Are Online University Programs Any Good? 12
Landaras asks: "After spending two years at Ohio State studying Management Information Systems, I've decided to take a year off from school. However, after hearing about the University of Phoenix's online Bachelor's program, I thought I would consider completing my four-year Informations Systems undergraduate away from the 'brick and mortar' setting. Does anyone have any experience with completely on-line degree programs, and what are your thoughts of them?"
Re:My doubts (Score:2)
Did I get a good education out of the process? Absolutely. Were there students passed that shouldn't have been? Probably. But what University doesn't do that to some extent?
UOP certainly targets the "non-traditional" student - and does so much better than traditional Universities. I can't recall anything I had to do that required me to make special arrangements around work to accomplish.
The reality is that you get out of education what you put into it - some of my fellow students were merely after a piece of paper - others were frightfully serious about the process.
I would make a strong suggestion to the original questioner - be sure whatever University you choose is accredited by one of the regional accrediting organizations (WASC [wascweb.org], NCA [ncacasi.org], etc.). Many universities may be available online, but without some sort of valid accreditation, some organizations/employers may not honor your degree.
Hope this helps!
My doubts (Score:1)
OTOH, I have friends attending UPho (U-Ph-O) and they're serious students. They are also non-traditional students, which is the target market for such places.
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Re:My doubts (Score:1)
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Re:The Wrong Question (Score:2)
Through this additional interaction it is easier for you to get involved in extracurricular activies.
Transfering credits sucks... (Score:3)
When thinking about what happened to me, I get to thinking that I would have been better off going to community college and getting an AA for my first 2 years rather than having gone to University.
No, they are not any good. (Score:1)
California State University, Chico (Score:4)
Fall of 2000 was our second test semester, and the first semester we dropped satellite testing. We offer over thirty classes now, with more coming next semester. You can go to either URL and test out the system, but hurry, the semester ends on Friday
What do I think of it? I think it's great, and if the classes available at this time were classes that I needed, I would take them. Many students on campus take classes that are both WebCT and in person classes, and professors just use WebCT to give tests and post notices and give students a place to interact. With private email, it also makes it very easy for the professor to email everyone in the class. What I also like about the idea is it gives people flexibility in the classes--if you don't want to go to class this morning, don't. Watch the archive. Sleep in until 3 and check your WebCT mail for information on the test. Use the bulletin board to ask someone what you missed. It not only gives people opportunity to go to college when they might not otherwise be able to, but it gives them the flexibility in doing so that many would desire.
University of Phoenix? Just say no... (Score:4)
It's a complete joke. Also, to keep in mind, the tuition of online courses at UoP is 350 a credit hour. A rip off. You can do better elsewhere.
Speaking of elsewhere, I would recommend checking out your options. There are lots of them. Check out yahoo's directory at http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/Distance_Learning/
http://www.degree.net/ - pushing a book on the subject, but lots of good info.
http://www.lifelonglearning.com/ - lets you search for a degree program you are interested in.
news://alt.education.distance - the newsgroup. once you find a school, check out its rep here.
Hope this helps...
Crewd
Ohio State (Score:1)
Ohio State has been offering limited courses online. The system they use is video recording actual classes and then making them available on the web (with login/password). Now, so far it's really just been an experiment. More information can be found at:
http://telr.ohio-state.edu/courses/findcourse.ht ml (Not linked for goatsex safety)
Now, I've taken a couple of classes that were recorded for web access. My feeling is that you probably need to wait a few more years for this to be worth while. The professors just aren't able to adapt to the new technology fast enough and several lectures I watched via the web were just a blank white board and the professor's voice--he was writing on the chalkboard. Similarly, it was difficult to understand some written equations due to bad handwriting, etc.
In all, if you really want your bachelor's degree, you'll probably just have to find a way to go back to school. The WWW might eventually be the way everyone learns, but right now everyone's on the front-end of the learning curve. Give it 5 years, and maybe things will be different.
What about campus life. (Score:1)
Anyway, the question you really need to ask is, will my credits transfer.
Other sources of information about On-Line schools (Score:2)
The following usenet groups are a good source of information about
various on-line or distance leanring programs:
alt.distance.learning
alt.education.learning
Also, both the state of New York (http://sln.suny.edu/SLN), and
the state of Florida (http://www.fsu.edu) are offering on-line
degrees for most of their traditional programs.
Good luck!
The Wrong Question (Score:2)
One of those foundations is the human network you hook into - or at least observe - while you're involved in higher education. If you attend an online simulacrum, how will you get exposure to that broadening diversity of opinion, of experience, of variations in culture that you get from the campus environment?
Online university has its place for those whose lives are so full already (with a full-blown family and a full-time job, for instance) that they really have no chance of fully participating in the university environment, but still need the guidance or kick-in-the-rear motivation that attending a class provides.