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Distance Learning verus On-Line Degrees Posted by MI-Roger [Email] (#882) [Profile/Gallery] (more from MI-Roger) on Mon, 14 May 2007 05:30:43 In Reply to: Online degrees, pokeyjoe [Profile/Gallery] , Sun, 13 May 2007 07:39:11 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
I am very certain there are some valid On-Line degree programs, just as I am very certain there are some diploma mills. My recommendation (and we all know the old saying about opinions!) is that unless you absoluteley know the reputation of an "On-Line Only" school, you should limit your selections to on-line or distance learning programs offered by well regarded "Brick & Mortar" universities.
Boston University, Univ of Michigan, and Carnegie-Mellon (I think) all offer On-Line programs in computer/IT areas. Distance learning and on-line programs can be an enormous cash cow to schools.
My Masters Degree was earned via the Distance Learning program of Rensselaer Polytechnic while I was in my late 30's. For almost all classes I sat in a proctored conference room with 4 to 20 other students, all watching video tapes of lectures which were recorded from a live on-campus class the previous week. All exams were proctored, sealed, and date/time stamped. I had one couse "live" where the instructor was flown in to teach a large class (50+ students) on alternate weekends for an entire semester.
My Brother-In-Law previously taught on-line Sales and Marketing classes for Davenport University where he was shocked by the broad difference in student attitude. Apparently some under-performing students are just pushed through the system to get their tuition money. He felt bad for the hard working students, whose efforts and future credentials may become tarnished if too many slugs were granted degrees.
The school armed all professor with a multitude of electronic tools to monitor the attendance of the students in class chat-rooms, their viewing schedule of on-line notes, their entry and elapsed time for all on-line exams/quizzes, and reference checking software for papers and projects. His slug students could not fathom why he would fail them in his classes! Nearly non-existant on-line attendance, no chat-room participation, failure on exams, submitting other people's work for their own projects (assuming they even submitted one!) and they still felt they deserved a GOOD passing grade.
One can only assume that somewhere along the line these students did receive good marks for their poor efforts; which diminishes the value of the degree for the hardworkers. But maybe this is a condemnation of our public school systems and not On-Line College degree programs.
I did find my Masters work to be easier than my Undergrad work. Maybe I was more mature, maybe it was because I was nearly the same age as the professors, maybe it was because I had more life experiences to draw on to better understand the lecture material, and maybe my under-grad institution was as tough as we all thought at the time.
Best of luck whatever direction you choose to go!
posted by 68.40.14...
_______________________________________ Saabs owned: 2008 9-5 Aero Sedan, sold at 227K miles 2006 9-3SC 2.0T - Wife's daily driver 2000 Viggen Convertible - Sold May, 2022 1964 Quantum IV Formula Car - Retirement project 2000 9-5lpt Sedan, sold at 318K miles
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