Distance Education

[MissShona]

Originally Posted by Bette

I just started again with Nova and am taking 2 courses online. I find it challenging and I am working hard.

I hope my degree will be worth something b/c it is very expensive.

You didn't mention which program you are pursuing. You may want to look into University of Central Florida; they have a pretty extensive offering of courses online and as a FL resident, you only would pay $325 on average per course. If anything, you could transfer some of those credits to Nova...and save a pretty penny.

With that being said, Nova has prided itself on it's distance learning programs...and have established themselves reputation-wise in the world of distance learning to be "a good school".

[Rathagos]

I live in a city in west Texas. There is a university in our city, but they don't offer the courses I'm looking for for my degree. I'm retired military, and all my core classes have already been taken. The only way to get a degree the "traditional" way is to quit my job, move to another city/state and become a student there.

With distance learning, I can finish my degree, maintain my fulltime job, and stay in the city where I (and my kids) are happy. Win-win.

[jlmerritt36]

I myself am looking towards getting a bachlors' degree through Distance Learning. I have spent so much time in a Community College just to get my associates' that I want to work and get an education at the same time.

[asugraduate]

Originally Posted by K-Luv

I also believe that the experience of going to an actual school and interacting with flesh and blood human beings is something that is essential to the learning process. I dunno.....more and more people are spending their time in virtual social environments (ahem) instead of actually going out in the real world. It seems that on-line degrees are geared towards them.

Personally, I would not learn as much from an online course as I would from a class in person. I benefit from face to face discussions and more personal interaction. I am currently getting a graduate degree through a distance learning program, but the university offers all classes both online and in person. I have taken all "in-person" classes because online is just not a format for me.

[seattlenextyear]

Online learning is without a doubt biased towards visual learners, leaving auditory/tactile learners up a creek. I advocate a hybrid approach, especially for community colleges: most class sessions are online, but there's a weekly lab to get hands-on learning/group discussion/interaction time. That saves the students from having to commute 3 times a week, gives them more scheduling flexibility while still giving them interaction and lab experience.

[nitokenshi]

I would NOT want to do my degree online certain things require hands on experience and having a teacher + classmates around to help.

BUT for things like gen ed I take those online. Also if you already are well versed in the subject but you just need the piece of paper so you can get a job then online is good.

[bande1102]

I got my degree online. I chose a brick and mortar school that happened to offer a distance degree program. I had to meet admission requirements, etc. My coursework was exactly like those who physically attended the school. My courses were delivered online (for example, through discussion boards like blackboard), via videotaped lessons, and correspondence. Tests were administered by my local librarian who acted as my proctor. All in all it was a great experience for me. Employers have never looked down on my degree---probably because you can't tell it was distance by looking at my resume. But I have absolutely no problem explaining how it was a distance program. I worked my butt off for my degree and am proud of it. Incidentally, my degree is a bs in business admin with a major in accounting.

That being said, I do not think all distance ed programs are created equal. But then again, neither are all b & m colleges. A friend of mine is taking an economics class geared towards adults and it is an absolute joke.