“Education is the transmission of civilization.” – Will Durant (American Writer & Historian, 1885-1981).
Education is an indispensable asset to attain fame, power, money, freedom, social justice and peace. With the rising of global economic trends, education becomes more imperative in facing many challenges that the future holds for the humankind.
An ever changing and developing economy needs a well-educated workforce to thrust it forward to a newer world. With a recuperating economy, job market for new skill-set is born. Recruiters prefer people with fresh or recent degrees, attached to their existing education, to fill the vacancy. Today, a job seeker’s career may suffer due to lack of adequate education. Therefore, it becomes essential for each job seeker to continue evolving. Education, perhaps, is the best medium to improve knowledge, skills and personal development, resulting in building healthy relationships among individual, groups and nations for a better tomorrow.
Education has crossed boundaries and has become international. Today, distant learning has become a new face of education, recognized by the world over. Universities and colleges across the globe offer various programmes for individuals either seeking a continuing education or a professional degree.
Distant learning creates an educational experience outside the classroom. Teachers and students communicate either through a print & electronic media or through technology. Individual’s can now earn their degrees in the relative comfort of their homes.
Internet provides an array of online professional and educational courses, which comes with a price or free of charge. Many accredited universities, colleges and schools’ provide an online platform to revive and enhance continuing education. Individuals’ must wisely choose a virtual school from the whole gamut, and not be fooled by the freebies being offered.
Individuals’ must assess their need for earning a degree, first. Is it the need to graduate with flexible education program or increase the value of their resume for better jobs?
Making a choice of subject, curriculum, faculty, mode of correspondence and fee structure is the next step towards improving your future. Enrolling in an online degree course is the final step to improve your education credibility.
Credibility (Accreditation) and Learning Costs are the two parameters that should be kept in mind before pursuing online education.
Educational regulatory bodies are constructed to certify colleges and universities interested in providing online degree course. Based on which agency the college is affiliated to, individuals’ may choose their online education board.
The fee structure should be appropriate to the courses offered. It should be able to suit individuals’ pockets. After all, the purpose of online education is to impart knowledge to all humanity and the objective can be achieved when education is provided at a reduced cost.
Earning a degree at home can be achieved by choosing an option from the following six choices, which are:
– Correspondence conducted trough regular mails.
– Telecourse/Broadcast, in which content is delivered via radio or television.
– CD-ROM – student interacts with computer content stored on the CD.
– Pocket PC/Mobile Learning – student access course content stored on a mobile device or through wireless server.
– Integrated distance learning – interaction with distance learning curriculum integrated of live, in-group instruction program.
– Internet conducted programmes either synchronously (telephone, video & web conferencing) or asynchronously (message board forums, email, fax/voice mail, audiocassette & videocassette).
Online degrees encompasses subjects which are offered in the regular curriculum at the campus. Therefore, students enrolling for distant education can pursue subjects from the field of Science & Technology, Business & Finance, Humanity & Fine Arts as easily as a regular on-campus student.