We added Reviews to our site last month!!!! It has been great to hear from everyone. Our company has been involved with online schools for years, but never have we been understood so much about the student experience as we do now that we are able to hear from all of you.

So, what have we learned from all these reviews? A lot. We asked you to comment on your experience with learning technologies, professors, the other students, and the administration. The general response has resulted in two main reactions.

First, most students thoroughly enjoyed learning, using new technologies, and interacting with other students and professors. However, the second common response was that the administrators of online colleges and universities were sometimes hard to reach and communicate with.

Online student reviews often included references to flexibility, Kim from Niagara Falls, NY wrote, “They offer a wide variety of classes that can be completed around your schedule – however chaotic it may be.” Other students focused more on the positive atmosphere of online learning as Jenn from Taos, NM, did when she explained “I used the internet a lot, to write papers and do research, as well as to watch professor lectures on occasion, and email and instant messaging to chat with a professor and with classmates when there was a group assignment.” Though there have been few negative responses to the online learning coursework or interface, some reviews had unenthusiastic comments about the administration, one student complained that her career counselor wasn’t quick to help her with her course selection and another reviewer had trouble asking questions about their financial aid.

Considered more thoroughly both of these compliments and complaints re-affirm the one stipulation that most experienced online students, professors and schools continually preach, which is, in order to be a successful online student, you must be an independent learner. This sentiment was echoed by Zane in his review that stated “A certain type of learner will have success in an online environment. They need to be self-reliant, self-motivated and prepared to meet the inevitable frustration of technology mishaps.” If you are the type of student frequently seeking advice or consultation with an administrator online learning might not be the right choice.

The reviews have been great and we look forward to interacting with our users more and more. The more we can learn about your experiences in online learning and choosing an online school the more we can provide the resources that other prospective students need. Overall the experience has been a great one and we can’t wait to get more reviews and hear more about the online learning experience first hand.

Tags: Learning Technologies, Non-Traditional Students, Online Education by editor
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Online learning is growing rapidly in popularity, and while some may think that the field is firmly established, it actually is not quite yet. Today’s adopters of online learning are indeed early adopters, but online learning’s history goes back at least a decade.
The earliest adopters of online learning started to appear over a decade ago, and in most cases, they were not very successful due to slower Internet connections, lack of funding, and a generally pervasive belief that online learning and virtual environments “just wouldn’t work.” The brave pioneers of online learning include the University of Illinois, which began offering computerized calculus courses over the Internet in 1989 for high school students in rural Illinois. The University of Phoenix was the first private university to offer academic degrees completely online. The school grew slowly at first, and met with wide criticism from lots of skeptics – but today, it’s one of the most successful universities in the nation.
Flash forward to 2008, and online learning environments are rapidly gaining respect and popularity, and more and more students from all walks of life are choosing to go to school – or back to school – via virtual classrooms. Some sources report that, in 2008, 10% of college students will take at least one class completely online. Even so, there are many who resist the growth of online learning, and who continue to lament its “ineffectiveness” or the idea that online learning schools aren’t “real” schools, and that the degrees offered aren’t worth nearly as much as degrees offered at brick and mortar campuses.
These attitudes, however, are beginning to change rapidly. Studies show that many employers do, in fact, assign value to degrees earned online. As online learning becomes more “normal” and generally accepted, the criticisms will gradually go away, assuming online learning environments continue to be as effective as they have been. Of course, as with any new practice or technology, there are always speed bumps which some people take advantage of and use as an opportunity to criticize something new. Online learning programs are not all accredited, and some are better than others; but isn’t this also true of physical college campuses as well? Many online programs which are fully accredited are outstanding programs which easily offer students as good an education, if not better, than the one they could get at a physical campus. Add to the equation online learning’s attractive flexibility and environmental friendliness, and we have a new practice which will certainly to evolve and be successful for years to come.

Tags: Learning Technologies, Non-Traditional Students, Online Education by editor
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In early March of 2008, Goldman Sachs announced that, after a year of developing the program, the company was donating $100 million to provide at least 10,000 women with a business education as well as to develop and to improve business education programs at universities across the globe, especially in developing regions. The gift is one of the biggest corporate donations since 2000. Spread out over five years, the program will also aim to assist poor and disadvantaged women in the United States.
The gift made big news in March of 2008, and it raises some interesting questions about the motivations behind the donation, such as why Goldman Sachs chose to donate the money to support education as opposed to hunger or infrastructure. Goldman Sach’s position suggests that the company believes that education is critically important to both individual and global success. Mr. Blankfein of Goldman Sachs recognizes that the gift will likely raise objections, but he stands by the act of philanthropy because investing in educating women in developing countries will eventually positively impact those countries’ economies. Essentially, the money will improve the conditions in developing countries where Goldman’s money will be spent.
Goldman is joined in the venture by partners which include the Pan-African University in Lagos, Nigeria, to the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona. The fact that the project zeroes in on women is not surprising considering that score of nonprofits are working to provide women with financial educations and tools so that they may improve their own communities.
The Goldman Sach’s donation is not so much a gift, then, as it is an investment. The company expects that, in five or ten years, when a generation of women have benefitted from the donation, that their contributions to their own local economies will eventually come back to help the community as a whole.

Tags: Career Education, Non-Traditional Students by editor
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As education costs rise and the economy continues to flounder, student debt is one of the most pressing issues for today’s students. However, for students considering Nursing and Education degrees, special Loan Forgiveness programs can help to substantially reduce their school debt. Under certain circumstances, the federal government helps students out by cancelling all or part of an educational loan.

Different states and universities have their own loan forgiveness programs as well. For students training to be teachers, all or part of the educational loans can be forgiven if they agree to teach in low-income districts, or sometimes if they agree to teach high-need subjects such as Special Education, math and science.

The American Federation of Teachers maintains a frequently updated list of loan forgiveness programs for teachers which can be easily accessed online. Under the National Defense Education Act, students who agree to become full-time teachers in low-income districts can participate in a program which forgives 15% of the loan for the first and second year of teaching, 20% for the third year and fourth years and 30% for the fifth year. For students who want to train to be nurses, there is a Nursing Education Loan Repayment program which is a great option. This program is offered through the US Department of Health and Human Services, and it offers loan forgiveness for registered nurses who agree to practice for a set number of years in areas that lack adequate medical care, including remote and/or economically depressed regions.

Applications may be filled out online, and the loan repays up to 60% of the loan balance of registered nurses who agree to work at a critical shortage facility. In addition, nurses may be eligible to work a third year and qualify for an additional 25% of the loan balance paid. Information about all of these programs can be readily found online.

Tags: Financial Aid, Non-Traditional Students, Online Education by editor
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Self-help books were yesterday’s online courses, and they continue to be wildly popular. Self-help books have become so popular with many people they allowed readers to learn about topics that interested them, whether they be about personal growth, money and finance, or a myriad of other topics, on their own time.

Interestingly, these reasons are some of the very same students of online courses today use. Online courses are convenient, friendly to busy schedules, and they are offered on a very wide variety of topics. Does this mean that online courses will follow the same path as self-help books and become wildly popular as well over the next decade? The signs suggest that this may very well be the case. For while the cost of online courses is not always less than the same course taken in a brick and mortar classroom, the many conveniences they offer make the courses a great deal in more ways than one.

Just as a self-help book on choosing the right career is cheaper than going to a psychologist or career counselor, online courses can be cheaper in the long run because students do not have to pay for room and board, for gas and in some cases, even for books! Online learning is also similar to self-help books in the area of career advancement. Both methods allow learners to improve their knowledge and skills without physically stepping foot in an actual classroom, which can be a lot to ask after a long work day. Many online courses offer proficiency exams which allow students to demonstrate proficiency in a particular topic; it’s similar to showing a boss that you got straights A’s in a course.

Finally, the advent and incredible growth of the Internet over the last decade or so has undeniably led to a much greater thirst for knowledge for much of the population. The sheer fact that information – is so much easier to access now has resulted in many people becoming online research gurus who develop knowledge about a very wide variety of topics. Both self-help books and online learning provide ways for students to quench their thirst for knowledge, which for many people, seems to grow as more and more information becomes available.

Tags: Learning Technologies, Non-Traditional Students, Online Education by editor
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Oprah Winfrey is in charge of the world’s largest book club, and soon, she will break new ground and offer online classes for students wanting to investigate some of her favorite books and authors. Starting Monday, March 3, Oprah Winfrey will join Eckhart Tolle, author of New Earth, to teach a ten-week online course about the book and its themes. The classes are free and take place once a week on Monday nights. Each week, students will have a chance to interact with both Oprah and Eckhart Tolle online before and during the class. Each class will correspond to a chapter in the book, and class discussions will revolve around the chapters’ themes.

Eckhart Tolle published New Earth in 2005, and it’s since become a very popular title. The book encourages a collective sense of commitment to changing the way we live for people who want to make a difference. Eckhart Tolle, a spiritual teacher and mystic, recognizes that the times we live in require desperate change on many fronts, and his books answers the important question: what can one person do to bring about that change? Tolle’s book is written very clearly and is easy to understand, and his writing tries to help readers enter new levels of consciousness. He wants to awaken readers to their lives’ true purpose, and to help them achieve that purpose.

Throughout this particular online course, the students will discuss what they have gained from the book and what dysfunctional patterns they see within themselves, and how to turn those patterns around into fulfilling their life goals and purposes.

Tags: Non-Traditional Students, Online Education by editor
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The answer to this question is simple – definitely not! Many adults in their 30s, 40s and 50s are going back to school, and for lots of different reasons. Some schools report that their average online students are between 24 and 50, and working. Online learning has created a whole new subset of students who had wanted to go back to school, but couldn’t due to family and work restraints.

Online learning especially has opened up the doors for these students, who can now pursue degrees at their own pace and on their own time. These students, whether they take classes online or at physical campuses, are sometimes referred to as re-entry, non-traditional or adult students. Their ages generally range from 25 to 69 (though online students tend to be under 45), and while they are very often female, more and more men are also going back to school to improve upon their professional skills and to give themselves better chances for advancement.

Some of these students may have never gone to college, may have started college but had to stop due to personal, family or financial reasons, or they simply want to go back to add an additional degree or to completely change their career path. In fact, The Department of Education recently reported that 13 percent of students now enrolled in college were single parents, up from 7.6 percent in 1993. Which begs to ask the question – are these older students really as “non-traditional” as the name implies?

The U.S. Department of Education has put out many articles as of late reporting that adult students are the fastest growing educational demographic. As of 2007, over 20% of college students are over the age of 35. People are living longer, economic futures are more unstable than they have been in the past, and older adults are thinking about how they want to secure their futures, and many of them are choosing college. Whether it’s to start a new business, to finally fulfill a lifelong dream or to simply investigate an interest they never had an opportunity to explore, older large numbers of older students are heading back to school in droves.

Tags: Non-Traditional Students, Online Education by editor
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