Distance Learning

[WendyBG]

Since the question of distance learning came up, as an off-topic digression, on another thread, I thought that it should be given its own thread.

Many of us, here on TalkStates, appear to live in towns and cities, which are not very close to a physical, brick-and-mortar college or university. Online (distance learning) degrees may be a practical alternative, for career advancement.

However, an online degree would be a waste of time and money, if employers didn't value it, when they made hiring choices.

Is an on-line degree, which is available to all, accepted by employers, equally with a physical university? Or, are graduates, with an on-line degree, treated like second-class graduates?

I posted this question, on the Motley Fools discussion boards, specifically, the "Ask the Headhunter" and "Living Below Your Means" boards. These boards have hundreds of participants, many of them professionals.

The answers were wide-ranging, and varied.

There was general agreement that a degree from a non-accredited online school was worthless. However, the opinions diverged, from there.

One way, to avoid the issue of equivalency, is to get the degree, from a well-known physical university, but to do many (or most) of the classes, online.

An engineer, graduate of UVA (University of Virginia), suggested this. He did many of his courses online, but his degree is identical to a full-time UVA student, on the physical campus. He started at UVA, and finished at UVA.

Someone else suggested that a student could begin college, at an online school, then transfer credits (and physically attend) a regular college. Before registering, at the online college, ask your physical university of choice whether it will accept credits, from that particular online college. If the physical college will accept the credits, from the online college, this may be a good alternative. All colleges have counselors, who can advise you, as to which classes and online colleges would be acceptable. (I know people who have done this, with community college credits, transferred to 4-year colleges. This often saves tuition.)

The government does not distinguish between an online degree, and a physical college degree. If you are planning a civil service career, an online degree, from an accredited school, may be all you need.

There was disagreement, from the employers who answered me, whether they would consider online degrees to be "second class." Most said that they would prefer physical college degrees, over online degrees.

An college instructor, who teaches both online and physical classes, says that her online students are often superior, to the ones in class. She says that it takes more motivation, to formulate questions and answers, in writing (as, on a forum), while her class kids often just mumble incoherently. She asked the employers, on the thread, to consider this, while hiring.

One employer said that he preferred employees who got their degrees, at the same time as they were working fulltime (taking night classes or online classes), because it showed strong organizational skills and motivation.

The bottom line seems to be that online degrees are still not as accepted, as a degree from a physical school. However, there are creative ways to blend them.

I hope that this information is useful, to people on Talk States.

Wendy

[jabm67]

Well ... lab courses are hard to fulfill on-line, and traditional curricula that require lab courses do so for very good reasons.

[WendyBG]

Originally Posted by jabm67

Well ... lab courses are hard to fulfill on-line, and traditional curricula that require lab courses do so for very good reasons.

I agree.

But many science degrees require a certain number of humanities classes, as required courses. These could be done on-line.

Many of the humanities, as well as business and computer courses, don't require labs. One woman wrote to me, about a library science master's degree, that she was taking online. Law and psychology courses could also be done.

So, many courses could, potentially, be done on-line.
Wendy