From the Savannah Morning News …
Deirdre Ward has nearly completed a master's degree but after teaching third-graders all day at Taylors Creek Elementary School in Hinesville, going to college to finish her studies wasn't always easy – until she found out about e-learning.
From the Star-Telegram.
In response to a shortage of nurse anesthetists, Texas Wesleyan University has expanded its long-distance learning program to allow students in Cincinnati to do classwork via an interactive video link.
This semester, five registered nurses from Cincinnati will do most of their classwork and nearly all of their clinical work at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Edgewood, Ky., about 15 miles south of Cincinnati.
From Wired, an article on how courses in Homeland Security are popping up across the country.
Courses on various aspects of homeland security are springing up at college campuses all around the United States, and some institutions have devoted entire departments to the study of homeland security. Students at institutions including the University of Richmond and Rice University can take classes with titles such as "Rhetorics of Terror/ism, Homeland (In)Security, and the State" and "Jihad and the End of the World." Meanwhile, Syracuse University has established a department called the Institute for National Security and
Counterterrorism, and Ohio State University now includes the International and Homeland Security program. Other colleges and universities have established certificate programs in homeland security. The federal government's Department of Homeland Security, which employs roughly 180,000 people and is the presumed destination for many students in these programs, funds both academic programs in homeland security as well as individual scholarships. Observers expect to see undergraduate and even graduate degree programs introduced in areas related to homeland security.
From the Sun Herald, a piece about how blogging may help teens improve their writing skills.
Students now come to college with years of online writing experience, putting them ahead of the game for research papers, says Blackmon, who studies computers and writing as well as minority rhetoric.
The best part is when they get on the computer to write to friends. They don't view it as work or learning, but see it as fun, she says.
By routinely using a blog, a kind of cyber hangout for journaling and information gathering, young writers master sourcing and critical thinking.
Via the Online Learning Update an article from the Lowell Sun.
Graduation is typically a time of lasts for college students who have reached the victorious end to four long years of study. But for a handful of UMass Online students, graduation last spring was a time of firsts the first time they set foot on campus, and the first time they saw each other. "It was just phenomenal," said Jacquie Moloney, UMass Lowell's dean of continuing studies and corporate education, and a part of the UMass Online team. "They were hugging each other, they were hugging their faculty. It showed how much of a community they do build online.
From Fast Company, a good piece about what you may find in business school, straight from the mouths of students who've gone through various programs.
Here's one …
Name: Michelle LeBlanc, 27, one of three executive officers in the student senate; MIT Sloan School of Management.
Job before B-school: International-business analyst at Textron Inc.
Summer internship: Marketing analyst at 3M Corp.
What I've learned
Keep your eye on the ball — or it will blow right past you. Many people go into business school not knowing exactly what they'll do when they finish. Nothing wrong with that: There's no better place to investigate various career possibilities. But you need to have a clear idea of what's important to you, or you'll end up following every other MBA into consulting or investment banking.
It can be difficult to stake out an independent career path in B-school — in part because the pressure from recruiters never lets up. Then, in November of your second year, consulting and investment-banking firms start waving fat salaries and signing bonuses at you. When 60% or more of your classmates are accepting offers from those firms, you'll be tempted to go that route too.
I seriously considered going into consulting, but I decided against it once I remembered what I care most about: I want to have some control over my work life. I want to work from a home base instead of constantly living out of a suitcase. And I want to be able to take charge of the projects that I work on.
We've been talking to Michele, a new student to the University of Phoenix lately, and here are a few questions I asked her about how her first two weeks of class have been going.
Q. So, you've been in the MBA program for two weeks now. What are your impressions about distance learning compared to any preconceived notions you
had before you started?
My impressions are very good. I like it because I don't have a lot of time to waste sitting in a class reading a boring lecture. You read the lectures yourself. I think you get so much more out of it, because it's hands on. I didn't have any preconceived ideas about it, I just dove right in. The majority of the people going to the classes on line are self motivated people who work, have families and don't have a lot of time, and they know this is important to their careers and are motivated.
Q. How do you interact with your classmates and your teachers? Do you feel a
personal peer to peer connection to them, or does the 'distance' create a barrier to this type of interaction?
It is structured so that you work with your classmates everyday, corresponding with them on what they have learned and this participation is graded so that you have to participate and make an effort, you can't just sit in a class and then go on your way. You Actually have to participate on absolutely everything that is being discussed in the lectures everyday. There is no time for slacking, this is a 6 week course. You can talk to your professor whenever you want, you don't have to make an appointment. It is so much more proficient a learning tool, for those ready to take the challenge. And, it's not easy by any means.
Q. How much time daily are you spending on the course? Is it difficult to find the time to work on the course? How does it fit into your other work as a graphic designer?
I can pretty much select a daily time, where I can, and make sure that I get
things done as soon as I possibly can, it's not easy and sometimes you just
want to have a day off, but, because you are communicating with all these people in the same boat from all over the US, it makes it fun, and you are
eager to see what others are doing and coming up with, so you make the time. I think it is difficult at times, but that is because of the nature of the graphic design business I am in, it's a 24/7 business and you have to be ready at the drop of a hat to get jobs out.
Q. What kinds of costs have you accumulted from the course? Books, programs,
course fees? Can you give an approximate number?
I think the costs are set up as minimally as possible. You pay for your books and class like any other institution and your one time application fee. But, I've found this process pretty streamlined. I think also, because the classes are convent and you can do them wherever you want, makes it a bit more expensive than the traditional schooling, but, you can get your degree completed just as fast, if not faster, and you don't have to spend all this time driving to and from class and being in a traditional classroom. I'm all for this type of education. I think it's going to be our future eventually.
From the American Forces Press Service.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 12, 2004 — Bringing the virtual classroom to soldiers throughout the Army, including those deployed, is another step closer to becoming a reality, an Army education official said here today.
After more than three years of testing, the Web-based eArmyU program is ready to move from the pilot phase, said Dian Stoskopf, director of the army continuing education system, in an interview with the Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service.
Stoskopf, who has worked in Army education for more than 30 years, said the program has been briefed to the Army's leadership numerous times in an effort to gain support to move forward.
From the BBC … quite a mess.
A new centralized computer system at Britain's Student Loans Company is being blamed for slow processing of loan applications that could leave thousands of students without loans at the beginning of the school year. With the new computer system, loan decisions are taking six to seven weeks, according to a spokesman for one local council, compared to about three weeks under the old system. Students who met a July 2 deadline for loan applications will reportedly be unaffected by the slowdown, but as many as 100,000 applications are expected still to come in. One education official said the problems resulted from "inadequate testing and rushed introduction of the new system." Officials are calling on the government to issue a statement to
reassure students that their loans will be processed and to make interim funds available to students caught without loans. An executive from the Student Loans Company acknowledged that there had been "teething problems" but said applications from affected students would only be a week or two late.
From the Daily Herald …
On average, Illinois students pay $780 per year for textbooks and supplies, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission found. Other schools, like Northern Illinois University, warn students they should expect to pay closer to $1,000 per year. And those prices are increasing every year.
It's a problem that isn't limited to Illinois.
This spring, a California study found students there spend an average of $898 per year on textbooks.
According to the Association of College Stores, the price publishers charge for textbooks increased 35 percent between 1998 and 2003 – about 17 percent higher than increases for other books during the same period. The markup by college bookstores has increased 5.9 percent per year over the same period, while markups for other books were about 3 percent per year.
