The average yearly tuition cost for brick-and-mortar colleges and universities in the US today is more than $20,000, an expense that has increased 1,120 percent since 1978. By comparison, students of all ages can often earn an online education for one fourth of this annual cost -- and more businesses are starting to acknowledge online degrees.
It’s small wonder that online course enrollment growth has been in the double digits in recent years, with a current online education student population of more than six million students.
Yet, not all is perfect with online education, either. In recent years, students have joined forces in federal lawsuits against online colleges, alleging that these colleges put them into a mountain of debt without giving them accredited degrees, forcing them to take courses over at brick-and-mortar schools. In California, plaintiffs filed 20 lawsuits against five different online law schools, alleging that the schools lured students with promises of bountiful employment opportunities they would find after obtaining a law degree -- at a time when jobs for lawyers are in a dramatic decline.
So, what do you do if you’re a student and you’re considering an online education?
Look before you leap
It pays to ask prospective employers how they value online degrees in the hiring process before you enroll in an online program. In IT in particular, online degrees have met with recent success. The reason? Many online courses have the ability to closely simulate the work environment, because students actually do their lab work and technical projects on computing platforms that they will ultimately use in business. The IT educational community has also put considerable effort into building strong online courseware and attaching rigorous testing and certification to it.
Suited for the role
Online education is self-directed. The plus side is that it allows people with fulltime jobs to study when they have the time -- and to participate in their studies from anywhere. The disadvantage is that individuals who like to learn in collaborative settings are challenged in this “do it yourself and alone” environment. Then, too, there are few online universities that do a good job in providing a personal instructor or mentor who is available to students when they have questions. “One of the differentiators we hope to put in play is to actually have instructors available to answer student questions on the spot when students have them,” said one online technology college entrepreneur. “Today most online schools fall miserably short in this area.”
Research credentials
Is your online school accredited? And by whom? Accreditation is a major hurdle for many online schools. It isn’t just because they’re startups -- or because many in the education business believe that they are second-rate. The challenge is also political, since established brick-and-mortar schools have a vested interest in preventing online schools from cutting into their tuition fees by offering students similar education for less money. If you are a student considering online education, this means you should confirm that any school you are considering is accredited. If an educational association won’t recognize the school, it could be that a future employer won’t, either.
Mix your learning styles
For most students, a mix of face-to-face and online learning works best. Online education has yet to replace the intangible “human elements” of learning that enable students and instructors to feed off each other when they are collectively working on a project or question in the same room.
The bottom line on online education is that it has its shortcomings, but it is also here to stay. Brick-and-mortar schools have recognized this as they roll out their own online learning programs. The key for those students considering online education, as with most things, is to know themselves. The more you know about what you want to get out of your online learning experience, the happier you’re going to be with the results.
There is a tendency with young technology to see it as a magical solution to every problem everyone has. It never is. Online schooling is going through this phase now. But as with any life decision, it's important for prospective students to do due diligence and think through whether the particular online school they're thinking of attending -- or any online school -- is right for them.
It's very important--and I always encourage them to set up a "real" telephone call with a person at the school to discuss their objectives and goals before they enroll.
I took a course last year on Gamification through Coursera as an ongoing way of staying current and meeting the needs of my clients. Granted, it wasn't accredited, but it did provide a first rate education on the subject matter. The professor was from U of Penn/Wharton School. There were 82,000 students in the class from all over the world! I felt I got what I needed from the class, which used case studies for exams and video lecture to deliver course material. There was a social media section to interact with other students.
In the future, courses rather than degrees could be of greater importance to employers as people of all ages update their job skills and knowledge base. Online schools affiliated with brick-and-mortar ones serve this purpose quite well. LinkedIn already has added profile sections that include ongoing education.
Students without the funds for a full education can use these online schools to advance themselves a course at a time, or complete full programs. Badges on social media sites in subject matters relevant to employers will transform the need for a traditional college education.
Part of me still thinks bricks-and-mortar schools are the best choice, in ideal circumstances, for people who plan to attend college/university directly after high school and who don't have children/need to work full-time, etc. That's because they can really immerse themselves into the whole school experience, including clubs, extra-curriculur activities, and other events that stretch far beyond the classroom. Of course, you can meet people online, too, but I don't think you can put on a play, perform in the school band, or join the football or softball team virtually (at least yet...!). However, as someone who would now be an older or returning student -- someone who has a f/t job, kid, and zero interest in bands/ sports teams or acting -- online would be ideal! If i was going to pay (vs. a MOOC), I would expect to attend an online institution that provided me with a degree in an accredited program, and would check to make sure it was accepted by employers.
I think the focus on the online school is not as important as "making sure you actually learn" as a student. The end goal of any education is to actually learn something, not get a piece of paper that just says that you learned it. That piece of paper might be very expensive to obtain, but it's not a replacement for actually learning.
I expect the future of education will focus more on verification of expertise. Anyone will be able to say that taught themselves how to code, but it will be far more critical to prove your abilities. Perhaps earning "merit badges" via open source projects might be a way to do this.. and Mozilla has even started a badges program that might bring this to reality someday.
Maybe one day, but there's still a lot of emphasis on actually graduating from an accredited institution vs. proving that you can do a particular job or have a certain set of skills -- at least, when you first start your career. As you age and grow in your profession, then of course the focus is more on your capabilities, your successes, how you approach challenges, and your actual track record at past employers.
Unfortunately, with this country's focus on standardized tests I don't see that changing any time soon -- although I read that, finally, Florida isn't requiring students to take some tests who are interested in learning careers such as becoming a mechanic, cook, or landscaper.
Sure, a bricks&mortar education is still valuable -- seeing people face-to-face is still much better than learning via an online video. But some skills could be gained without having to sleep in a dorm or go to a lecture hall!
Hopefully, standardized testing is NOT the future of education of the verification of a person's skills. Standardized testing serves a very specific function, but it's been applied like a hammer to a screw.
I attended Curry College full time, NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program Part time and Southern NH Univ (SNHU) online.
While "AT" SNHU I was at times in NJ (as a full time student), NY (working for NY Water Taxi), Vieques PR (where I took courses and did my research for my thesis) and in Fort Lauderdale FL (working for Commodore USA)... A traditional school wouldn't have allowed my career to progress and still graduate.
I'm also a fan of online because your schedule is still flexible... But if you need to spend 15 hours a week hitting the books nothing changes that.
Still, the online experience isn't the same as the traditional classroom; I'm very comfortable with online modalities (since 1982). If you are not, then you need to quickly get there, or online isn't for you.
At the end of the day, in off line and online education some things still matter: the quality of the instruction, the # of students in the classroom and other factors like academic policies and the degree of academic freedom given to the instructors.
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