EDUCATION GUIDE

Education guide – We agree, For better or for worse, the possession of a college degree has taken on immense importance in the job markets of today. Yet these can be seen as a detriment to some, such as eager entrepreneurs, and as a financial burden to far too many. College is expensive and time consuming at its best. So what about online university? Is this a sound option?

Unfortunately, many in some halls of academia would argue that, no, it would not be wise to matriculate online. They feel that an environment rich in peers and professorial overseers is the best way to learn enough to earn the degree. However, this opinion is rapidly changing, and the professors are actually beginning to embrace the possibilities inherent in the online environment.

Time will tell if the degrees earned electronically will gain the same clout and respect as the real world universities provide. Be that as it may, in the real world you are judged by entirely different set of standards than those in school. Most head hunters just want to see that you earned a degree, and are not so choosy at to what type it is, or from what institution it was taken.

In particular, some degrees are actually better suited to earn in an online environment. Anything having to do with electronic communications for instance, or distance learning, or even media at large will work very well through this medium. As has been said before, times they are a-changing. Business is at the forefront of these changes, and academia is never far behind.

You can rest assured that in time the differences between the so-called real schools and their internet counterpoints will become moot. To earn a degree from a quality, accredited school, regardless of where it is or is not located, requires the same amount of sweat equity. Quality employers recognize this obvious fact, too.

The fact is that in many ways the electronic degree requires a greater amount of self discipline to achieve. Working largely on your own, without a readily available support staff of peers, can be lonely and difficult. Those who can do so, and do so well, are marked as mavericks and doers, and not just mere students in a row.

Today, the true value in going through an online university is the fact that you bucked the trends and stepped into the bold new future in your educational quest. This shows a personality type that has tremendous value in the marketplaces of tomorrow, as well as those of today.

Popularity: 16% [?]

With the rise in demand for online bachelor degrees, many bogus learning institutions have mushroomed over the internet with the sole intention of taking advantage of innocent students seeking for a genuine degree. These so-called “Colleges” often attract applicants with their attractive degree programs which are boasts of easy graduation, low tuition fees, no examinations and credit given for life experience, all of which just sound too good to be true. Some of them even go to the extent of prospecting for customers by sending out bulk email citing university degrees for sale.

So, how do prospective students determine whether an online college is accredited or only offering bogus online Bachelor degrees? Especially for International students, it can be very difficult to determine a school’s validity. In most cases it is impossible for distance learners to visit the campus, so the website is the only point of contact before making the choice and enrolling, which makes it hard to determine credibility.

One of the best ways to determine credibility is to pay close attention to how the credentials are stated. For example, if an educational institution claims to have nationwide or worldwide accreditation, without revealing which government agency provided the accreditation, it’s possible the college or university probably does not possess the necessary seal of approval to provide legitimate online Bachelor degrees.

In the U.S., college accreditation is awarded by one of the following six accreditation agencies which are all appointed by the National Board of Education – New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), North Central Association of Schools and Colleges (NCA), Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges (MSA), Southern Association of Schools and Colleges (SACS), Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges (NWCCU). Each agency has been allocated responsibility for providing accreditation for schools in specific states. Therefore, it would be best to run checks on a particular online degree institution with the agency offering college accreditation for the state in which the college is registered in.

If a university sends out mass e-mailings offering on online Bachelor degrees, Master’s Degree, and even Doctorate degrees for a fixed rate, it is a sure sign the result will be a bogus degree. Course credits for such a degree may include such strange elements as: credit for life experiences, work experience, previous educational background, workshops, community services, travel, and books read in the past. To further confuse the issue, fake accrediting URLS are set up to prove accreditation, but unless it is from one of the 6 agencies endorsed by the Department of Education, the award is most likely phony. The unscrupulous institutions depend on the desperation of people who do not have the time, or the money, to earn a valid degree. Nevertheless, without that all-important diploma, good jobs are impossible to find.

In short, because of the influx of fake degrees, it leaves the employers worried about the legitimacy of online Bachelor Degrees. Thus to avert these fears and ensure you get a job with an online degree, it is imperative to carefully select a college that possesses all the support and resources to provide quality education approved by the U.S. Department of Education, and granted accreditation through one of the 6 designated agencies with the authority to award proper accreditation to legit institutions.

Popularity: 28% [?]

Reference education – Nowadays, many parents are enticed to home school their children. There are just too many benefits to ignore it. In fact, recent reports show that more than 1.2 million students in the United States are already obtaining their education through some type of home school study. This shift can be seen as a reaction to the current state of affairs in our public and private schools.

Either way, more parents have decided that homeschooling is the best option for their children and we should continue to see more and more people realizing the benefits of homeschooling their children.

However, there are many details that need to be worked out before you begin a homeschooling program:

1. Which parent is best suited to perform as a teacher?
2.How do you develop an approved curriculum?
3.Is the child in question ready to be homeschooled?
4.Where do you turn for help?
5.And finally, when is the best time to begin homeschooling?

Many parents are wonder if there is a specific age or time to home school their children. They want to be sure that by the time they have decided to home school their children, they have made the right decision and that it will definitely be for their children’s own good.

However, most experts will agree, deciding when to home school comes down to two key points; do you as the parent think the child in question will benefit more from a home school program or one of the more traditional in class setting?

And secondly, are you the parent and now the teacher, better suited to teach your child that someone that has been professionally trained?

So, in reality there is no appropriate time to start home schooling. The key point here is that as long as you think there is a benefit to home schooling your children and as long as you feel that your family is prepared for the task, and then you should consider a home school program. Because let’s face it, no one is going to look after your children better than you are.

Now, the next most important step after you’ve decided to home school is to make sure that you’re fully prepared and equipped to complete the task.  You need to spend a fair amount of time, becoming aware of all the things you’re going to need to provide your child’s education.  And if you have a shadow of a doubt, you should continue to maintain their current learning process until you are fully prepared to take the next step.

Therefore, the question as to when to begin to home school your children isn’t really the question at all, it’s a matter of when you’re ready to start classes.  This decision is usually the result of some type of situation that happened in the existing school the children are enrolled in. But you should be sure not to make a snap decision to move to homeschooling until again, everyone is prepared and equipped for the lifestyle change

Homeschooling can be one of the most rewarding and satisfying roles a parent can take the development of their children, this can also be one of the worst decisions made if not executed correctly.  So while homeschooling may appeal to you, make sure you speak to other parents who’ve decided to home school, speak with other students that have been homeschooled, and take a good hard look at the student or students that will be homeschooled.   You won’t be able to make up for time lost.  So choose wisely.

Popularity: 10% [?]