is great stuff. I’m reading it now and I’ll give you all the details in my upcoming posts.

Ben 

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Associate Online Degree Programs | All About Associate Degrees - Part 7

Posted by bposton on November 21st, 2006 — Posted in associate online degree programs

I’d like to wrap up my posts about associate degrees with some things to consider when choosing a program, either on campus or online.

You need to make sure that whatever program you’re interested in is both fully accredited and the credits transferable. This is important even if you don’t intend to move on to a 4 year degree.

So how do you make sure of this?

Well, the best way is to follow the same rule that the US does in it’s relationship with Russia:

“Trust but Verify”

That means you need to verify with third party sources the accrediation status of the community college or junior college you want to attend. Don’t just trust what their information or website tells you. Check with the accrediting agency and even the department of education at the state or federal level if you need to.

Next, if you’re planning to transfer to a 4 year school, you should check with that school to make absolutely sure that the credits you earn at the community college will be accepted at the 4 year school. This is critical! Do just assume, and don’t take the community college’s word for it. Check it out for yourself.

Ben

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Associate Online Degree Programs | All About Associate Degrees - Part 5

Posted by bposton on November 21st, 2006 — Posted in associate online degree programs

I wanted to delve into more detail about the difference between community colleges and juinor colleges.

I’ve already mentioned that either one is a good place to get your associates degree, but you need to understand some of the fundamental differences between them before you decide where to go.

As you already know, community colleges are run by the government of the state in which they reside. Some states have better community college systems that others. For example, my home state of North Carolina has one of the best community college systems in the country. The state takes very good care of it’s community colleges, and along with business and industry partnerships, they have become a great place to learn the technical skills of the high-tech (and high-paid) trades that today’s businesses need.

So let’s turn to the Junior College, and see what that’s all about.

Junior colleges are very similar to community colleges with one big exception - most of them are privately held and run. So they are profit-oriented, for the most part.
That means that as compared to Community colleges they are normally not as economical.

Junior Colleges also tend to be more focused in certain areas of study. For example, I went to a Junior College to learn radio and TV broadcasting. The school was very specifically oriented to that industry. So instead of pursuing a 4 year degree at that time (I did so later) I learned a specific trade, and after graduating actually went to work in radio. I’m not in radio today, but you get the idea, I hope

So you need to think about what type of skill you’re looking to learn - is it a specific skill, like becoming a TV producer or radio announcer - or do you want something more general in nature, like business administration, that you can use to continue your quest of a 4 year degree. Answering that question will help you decide which type of college you may want to attend.

Ben

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Associate Online Degree Programs | All About Associate Degrees - Part 3

Posted by bposton on November 20th, 2006 — Posted in associate online degree programs

Part three in my little mini-series on Associate Degrees.

Let’s talk about who is a good candiate for an Associate Degree. Bascially there are three types of people who seek an associate degree program.

The first type is someone who does not want (or cannot) pursue a bachelor’s degree but instead wants to attend a US community college. Quite alot of people fall into this group. Many of them are seeking a post-secondary education to get the skills needed to quickly join the workforce or learn a trade.

The next type is someone who wants to pursue a bachelor’s degree but they decide that they want to complete the first two years of their undergraduate education by getting an associate degree at a community college and then transfering those credit to a four-year college for the last two years. Again, many college bound student fall into this catagory, and there are many more (in my humble opinion) that should consider it. It’s an easy way to transition into the rigors of college without having to jump in with both feet. A lot of students could use that transition. Just think about all the freshmen in college that don’t make it. A lot more would make it in college if they went this route.

The third and final group are folks who want to attend associate degree program classes in various subjects areas at a community colleges, but don’t want or need to get any type of formal degree at all. I like to call this group the “lifetime learners”. They enjoy and relish gaining knowledge in an area they are interesting in for many reason. One of them, for example is to become better at their current job or to gain knowledge in order to move to a new career path. 

Any one of these types of people would perform well in a community college or junior college. And the associate online degree programs that the community colleges are offering are normally right down their alley - especially group 3

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Associate Online Degree Programs | All About Associate Degrees - Part Deux

Posted by bposton on November 20th, 2006 — Posted in associate online degree programs

Here’s the next segment in my “All about Associates Degrees’ Series

Did you know that there are three different types of Associate Degrees you and earn?

Well listen up my dorm room buddy, here they are:

The first, and most commonly know of the three classes of US associate degrees offered is the associate of arts degree (also called the A.A. degree).

The second is called the associate of applied science degree (also called the A.A.S. degree).

And last but not least, there’s the associate of science degree (A.S. degree)

So those are the three types of degrees. Next, I’ll discuss the three types of people that typically choice to get an Associates Degree.

Ben

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Associate Online Degree Programs | Tennesee’s Online Degree Programs

Posted by bposton on November 19th, 2006 — Posted in associate online degree programs

The University of Tennesee is addressing the needs of non-traditional students with their online education programs. The University offers several ways for students to work for degrees through this type of distance education.

UT’s chief information officer confirms what we in the online dorm room already know; online courses will become more and more prevalent in the future. 

UT has 13 graduate degrees available online. These include master’s degrees in engineering and information sciences among others, such as MBA degree programs.

They realize that and are trying to cater to the students who are not in the 18 to 24 age group.

The assistance dean for Distance Education, George Hoemann states that their online course allows these students to continue with work and family obligations while achieving their degree.

The UT online program utilizes “Centra,” which allows interactive video classrooms containing two-way video and audio. These “Live Online” classes can have specific class times that students must log on in order to be registered
as attending the class. Students see what the professor is doing live and have a chance to interact, and the professor controls what is shown.

The online classes have the same pricing structure as their classroom counterparts, and they are taught by the same professors and offer the same benefits.

Tennesee also use online classes to supplement traditional classes. Through Blackboard, teachers can ask students to work and turn in assignments online.

So it looks like the Vols have the right idea to me

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Associate Online Degree Programs | The USA Today Report - the Online Degree connection

Posted by bposton on November 16th, 2006 — Posted in associate online degree programs

OK, so after posting my heart out over the report in Tuesday’s USA Today about the US Dept of Education wanting to reform the higher education system, I’m left with this nagging question…

What about online schools?

There was absolutely nothing mentioned about the trend to online education in the report. Which may mean that the Department of Education doesn’t care or doesn’t track it?

That would be a shame, because to me it’s a very important trend that they need to follow and include in any policy regarding higher education.

There was one little stat in the report that could be an indication of this trend. It was reported that 39% of all students at degree-granting institutions were over the age of 25, and that nearly 40 of students go part time.

hummm, I that sounds a lot like the profile of someone in the online dorm room

Ben

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Associate Online Degree Program | More US Dept of Ed Stats

Posted by bposton on November 16th, 2006 — Posted in associate online degree programs

In an effort begin reforming the higher eduction system inthe US, The US Department of Education, headed by Margaret Spelling, referenced some interesting stats the other day in the USA Today.

For example:

According to a 2006 Report by the American Institute for Research, more than 50% of all graduating students at four years colleges did not have the skills needed to handle tasks like understanding credit card offers or summarizing arguments of newpaper editorials.

That number increases to 75% of students graduating from 2 year colleges.

And according to Spelling, most colleges can’t measure whether their student’s skills are improving and that’s not a factor in today’s rankings in US News and World Report.

The Department of Education says that to reform this and other measures such as degree completion rates, a Federal database is needed to track graduation rates and other factors more effiecently and to make this data easily available to prospective students. They also want colleges to publish data on how students are improving. What’s interesting is that a lot of colleges already are doing some sort of measurement - they’re just not making it available to anyone but themselves.

More on that later

Ben

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associate online degree programs | Spelling recommendations to college under fire

Posted by bposton on November 15th, 2006 — Posted in associate online degree programs

More about the government’s attempt to “improve” higher education quality.

US Education Secretary Margaret Spelling created a commission awhile back to make recommendations to reform the nation’s higher education system.

The process itself and the motives behind it have come under scruntiny in the past few months. One reason are some of the resulting recommendations.

One recommendation that is coming under fire is the creation of a database to track individiual students. That worries a lot of Student groups across the country because it could raise tons of privacy issues.

This month Spelling and her department will be meeting with the accrediting agencies and also asking for public comment.

One of the questions they’re likely to be asked is why are they spending so much time an money on this when what really need to do is make more money available for lower income students who can’t afford to go to college.

In my next post I’ll look at their side of the story, and let you in on some of the distrubing facts and figures that the US DoE has put out recently.

Ben

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associate online degree programs | How to combat College Stress

Posted by bposton on November 15th, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online

So here you are, the end of the semester is approaching, and you’re and trying to balance exams, papers and projects. Meanwhile, the cafeteria food has you homesick for some good cooking, and your roommate’s pile of clothes is oozing into your side of the room.

Ah, but it’s so much easier here in the online dorm room

But hey, either way we all have to handle stress. With online classes, it might not come from roommates, but there’s always the stress of job deadlines and other family responsibilites trying to grab your time away from the classes you’re taking.

If the stress is more than you can handle, consider these tips:

 - Get organized. When your work space and schedule are organized,the rest of your life
becomes better organized. Take the time to arrange your papers into files by subject, putting your books on a bookshelf and clearing your desktop every day. Then, get an organizer or PDA and start putting due dates and social activities on the calendar.

Personal note - I currently use a Dell Axim PDA and I’m here to tell you, it really does make a difference when you’ve got your “to-do list” to refer to anywhere you want. It makes thing so much easier, especially for folks like me that forget half of what the need to do

 - Discuss any problems with your professors or an adviser. You should take full advantage of the knowledge your adviser has in helping you manage your schedule and to help you combat any problems you are having with certain subjects. If you have a spouse who supports your efforts to obtain an online degree, make sure he or she is involved and understands your issues. There’s nothing like having a supportive spouse to discuss things with.

It often amazing how much my wife knows that I don’t

 - Maintain a balanced lifestyle. It’s important to eat, sleep, and exercise regularly. I have to admit I need to get back on that expensive treadmill we bought this year. You should also make a point to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, and carry light snacks with you to maintain your energy throughout the day. You should also have a goal to get eight hours of sleep each night, and exercise for 30 minutes at least three times a week.

 - Take your vitamins! Studies have shown some all-natural supplements can be beneficial in the fight against stress. So make sure you suppliment your diet with the right vitamins, minerals, herbs, and other suppliments that can help your body ward off the effects of stress.

Ben

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