7 Ways to Ensure Success With an Online Education Degree

The ability to obtain an online education degree has opened the educational doors for many students who cannot afford to attend school on campus as a full-time student. Distance learning courses definitely provide some advantages over the traditional college education. But, because of the methods of delivering and receiving the material, students must consider the 7 things necessary in approaching an online education successfully.

1. Choosing the best education online institution - Make sure the institute for higher education chosen has adequate resources and accreditation recognized by the proper authorities. Unless authenticity can be verified, find another school. Sadly, unscrupulous degree mills offer degrees with short-term or no real education. Thus, the diplomas are bogus and absolutely worthless. Find a school that provides solid education, ample student support, and the facilities necessary to succeed in your distance learning.

2. Check the cost vs. benefit - Many students don't check the cost-benefit factor before enrolling into an online education degree college. We are all aware that acquiring an education requires huge amounts of money.

But a smart move is to first compare with what the future earning potential of your profession will be once you earn the degree. Once you figure this out, only then would you determine if it makes sense to acquire an online education degree.

3. Degree validation by employers - No wonder many employers are wary of online degrees. With bogus institutions literally selling degrees, employers have good reason to be doubtful and cautious. Therefore, immediately alleviate any potential misgivings by your prospective employer by offering verification of accreditation through an agency sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Education and CHEA.

4. Discipline, determination, and time - First time distance learning students are often surprised by the amount of discipline necessary to stay on task and complete the online assignment. It takes unfaltering determination to achieve an online education. In addition, without regularly scheduled classes, it is essential to exercise good time management skills. To keep focused, without the physical presence of educator and peers, it is important to establish communication with other students to have another push toward success in your education degree online

5. Utilize all the facilities provided by your college - Many education degree online courses provide online lectures and email access to facilitate communication among students, lecturers and administration staff. It's important to take full advantage of these services as they keep you "connected" with your accredited online college. It helps further your motivation in your studies when you make use of these facilities to stay in touch.

6. Make use of credit transfers - Many online education degree colleges allow students to transfer their credits from courses they took in previous colleges, whether online or traditional. By doing this, it means students don't have to repeat courses they learnt before. For this to be effected, it's important for a student who intends to pursue an education online to make sure they get transcripts and results from their previous universities or colleges and make them available to their accredited online college so they can be passed as transfer credits.

7. Take advantage of technology to complete your class work - Another factor for online education degree success is the opportunity to take advantage of all the conveniences that technology provides. Many accredited online colleges provide students with online digital libraries, databases and resources that a student can use to complete their course work and assignments. In most instances the cost of these facilities is already included in the tuition fees. Thus it makes good sense to make full use of these resources to your advantage.

Character Ed Programs For Kids in School

Character education implies the teaching of good habits of thought and deed that enable people to live and work together harmoniously. It teaches kids to live positively as families, friends, neighbors and communities. These core values are inculcated in a kid so that he or she can grow up to be a well-informed, balanced and dutiful citizen. These core values are also focused on respect, justice, civic virtue, service to others and character development. Since our formative years are spent in school character education programs in school can positively shape up a child's program very successfully.

Keeping the above objective in mind, the onus of teaching kids to be morally sound and ethical can only be bought about with character ed programs in schools that help inculcate the seeds of a strong moral character in a child. These programs should be wide enough to focus on a wide range of virtues and activities that can contribute to effective character building in kids. Kids can go in for skits, writing essays and visiting the classrooms of younger children and telling them about the virtues that they have learned. There are many ways in which schools can implement character education in the curriculum. These activities can help the kid get the overall social grooming that is required to help him or her grow up to be morally sound.

The use of class meetings is also a strong and effective means to address moral virtues among students in the class. These meetings help the students discuss with the teacher about some specific practical situations.

They can discuss about the feelings and the perspectives of others when they are discussing these issues. Character education can be used as a guide when these discussions are being done. These interactions will help the students to respect and treat with each other with dignity. The use of children's literature is also an effective means to communicate positive messages to the kids.

The kids in the above character ed programs can also inculcate social skills in the students and teach them about life skills. These skills will help them face all kinds of situations with a balanced approach instead of being confused on what to do. There are many character education programs that can also bring about positive personality development in a child as well. These programs make the child a mature and social responsible person. These quality education programs help the kid to develop safely and in a care giving environment.

Character building in schools is uniform and all the students are taught in the same manner. Such programs cannot be taught at home as parents may not be aware of the right techniques to do so. In fact, this responsibility should be shared among teachers, parents and other members of the community as children are our future generation of society. They should be brought up with care and positive knowledge and skills should be passed onto them so that grow up to be socially responsible citizens of the country.

What Kinds of Degrees Can I Get Via a Distance Learning Education?

One Year Diplomas

After high school, the most basic level of post-secondary education that is out there is typically something that would come in the form of a one year (or shorter) diploma course. These courses come in a variety of different types that are generally designed to provide someone with enough education to get them an entry level job in a variety of industries. These include things like diplomas in business, secretarial programs, and programs designed to provide an introduction to certain trades, such as locksmithing or electrician work (although the latter will usually require a job site apprenticeship as well as such a course).

Bachelors Degrees

Today, you can also study for a bachelors degree via a distance learning education. For most people that are planning on attending a formal university, this is where their education starts. For some, a bachelors degree can provide an entry into the job market. For others, it can provide a stepping stone to further education. Many professional schools, such as those that focus on law and medicine, require a participant to first complete an undergraduate degree before they can apply to those schools.

Because these learning options are now available online, it means that a person can study for a bachelors degree in any discipline via a distance learning education. However, in the world of physical schools, you are limited to what you can study simply by the distance that you are willing to travel to attend a certain school. Bachelors degrees are available online in fields such as the arts, business and economics, social sciences, hard sciences, engineering, and more.

Masters Degrees

For many individuals, a bachelors degree is only the start of their education. This includes people who wish to complete a bachelors degree with the purpose in mind of immediately pursuing further education, as well as those who have been away from school for many years and realized that their job progression has been halted because they don't have a graduate degree. Through distance learning education, it is possible for both of these types to obtain their MA or MBA degrees through one of the many accredited graduate programs that are available to them.

PhD Degrees

Doctorates and PhD Degrees are also available through distance learning education, showing that it is possible to attain even the highest levels of education via correspondence and online education options. Doctorates can be obtained in subjects as varied as psychology to economics.

Online Learning is the Right Education and Training Solution For Businesses and Individuals!

Don't let the terminology confuse the issue. E-Learning, cyber learning, video training, computer training, online learning are all pointing to one key result-improving the quality and effectiveness of employees and opening doors to new jobs and more money for individuals.

Individuals and businesses, using the internet as the delivery tool, can readily identify from hundreds of schools and training providers, the exact solution needed or desired and it can be delivered by a knowledge expert.

The education and career content, data, and training modules used in today's online courses are organized to provide the most up to date, relevant, and accurate information needed based on rapidly changing market demands.

And high quality online training programs are delivered with proof of completion and skill certification, if required, to provide the assurance and confidence every company or individual needs to utilize online resources.

Extreme financial and economic stress such as today's environment demand that both astute business managers and forward thinking individuals continue to invest in skill upgrades or make strategic career decisions to ensure long term productivity. And the diverse selection of online education and training programs gives every party the full range of options needed for almost every situation.

Every manager or individual must identify the tasks and skills the emerging market requires and then examine the gaps or weaknesses and determine what steps can be taken to elevate your capabilities. Only this approach will ensure long term competitiveness.

As a company, it is more efficient and cost effective to identify quality employees internally that are willing and capable of new training than attempting to hire unknown people and hope you get what you need. Those employees that are unwilling to change and not a good long term fit can and should be let go for the benefit of both parties.

If you are an individual trying to prepare for a job promotion or ready to make a dramatic shift to a new career, online education and training in most cases is the perfect solution that offers the flexibility and choices to get exactly what you want.

Whether it is personal or corporate online training, flexible computer based learning courses have demonstrated over and over to require substantially less time to accomplish desired learning or training objectives while doing so in the most cost effective manner compared to traditional classroom settings.

No investigation can be considered complete unless the extensive selection of online courses and educational institutions are carefully considered and weighed against alternatives. In most cases, the solution will be clearly apparent...online computer training and career education is the winner!

How to Create Effective Online Learning Courses

Facilities, labor and travel expenses make the decision to build a cost-effective infrastructure of online learning an easy one. That's why many distance education departments and corporate executives turn to Web designers to develop online education courses to train their students and employees. However, this decision, many times, results in a waste of time and money, and can be frustrating to organizations simply because Web designers are not trained in the area of creating effective elearning courses; usually their focus is on visually appealing aesthetics.

For successful online course development, you need to work with a course developer that has proficiency in building programs from start to finish, while accomplishing educational objectives in every step of the process. An effective elearning course needs to have the same care and expertise put into the educational aspects as the design elements. Course content must be engaging and presented in the proper sequence in order to maximize a learner's memory retention. Skilled developers build courses that are carefully aligned to students' needs and directly achieve their learning goals, making elearning an essential part of education and training.

When it comes to valuable elearning programs, online course development is more than just making the pages look good. Here is how to create an effective online learning course that will successfully meet your goals:

1) Establish your idea - What is the learning objective of your course? What do you want participants to achieve by completing the elearning course?

2) Refine your ideas - Work with a subject matter expert (SME) to determine what the course needs to do to effectively meet your needs. Decide how much information to include in the course and how detailed it needs to be by making a prioritized list of key points you want emphasized in the course. The SME will insure the accuracy and sufficiency of the information you deliver.

3) Decide if your course needs an administrative function - You may simply need a system where participants can take the course without keeping any formal records. Many times, however, training programs need an administrative tool that manages learners and keeps track of their progress across all types of course activities. In elearning, this element is called a learning management system (LMS) or course management system (CSM). It provides a way to enroll students into courses, handle grades, deliver test or quiz material, offer two-way communication between the instructor and the student, upload study resources and keep records and transcripts of content and student-instructor interaction. These systems are designed to your specific training needs and seamlessly move students through the course process and record their progress appropriately.

4) Work with an instructional designer - The instructional designer will ensure that the information is presented in an interesting and successful manner using the established learning principles. They determine how the knowledge is presented, and how it is reinforced through activities, exercises and quizzes.

5) Course production - At this stage, a production team works with the course designer to determine needed illustrations, animation, audio, video or interactive media. Production specialists design the graphics and create the needed media to integrate into each section. They make sure the course is deliverable through the intended target media (local network, CD or DVD, or Internet). The production team is also responsible for quality control. The team checks to make sure the look and style of the course is consistent throughout and all course components are functioning correctly. If a specific LMS or CMS is targeted, they ensure that all components will function properly in that environment as well.

6) Course Delivery - This is the final stage of online course development. If an LMS or CMS is utilized, the course is installed within the chosen system. The course is now made available to the intended students through the previously selected media.

A good course development company, such as Brainband Technology Services, can assist you in every step of this process. However, steps one and two can be completed in-house to reduce cost and production time. Keep in mind if the course is for your business or department, you may be the subject matter expert. If you are able to go to a course development firm with your ideas already lined out, a large portion of the work is already finished.