by Paul D. Rosevear
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1. How does the quality of online learning compare to a traditional college education?
A: According to the Sloan Consortium, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of online education, 40.7 percent of schools offering online courses agree that students are at least as satisfied with their online courses as their on-campus courses. Only 3.1 percent disagree.
"The important thing is that if you deliver education online in a high quality way and if you've made the high-quality investments that need to be made, you can get the equivalent, if not greater," says Brian Mueller, CEO of University of Phoenix Online. "We've developed a successful model for delivering education online, and an assessment process in place to gauge results. Students can definitely make gains equal to an on-campus situation, if not exceed them."
What's important, he explains, is that students need to have the same basic foundation they would have on campus. "Students need an extensive library available to them online. They need writing labs and math labs. They need to have the same learning support, or better than what they have in a brick-and-mortar situation." Faculty members are thoroughly trained on how to be effective online instructors. "Having a faculty member who is well-trained can make online learning as social as, if not more social than, a typical on-campus experience," affirms Mueller.
2. What kind of work ethic does an online degree require?
A: "Good online students are easily capable of taking responsibility for their own learning and are very proactive in their studies," says Stephen A. Gatlin, president and CEO of Gatlin Education Services, a provider of online workforce development courses to colleges and universities. "Successful online students research the answers to their questions rather than always relying on instructor support."
"Online students are expected to be responsible for their learning experience and to maintain active class participation without set times," he adds. "Being able to manage your time effectively and efficiently is a major part of being an online student."
3. Is it better to choose a distance learning program with an on-campus component?
A: "More and more, the lives of adult students demand convenience and mobility, so institutions are going with purely online delivery," say Robert Colley, associate dean at Syracuse University Continuing Education. "This requires much more planning and creative course design, since one has to create a virtual community of learning and a bond between students and teachers."
"It also depends on the level and nature of the educational experience," he continues. "Some advanced degrees with much discussion and collaboration benefit from short residencies. Corporations use this 'blended' approach increasingly for executive education, but again - more advanced [learning] techniques geared toward distance students are gradually making this obsolete."
4. Can I earn my degree completely online?
A: "You can complete your degree entirely online, and the people who truly have committed themselves to it have the possibility of getting an even better experience online than in the classroom," says Dr. Anthony Davidson, professor and assistant dean at New York University Online, which recently launched its first online bachelor's degree programs for adult students. "They take classes together and never meet each other, yet they behave like any other college students would, asking each other what courses they've signed up for next semester, etc." he explains.
"The technology is such that I can actually have great interaction with my students," adds Davidson. "There is a whiteboard available for me to communicate with them, they watch me lecture on live video, I can run PowerPoint presentations, share applications, and break the students into groups in separate chat rooms - everything I'd do in an on-campus classroom."
5. What is the difference between asynchronous and synchronous education?
A: "Not all online degrees are created equal," explains Dr. Ken Hartman, director of academic affairs at Drexel eLearning. "Some online courses are delivered asynchronously, meaning you can work on the course at any time and place, synchronously, meaning you have to be in front of your computer at a certain time and date, or both."
"Other online courses simply send you a CD-ROM containing all the lectures and notes, and some online courses require you to participate in daily online text discussions and periodic video chat sessions," he adds.
6. How can I be sure my online degree will be attractive to employers?
A: "In the same way that for-profit degree granting brick-and-mortar programs are beginning to gain traction, so, too, are online programs," says Peter Cervieri, senior vice president of marketing at ScribeStudio, a company that creates distance learning coursework. "Many online programs teach skills that employers have highlighted as areas of weakness in the U.S., and employers know it.
Yet a recent survey conducted by Eduventures, an information services company for the education market, showed that 36 percent of people who were skeptical about online education cited questionable employer acceptance as a point of concern.
"The reality we face in America is that employees are busy and companies are demanding that they acquire new skills at a much higher pace than in the past," he continues. "Online learning is viewed by employers as an acceptable way to achieve this goal - to learn a skill or get a degree outside of work hours."
7. How can I sort out quality programs from scams?
A: "Unfortunately, it's very easy to develop a slick Web site that can be deceptive about a program's quality," says Paula O'Callaghan, director of the Independent Study MBA Program at Syracuse University's Martin J. Whitman School of Management. O'Callaghan also wrote the forward to "The Idiot's Guide to Getting Your MBA Online" (Alpha Books, 2005).
"Look for accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)," she explains. "That is the toughest thing [for MBA course developers] to earn, so those schools certainly have quality programs. There are anywhere from 800-1000 business schools in the U.S. and about 300 have that accreditation. Of those, maybe 40 are offering an online MBA."
Believe it or not, just knowing a school should be accredited isn't enough. You need to find out who is conferring the accreditation, and if that particular accreditation is recognized. The recognizers? The Washington, D.C.-based Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), a private nonprofit national organization, and the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). They each review the quality and effectiveness of accrediting organizations, recognizing many of the same ones, but not all. USDE recognition is required for institutions that seek eligibility for federal student financial aid, and CHEA recognition confers academic legitimacy.
"Beyond accreditation, look for a curriculum that is the same as a school's brick-and-mortar program," says O'Callaghan. And here is an obvious one - is this a school people have heard of? "If you ask around, and no one has heard of it, that's not a good sign."
8. How important are my writing skills?
A: "Written communication skills are critical to college-level learning, both in the traditional classroom as well as in electronic learning environments," explains Pete Smith, director of distance education at the University of Texas (Arlington, TX). "But even if writing is not your strength at the start, one thing is certain - you will very quickly become a better writer in most distance education class settings. Why? The answer is logical - practice, practice, practice.
"Instead of relying on listening and speaking skills alone, as one might in an on-campus classroom, the distance education student works more intensively via e-mail and online discussion groups in the typical distance class," he explains. "So, too, will all of your fellow class members, as well as your teacher." What may have been spoken conversation, debate, or presentation in a traditional classroom will oftentimes take place in written form online. As a result, participants read and write intensively, which research tells us makes better readers and writers, adds Smith.
9. What are the differences between the various learning systems?
A: "I'd say it doesn't matter what system the institution is using," says Allan Gyorke, instructional technology manager for Penn State World Campus. "The three most prominent ones are Web CT, Blackboard, and Angel, and they are all slightly different, but it shouldn't impact where you choose to study."
"The platforms vary in terms of their implementation of the course tools," he continues. "So, for example, they all have quizzing capabilities. But Web CT has the most advanced quizzing features. However, it's also the most expensive platform, and a little more difficult to use," he explains. "Each system is going to have the same basic features - an internal e-mail system, Instant Messenger, movies, Flash, multimedia, ways of reporting grades and tracking student progress, and so on."
Make sure your school provides a good support system for whatever platform you're working in, he adds. "Who can you call if you've got a question or a problem? Make sure your support network is accessible."
10. How will my professors know I'm not cheating?
A: "Pepperdine University's program is built on social-constructivist theory and relies on group projects, journaling, and synchronous online participation to evaluate students rather than traditional tests," says Dr. Paul Sparks, director of the school's online master's program in educational technology.
"It's impossible to cheat in such an environment simply because teachers, and other students, can easily hear the 'voices' of their colleagues through the various interactions. You could say our solution to this online learning issue is treating learning as a community activity quite resistant to cheating and fraud."
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