Comments on: Basics of Online Education

By: Celina Macaisa

Celina Macaisa — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 05:44:46 +0000

Thanks, I bookmarked this page coz of your list of FREE online courses offer. In line with your post accreditation indeed is important. But you know what? right now i don’t think college degrees matter as much as WHAT YOU CAN DO AFTER—can you make a hot program? can you come up with a new business model? exciting product? effective distribution system?

So if anyone maximizes their learning from these online courses (whatever the current opinion is about these not-so traditional method)and develop real skills, then they are better off than those students who went to the brick and mortar colleges.

Self-directed? Everyone will need to be ‘responsibly’ self-directed anyway. Let them make their own mistake of cramming (is that the worst thing?)–the student will learn to correct him or herself based on the rewards and punishment he gets from the behavior. Everybody crams at one point or another due to HIGH workload….it will teach them the NEED to learn time management–and productivity tools such as enounce myspeed, project mgt. worktools, and etc.—> like what they would do AFTER they graduate.

By: tperko

tperko — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:46:07 +0000

God-forbid a for-profit organization like the Apollo Group uses naming rights as part of their strategic business plan much like any other successful corporation. :rolls eyes:

In other news, state universities around the nation are requesting federal $$$ and posting tuition hikes…

By: tperko

tperko — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:37:06 +0000

I love the UOP online learning format. The tuition is expensive but I am lucky to have tuition reimbursement. I couldn’t imagine trekking to community college or night classes. Online is the way to go!

By: aaron 8 Pillars

aaron 8 Pillars — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 06:46:24 +0000

The potential for online education is huge. I think the availability is huge. I have found online education that has helped my personal business down to my personal economics. There are many to choose from. Anyone know of any good forums to find good feedback from online education courses?

By: Cap

Cap — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:06:15 +0000

Agreed with others that I’ll personally look for a traditional intuition that offers both online/offline coursework (with majority of your credits being done offline). For those that are looking to do undergrad transfer from a 2 year to a 4 year.. you should also consider carefully before you pack your entire credits full of online classes, as it will matter to certain 4 year schools you may be considering…

Unlike online dating, online education probably still has a big degree of stigma associated with them (not belittling anyone that has graduated from an accredited online-based institution — but its just the unfortunately)…

By: Cap

Cap — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:55:56 +0000

I’ve also taken a few online courses at the local community college for scheduling conveniences and they weren’t half bad. The thing about these courses was that you have to be self-taught able and independent. Something for students to consider before deciding the course to take. If you’re think you may have issues teaching yourself through textbook or online instructions, then consider the more informational/factual coursework.. versus courses that will need you to acquire/learn new skill that will be needed to apply to future courses.

By: Cap

Cap — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:52:04 +0000

That’s a good point Ethan. It’s probably especially true when the online course you’re taking is being offered by a traditional, offline institution.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:42:44 +0000

So long as the university is not a for-profit company that takes your tuition and plays corporate john for the naming rights to a football stadium, then you can at least consider the school. In case you’re wondering which school is the john, it’s the U of P stadium you see in the picture. I would have hoped that the money they wasted paying for the naming rights they’d use for scholarships or to reduce the cost of tuition. I guess their ads on the web sites aren’t bringing in enough students. I can see it now: years down the road, alumni are telling their kids the reason they picked such a school: Well, they paid for the naming rights to the stadium of my favorite football team so I had to go there.

By: Tyler@FrugallyGreen

Tyler@FrugallyGreen — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:40:43 +0000

Thanks for the links to the free courses! I had no idea those existed. I’m going to spend next weekend finding some courses I want to take.

By: freeby50

freeby50 — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:47:26 +0000

I look at online classes as equivalent to taking night classes. Its just a different format for the same instruction.

Of course what college you go to matters a lot. Universities that are online only are not as well regarded as traditional universities. As far as the status of your degree you may be beter off taking traditional classes at your local state school than going to an online college. But online classes from Stanford, Columbia, Carnegee Mellon, USC or U Washington are going to get you the same degree as going to those schools in person.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:59:34 +0000

About 12 years ago I met my penultamour on match.com. She dumped me for another guy she met on match.com and wound up marrying him. About a year later, I met my wife on match.com, and a few years later she encouraged her friend Jeff to look there, and he met his wife there. So online dating definitely works for some people, and has for many years.

By: kosmo @ The Casual Observer

kosmo @ The Casual Observer — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:25:35 +0000

Thanks for the list of free online learning. I was aware of some of these, but not all.

Causual and Statistical Reasoning (CMU) – I’m all over that class!

On the tangent of online dating – my wife and I met online. We’ll be married 5 years in September.

By: AJ

AJ — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:05:41 +0000

Great post. Some schools in the UC system offer great online courses if you arent ready for a full on degree yet.

By: thenewlyfrugal

thenewlyfrugal — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:51:10 +0000

Personally, I would find a brick-and-mortar school that also offers online classes. Some people really cannot succeed well in online classes (I know – I’m one of them).

Also, if you attend a regular university that has online options, few will suspect that your degree was made online.

By: Modder

Modder — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:04:12 +0000

I am very skeptical about on-line education. While it might be a great way to get “a” degree later in life e.g. a working mom in her 30s wants to get a college degree, I think it is a very bad idea for people who want to get a graduate degree. For grad degrees, you typically want to experience a career step function, i.e. be considered for a much more senior role or a very different field. In those cases, school reputation really makes a difference and the individual needs a catalyst to make it happen (like graduating from full-time school and needing to focus on finding a new job combined with supportive LOCAL career office, career fairs etc). Case in point, someone in my family got an Master in Finance from Phx Online. Even though she graduated with that degree she stayed in the same job, gets the same entry-level salary and is not on a new trajectory (unable to find something better).