Online Universities Weblog

Are you ready to move beyond an undergraduate degree? Does your schedule and study habits make a traditional program unappealing? If you said 'yes,' you're not alone.

Online graduate degrees are forever increasing in popularity, and the MBA is the hottest of the hot.

But is it worth it? This excellent article offers opinions on that very subject, along with advice on how to succeed in an online program.

The author feels that 'brand name,' traditional MBAs are a waste of money for the most part, and that students and professionals can receive the same benefits by pursuing an online degree.

Some helpful advice:

What do you hope to get out of the program? You wouldn't get a root canal just for the heck of it. Yet, many people sign up for MBA programs before they ask themselves some really hard questions about where their careers are headed. The clearer your focus, the higher the odds you'll end up where you want to be.

Do you have an outmoded view of online programs? Technology is changing everything at work. And to be effective today, increasingly you've got to communicate with co-workers you rarely see, work in virtual teams and conduct effective online research. Ironically these are all skills that you'll hone in an online MBA program. Many people still have a bias against online programs, but as time goes on they seem better suited to the actual skills we need to be effective at work today.

Thanks to author Bob Rosner for shedding light on this subject.

And if you'd like more help, try out the Idiot's
Guide to Getting Your MBA Online.

The Tribeca Film Festival 2006 calls for a short movie competition!
Record and show them your own story in 15 seconds and win honor and glory.

In order to make your submissions as successful as possible, we got Andrew, who normally posts at Digital Shotto post some helpful hints.

How to make a short movie:

First, take your favourite movie recording machine – this may be your compact digital camera, your camcorder, even your (latest and greatest) cellphone.

What to film it up to you – that's what this is all about. You've got 13 subjects to pick from.

Remember – you've only got 15 seconds, and you want to be sure to say what you want to say, as clearly as possible.

Besides being blessed with delightfully creative names, brothers Famous and Special Kirk have recently encountered another blessing: a chance to further their education online.

Among the huge devastation left in Hurricane Katrina's wake was the ruining of many schools and universities, including a massive flood at the Kirks' school, Dillard University.

With no chance to attend class, how would the brothers further their education and careers?

One answer: with a chance to attend College Online.

They took part in the experimental Sloan Semester, created just days after the school's devastation.

The Sloan Semester was designed to allow 1,000 students to continue their college education completely online.

"We saw the devastation and realized they would have to shut down the university, so we immediately thought, 'What can we do with online education?'" Oakley said. "What better way to help those students, to keep them going and to help them get their degrees?"

Instead, they were able to study at their own pace and hold jobs.

Again, another example of how important online education is becoming.

Congratulations to the Kirks, and to all the students and educators who make these innovations possible.

You can read the rest of this inspiring story here.

(Photo Source: Dillard University)

With no walls or limited views to hold you back, and a passionate vision and open mind to propel you forward, anything is possible.

Including making education a top priority–and opportunity–in the world.

In the first ever meeting of its kind, educational experts from the U.S. and China met at Troy University today for a forum on online education.

"The forum is an opportunity to explore partnerships, collaborate on joint research and acquire new ideas," said Aldridge. "Distance learning crosses international boundaries and we're exploring opportunities to better serve students locally as well as internationally through jointly conducted courses, faculty exchanges and joint research."

"Troy University was honored by the request to serve as the first American host of the Forum," Aldridge said. "Our American co-sponsor, boston university, brings a private university perspective to developing online courses and Troy brings a perspective as the second-largest state university providing distance education in the United States."

With presentations of academic papers, sharing of ideas, and planning for the future by some of academia's top minds, this forum shines a bright light on the future of online colleges and degrees.

(Photo Source: Yellow Pages)

Now here's a company who appreciates the value of an online education, and the difficulties of working from home.

Expert designer and clutter-killer Hannah Keeley, along with Lowes and HP, will provide one lucky distance learning student with a brand-new, luxury office to study from.

A home campus is a space in your current home where you will study and pursue your degree online. This is your opportunity to remodel or create a new home campus. Let Hannah Keeley, come to your home, meet with you, and decide how to design a space in your home that will meet all your needs for learning online.

The Grand Prize winner will receive:

-A design consultation in your home with Hannah Keeley.
-All materials for your new home campus, provided by Lowes®.
-Installation of your home campus.
-A new desktop PC from Hewlett-Packard®.
-First runner-up will receive a new HP® desktop PC.
-Second runner-up will receive a HP® PDA device.

Wow. Talk about making an online degree even more appealing. You can enter here.

Good luck!

We want to know how to improve your Online Universities Weblog experience! By filling out a simple survey, you can help us help you, and have a chance to win a terrific prize!

Please go here for complete details, and good luck!

Some students loathe the classroom and would conduct their entire college careers through their computers if possible. Others hate to even encounter a disk drive.

With the goals and personalities of students so different these days, just what is the best way to design courses to meet all needs?

Especially online courses, with a format still relatively new in the industry? Just what are the key differences in an online student?

A novel study is
seeking to answer these questions.

Instructors developing online courses are faced with the question of whether the students in these classes are fundamentally different from students in traditional courses. If there are differences between the types of students who enroll in online versus traditional classes, instructors would need to be mindful of the differences when designing various aspects of the course.

Apparently, the differences in online students versus traditional students widely vary, including everything from personality to motivation to demographics. One troubling result was a perceived lack of motivation in online students, evidenced by higher course dropout rates.

But is this fair to assign to the students themselves, or could it be a sign that online courses need to be better designed? Is it a sign that students need special instruction in how to succeed in online courses?

I choose to believe the latter: that changes are needed in the online classroom environment and instructor and student training. What do you think?

As we know, iPods are THE must-have academic accessory this year. Lectures, class updates, supplemental course materials…all are available for broadcast at your convenience. But is this a good idea?

Reports are finally trickling in, and some professors are giving the new technology a huge thumbs-up. Who knew an iPod would improve grades?

Physics professor Dan Fleisch is one of the pleased. Upon seeing the rise in grades and class interaction among his students, he could only find one thing to credit: the inclusion of podcasting.

"It is the only thing I've done differently," the professor of physics said.

Read more about iPod triumphs
here.

Perhaps this isn't surprising, as this technology allows a new way for professors to connect with their technology-savvy students. And of course, a podcast allows repetition of lectures and key concepts, unavailable in a traditional classroom setting.

So if you're a student angling for your parents to buy you an iPod, or a teacher trying to convince your department to fund them for your classes, the proof is coming in on your side.

Today is the day! We will start our April contest and survey in the category "Educate Me" with the prize being a gift certificate from Amazon over $50!

All you have to do is to invest about 3 minutes of your time and answer our 15-question survey. What do you like about the Online Universities Weblog?
Do we miss something? What can we improve here?

Your responses will help us a lot in building a better blog that caters exactly to your needs.

We will select the lucky winner from all survey takers in this category – good chances to snatch a gift certificate from Amazon!

To start the survey, just click here. We'll pick a random e-mail from all the responses we'll receive.

Some terms:
* Please only fill out the survey once
* Fill out the complete survey
* Don't forget to fill in your name and address at the end
* All countries are eligible, we also bear shipping but no customs
* The contest will run 'till the end of April

Thank you very much for helping us with this survey. We will keep our fingers crossed, that you are one of the happy winners!

Your Creative Weblogging Team