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By Harendra Alwis Studying
online at a Global University Today, you can earn a degree from a major university without ever having sat in one of their classrooms. There is a Global University Alliance that is a consortium of nine schools from the United States, Britain, New Zealand, Australia and the Netherlands. There are even schools that are complete, stand-alone virtual universities with no campuses. This week, we'll look at what exactly online degrees offer, what you should look for if you are pursuing a degree via the online option, and what employers think of online degrees. The big question in everyone's mind is, "Is an online degree from an accredited college or university seen by potential employers as a lesser degree?" There is no clear answer to this. On the plus side, the IT fields appear to place more value on online degrees because of the nature of the work itself. As would be expected, human resources (HR) professionals tend to place more value on degrees from established universities rather than virtual universities they've never heard of. The most commonly cited drawbacks of online education were lack of social interaction with peers, lack of data about the effectiveness and quality of the education because it is too new to gauge, and loss of real-time teacher/student exchange. But how do you make employers aware of the quality of online education? How do you convince someone evaluating your credentials that your master's degree, earned late nights in front of your computer, was as rigorous and thorough as one earned the old-fashioned way? The future of getting jobs and advancements based on online degrees will be brighter than what it seems now. From an employer's point of view, it will show a self-motivation and discipline that may just be the qualities they are looking for. Online degree programs follow much the same routines as traditional learning, with a few twists. There are lectures, but not in person. There are assignments, but you won't hand them to an instructor. There are exams, but you won't be able to look at your neighbour's paper. You'll communicate
with your instructor by e-mail, chat rooms, bulletin boards, and
instant messaging. Your classroom will be a special software program
that uses text chat and bulletin boards, as well as streaming audio
or recorded lectures. You may be put into a virtual work group with
other students and be required to solve a problem. Contrary to popular
belief, you will have contact with other students and the instructor. So once you know the school is accredited, is the decision easy? Not necessarily. There are still a lot of questions to ask before you make your selection, such as: * How is the
course presented? * How do students
interact with each other? * Are the instructors
qualified? * What kind
of reputation does the school have? * How are students
evaluated? * What kinds
of library facilities are available? This is just a brief overview of what online learning is today. Things will definitely improve with time. So do write in and share your views and suggestions with us.
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