Top 10 Online Degree Program Myths, Busted
If you think eLearning is too good to be true, you're not alone. While some envision glassy-eyed drones typing away at a lonely monitor, others see the eDegree as an easy road to an A or fear that a degree earned online won't be as valuable in the job market as a traditional one.
To help you sort fact from fiction, we've asked the experts to list the top 10 eLearning myths. Which one is keeping you from the virtual classroom?
Myth #1: Online classrooms aren't as good as traditional ones.
Not so, says Dr. Jeff Seaman, chief information officer for the Sloan Consortium, the nation's largest association of institutions and organizations committed to quality online education. "In our studies, at least two out of every three chief academic leaders believe that the quality of online studies programs is as good as, if not better than, face-to-face study. In fact, there's a growing segment who believe that online is superior," Seaman comments.
To stay competitive with traditional classes, online programs have evolved significantly in the past five years, Seaman says, incorporating more interactive software, better trained professors, and a wider array of study materials to help online students absorb the material just as thoroughly as their in-class counterparts.
Myth #2: Cyber-students miss out on classroom interaction.
Maybe 10 years ago, but thanks to the miracles of online forums, e-mail, podcasts, video conferencing, and collaborative Web software, today's wave of online learners have the ability to connect to a wider range of classroom peers than brick and mortar students ever will.
"In our classes, students form engaging communities online," comments Mary Adams, president of American Sentinel University. "Learning online is not a lonely experience.
It's highly interactive." Dr. Janet R. Hutchinson, a public administration professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia teaches both online and traditional classes. She reports that while in-class discussions tend to be more spontaneous, online interactions tend to be more thoughtful and in many cases, more enriching. "[Online] responses are more considered," she explains. "That adds something to the classroom."
Myth #3: eDegrees aren't accepted by employers.
Au contraire, say officials at Vault.com. According to the career information Web site, 85% of employers feel that online degrees are more acceptable than they were seven years ago. If you're concerned about an online degree being accepted by a future boss, Dennis Rodriguez, assistant director of national marketing for Regis University's School for Professional Studies, say that there is rarely a distinction made on your diploma. In many cases, an employer won't know the difference. "Our education is consistent whether taken in the classroom or online," he adds. "Our [online] graduates fare just as well as those in classroom-based programs."
Myth # 4: Online courses require less studying.
Tell that to Leslie Arthur. Beginning her communications degree in the classrooms of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Blacksburg, Virginia) and ending in the school's online classrooms, Arthur says that online learning required a surprising amount of diligence and motivation.
"There's a challenge because if you're not disciplined to working every single day, it gets out of hand really fast," she comments. "I had to drop an online class because I procrastinated so much that by the time I went to analyze the coursework, it was too late."
Dr. Hutchinson says that it's precisely this elevated motivation requirement that separates eLearners from classroom students. "Online courses aren't easier to take and they're not easier to teach," she comments. "Students have to be willing to put the time into doing this. I f they don't, they're going to fail."
Myth #5: Online learning only takes pace in online schools.
Wrong again. While online schools have expanded significantly in the past five years, the Sloan Consortium reports that the majority of online students earn their degrees through brick-and-mortar schools that also offer eDegree programs.
"It's the biggest public institutions--the ones that are teaching the most people in your state--that are actually teaching the most online students as well," Seaman comments.
According to the Sloan Consortium, 63% of schools offering undergraduate face-to-face courses also offer courses online; 65% of all graduate institutions provide online options as well.
Myth #6: eDegrees are less costly.
If you want the resources and first-class professors that make an education valuable, you've got to ante up just as much as your in-class counterparts. What you won't pay for is the cost of room and board and you may receive a few credits free for professional accomplishments and/or life experiences, but don't think that an eDegree won't affect your wallet. Since the majority of online learning programs operate through traditional, ground-based universities, students can expect to pay roughly the same tuition as in-class students. The College Board reports that in general--regardless of delivery format (online or ground-based)--students can expect to pay approximately $195 per credit hour if you attend a public college or university and $741 per credit hour if you opt for courses from a private school.
Myth #7: Online courses are just reading from a screen.
Hardly. Though online programs vary tremendously from school to school, many courses supplement required reading with streaming video lectures, podcast seminars, and online simulation programs. In fact, students in the bachelor of science degree program at American Sentinel University are required to complete educational video games that reinforce material taught by text.
"Our school provides simulations with lots of multimedia, lots of graphics, lots of interactivity to deliver material," explains Adams. Since some schools are quicker to embrace new technology than others, she points out, it's up to the student to research how material is taught prior to enrolling.
Myth #8: Online professors are less qualified to teach that traditional profs.
According to the Sloan Consortium reports, the opposite is actually true. Its findings report that 65% of all of all higher education institutions use primary core faculty to teach online courses, whereas only 62% use primary core faculty to teach face-to-face classes. That means online students are statistically less likely to get stuck with a graduate assistant teaching their course.
Dr. Hutchinson states her online courses require more time and thought on the professor's part than face-to-face lectures. "I have to put a lot more work into that class than I would into a traditional class," she comments. "Whoever said this was easier is wrong."
Myth #9: Online schools can't be evaluated.
If you can't visit campus, you can't evaluate the school, right? Wrong. Like their on-campus equivalents, online degrees vary tremendously from school to school and program to program, so it's up to the student to do the leg work to decide if the school offering a cyber program is bona fide or just bogus. Step one is to check the school's accreditation status. Only schools that have are accredited by one of the six regional accrediting bodies or the Distance Education Training Council offer degrees that will be universally acceptable among employers. Step two is to investigate what types academic programs and resources are offered, keeping in mind that you should be receiving the same quality education as brick and mortar students.
"A great program teaches the whole person and is able to find a way to allow the values of the university to be translated into an online format," says Rodriguez. "Students have to feel like they're not lacking by being outside of the classroom."
Myth #10: Online students must be tech wizards.
"Back in the beginning, you really had to be technologically savvy to be successful as an online learner because the technology was new," recounts Dr. Seaman. "Now when we ask people what they had to overcome, the technology issues have dropped out as a serious worry for people."
Thanks to the proliferation of both e-mail and user-friendly eLearning software, Dr. Seaman says that mastering the technological component of online learning is significantly easier than it was a decade ago. Such advances have opened online courses up to a broader demographic of students, Mary Adams. "I don't think there's anybody who's excluded," she comments. "I think everyone can learn online."
by Christina Couch
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