Archive for September, 2011
Online Education – How You Can Benefit From Taking Online Courses
Posted by admin in Online Education on September 16, 2011
Education is without a doubt one of the most important things in life that everyone should have access to. Typically, the kind of job that a person has is determined by his or her educational attainment. The advent of the internet has provided us with so many great opportunities to advance our skills and knowledge, and this is through online education. Online degree programs offer so many great benefits to those people who want to pursue higher education, particularly those who have no time to go to school, like parents and working professionals. Here are some of the greatest benefits of taking online courses:
Students Can Take Accredited Degrees
Online education gives students the chance to have a diploma in various accredited courses. These accredited online degree programs are also recognized by employers just as much as they recognize graduates of on-campus courses. So it is not true that students who take online courses are less likely to be hired in the future. For instance, students who have a degree in environmental science at an online degree program accredited by the National Environmental Health Science & Protection Accreditation Council are hired as quickly as the students who earn their degree with an on-campus program.
Another interesting example is the case of students taking up a course in the field of engineering. If the course a student takes is offered at a distance learning program which is accredited by ABET, Inc., they will surely be interesting prospects for employers. There is not even a possibility that they will be less preferred than on-campus graduates just because they had online education.
Students Can Choose Their Own Schedule
Online degree programs are designed in such a way that students can get access to various archived lectures. What this means is that every single lecture for a particular course is already saved in an online lecture archive, so students can use them at any given time. This is one of the most significant advantages of online education as students have a chance to learn wherever and whenever they would like to.
Taking up online courses also allow students to work while they are enrolled so they can avoid accumulating lots of debt, which most on-campus students are suffering from. As you can imagine, students enrolled in an online degree program do not need as much amount of student loans as on-campus students. As a result, online students are more capable of paying their tuition fees upfront and avoid any debt.
Students Don’t Need to Travel to Their Campus
Students who are taking online education can just stay at home and have their classes there. This actually saves them not only the money, but also the time that it would take them if they were to go to campus. Another interesting fact about online degree programs is that students who are part of degree programs that require practicum or internships can easily meet those requirements in some of the facilities in their own locality. This also gives them a great chance to meet some potential employers who may hire them soon after graduation. Read the rest of this entry »
Distance Learning
Posted by admin in Distance Learning on September 16, 2011
Seems everyone is talking about distance learning these days. What is it? And is it right for you?
Distance learning has been around since long before the days of the Internet. It used to be called correspondence courses. People would sign up to take a course and communicate with their instructor through the mail. This model is still in place today but the mail has been changed to online platforms.
Distance learning is now a way to study a course or take an entire degree via computer. You never have to set foot in a classroom and you never meet your instructor face to face. Distance learning has changed the face of college for the better. You can now earn a first or advanced degree in your spare time while keeping your present job. It makes it easy for career people and students with family obligations to return to school without leaving the house.
Is distance learning for you? It depends. Are you the type of student who is comfortable working on your own with little direction? Are you able to research and dig for information when you don’t understand something? Do you learn best by reading, or do you need a teacher there in front of you? All these factors will affect your ability to succeed in an online learning environment.
All classes are not taught the same way. Some are at your own pace and you just check in via email to send your assignments to your professor. Some require you to be online at certain times and to respond to a certain number of your classmates’ posts on a message board. Some have timed tests that must be taken on the clock.
Keep in mind that not all online schools are accredited. So if you are going for a degree, check out the agency that licenses professionals in that field. They can help you get a better idea if a school you’re looking into is worth your time and money. You can also check with the web site itself. They will usually proudly spell out their affiliations and accredited status.
Online school is for you if you are independent and can learn by reading and brief contact with a professor through email. If you need to be a more hands on learner, you might want to check out a school nearer your home that you can actually physically attend. Read the rest of this entry »
The Many Rewards of Facilitating an Online Class
Posted by admin in Transformative Learning on September 16, 2011
As an online instructor, what would you list if you were asked to consider the benefits of being responsible for teaching a class? When you are facilitating an online class it may be easy to first recognize the challenges that are possible, which may include the time commitment required to manage the class and meet your required facilitation duties. Online teaching can also be very rewarding when you consider the transformative nature of classroom facilitation, your ability to influence the process of learning, and the opportunities for professional growth that it provides.
The Transformative Power of Teaching
You hold an ability to transform your students through a responsive approach to classroom facilitation, one that encourages and inspires students to reach for their full potential, especially when you can see students for who they can become, instead of reinforcing who they are now. Through your interactions with students you can instill confidence, teach discipline with a structured classroom, lead through your example, and develop working relationships as a teacher and a mentor. Students know that they will receive some form of feedback for their work and they look for your response and direction. You can create a supportive environment, one that helps students with their developmental needs, by providing them with specific resources. Students also have professional needs and through their participation in the class, along with your guidance, they can develop skill sets that will help prepare them for a career or career advancement. Watching students make progress throughout the class can be very rewarding as it is often a reflection of their response to your facilitation techniques.
Your Ability to Influence Learning
You can establish conditions in the classroom that create a learning environment. Through your classroom participation you can help bring the course materials to life, add your expertise to the discussions, and guide students through focused learning where they are developing critical thinking skills and creating new knowledge. What can make this process of learning rewarding is that you have an ability to acknowledge your students’ contributions, help them apply knowledge to the real world, and assist them as they work through ideas and interact with information provided throughout the course.
Opportunities for Professional Growth
As you facilitate online classes over time you begin to learn teaching methods that are effective and methods of building rapport with your students. The online classroom requires you to utilize words in a way that establishes a connection and a meaningful classroom presence. This can be rewarding when you reflect on previous classes and what has worked well, realizing that it is possible to create conditions that result in effective interactions, along with professional development of your students and your own facilitation practice. Professional growth may also result from learning through the experiences of your students and discovering ways of meeting their needs. Many schools also require instructors to seek out professional developmental opportunities such as continuing education courses and workshops, and they encourage instructors to be active in their field. Read the rest of this entry »
Doon Public School in Delhi
Posted by admin in Situated Learning on September 16, 2011
Imagine the refreshing environment of the green Dehradun valley descending into the Northern plains and you’re close to the get Doon Public school. An English medium school situated in Paschim Vihar, Doon Public school is a co-educational institute imparting education from nursery to the Senior Secondary level. For the past 30 years. The school is an imposing red brick structure and is well known for an infrastructure comprising of a Seminar Hall equipped with advanced presentation tools, for seminars and conferences, modern and sophisticated Labs for Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology and a digital laboratory for Mathematics.
The WI-FI Multi Media Computer Lab is often referred to as the ‘Knowledge Centre’ and consists of a CDROM Library with TFT Monitors and a Server and offers students with Internet Access, that provides Intranet connection to all the smart classrooms. In-fact, Doon Public School enjoys the unique distinction of being the First school in India to have Computer Aided Teaching and Learning through Smart Class using Plasma Screens with Smart Assessment System (SAS) in all the classes.
SAS is a unique tool which instantly allows teachers to assess and evaluate the learning achieved by students. The school also has a well stocked Digital Library with more than 15,000 books online, Music and Dance Rooms offering students with the choice of learning Instrumental or vocal Music, a vast playground for sports such as: Basket ball, Volley ball, Foot ball, Cricket, Badminton Taekwondo, Roller Skating, Athletics, and Play swings and a modern Gymnasium for all the indoor games like Table tennis, Chess Yoga, Aerobics and Martial Arts.
The school also offers out of station students with a Hostel facility for students of classes V to XII on a selective basis. There are two separate wings for boys and girls under the supervision of separate wardens for boys and girls. The teaching methodology at Doon Public School serves to promote an activity-based learning and to stress upon ‘learning by doing’ and the school is famous for its Abacus Education program that enables the students to achieve an extremely high standard of mental arithmetic. The School follows the CBSE pattern and offers Science with Computers, Commerce with Math’s and Humanities with Fashion Studies at the Sr. Secondary level.
Skilled and gifted children are identified and trained for better opportunities while children who need extra care are provided with remedial classes in consultation with the school counselor to help them perform better academically. The mission of the school is to help the students to understand and appreciate that one’s own good lies in the general good. This is expressed through cooperation, team spirit concern and genuine service and Doon Public School leaves no stone unturned towards meeting this goal. Read the rest of this entry »