Showing posts with label Online Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Online Education. Show all posts

New Groupon Offer IT University Online 2013

New Groupon Offer IT University Online 2013
New Groupon Offer IT University Online 2013 - IT University Online (ITU)
http://www.ituniversityonline.com is releasing a new Groupon offer for their Sage 50 Certification Bundle this upcoming Monday (May, 6, 2013). ITU targeted Sage training for their next Groupon offer due to the clear demand from accounting professionals for quality online education. Sage is one of the most utilized and important accounting
software packages in the industry so offering a Groupon in concert with the Sage software suite was a natural next step for ITU. Their Sage Certification Bundle http://www.ituniversityonline.com/courses-it-university-online/sage-50-training-courses-certification-it-university/ contains over 25 hours of online training in a modular fashion that allows for a strong student retention level.

IT University has previously released Groupon offers for their Cisco Certification Training Bundle, Microsoft Office Certification Career Advancement Bundle & Complete CompTIA Certification Bundle. The strong success of these offers has proven that industry professionals are looking for a quality training solution that doesn’t break the bank. As ITU’s Manager of Student Services, John Tesse, explained: "Too many industry professionals and aspiring industry professionals never get the training they need, simply because the cost is too high. In today’s economy, many people sit in the catch 22 of not being able to get the job because they don’t have the training and not being able to get the training because they don’t have the income from the job. I believe we’ve caused an end to that dilemma for many people by offering high quality training at a price that is affordable for almost every family.”

The accounting field is rebounding strongly from its downturn a few years ago and the market is now ripe with opportunity for those that possess the certifications necessary to qualify for the variety of accounting positions currently available. Recognizing this demand, IT University capitalizes on offering high quality instruction in an online delivery format that suits anyone’s busy schedule. This allows for a customized study experience and eliminates the “cookie cutter” training approach of many traditional classroom facilities. ITU also provides one-on-one support so students can work with a certified instructor when they need assistance. ITU consistently sets themselves apart from the others in their space by using visual and interactive training techniques to increase student’s retention level of their training material. Their courses include features such as: instructor led lectures, visual demonstrations, multi-media presentations, test simulations, one on one support and guaranteed certification. With their On Demand Training students can repeat topics as many times as they want before moving forward. This allows participants in their program to make sure they are thoroughly trained before moving forward in their course. Ultimately, this translates to over a 97% pass rate for IT University’s classes. ITU’s management team is thrilled to bring this new offer to market and continue to help professionals gain the training they need at the price they want.
 
Source : www.timesunion.com

How To Acquiring an Accredited Best Online Bachelor Degree

How To Acquiring an Accredited Best Online Bachelor DegreeHow To Acquiring an Accredited Best Online Bachelor Degree - An accredited on the web bachelor degree is now much a lot more available as a result of the very substantial improvements there have been with each the individual personal computer and communication technology.

If you make a decision to enrol in an on the internet university degree program, you can access all the course perform provided by your chosen university via Web, e-mail, discussion forums and so on. With the passage of time, the online university degree programs have gained immense popularity. There are numerous factors for the increasing popularity of the accredited on the internet bachelor degree applications. Lets take a closer look at the advantages of an online bachelor degree (see here)and the on the internet universities.
The most critical benefit of receiving your degree on the web is the flexibility supplied by the on-line universities. You can perform at your own pace in your courses. They do not demand any stringent commitment to particular occasions. Also, if you want to do the operate you can get your bachelor degree more rapidly than with a standard university. They can be completed in as little as 18 months but it does need at lot of difficult work.

An accredited bachelor degree is recognized all more than the planet regardless of whether it was earned on the internet or in a standard classroom setting. So you need not worry about the authenticity of the on the internet university degree applications. There is a wide variety of choices for on the web bachelor degree and on-line universities (see here). So make certain that you commit adequate time on investigation and enrol in a single of the greatest, most reputable universities.

An on the internet university degree system will also enable you to earn a living while you are studying. Because there are no time restrictions, you are totally free to do what you like and take your personal time to finish the courses. 1 of the best things about e-studying is that you never have to travel or relocate to study for your bachelor’s degree.

You will not discover much difference amongst an on the internet bachelor degree and a regular campus bachelor degree so it is perfect for students who are functioning or have family members commitments. Normal attendance at a campus does not play a function in an on the web degree program.

There is absolutely no reason for not choosing an on the internet system. The certificate that you will get at the finish of the course from the on-line university will not specify regardless of whether you earned an on the internet bachelor degree or a traditional degree. So think before you actually dismiss the concept of earning an accredited on the web bachelors degree (see here).

Bear in mind, you have absolutely nothing drop and everything to acquire!

Telling The certainty of Universal Online Education 2013

Telling The certainty of Universal Online Education 2013 - Students today are trapped in a strange dilemma precipitated by disturbing trends. One hand we have the devaluation of the college degree as more and more employers are demanding college degrees for jobs that essentially call for high schools ( see degrees for jobs ) and on the other we have colleges rising exponentially and leading to a second debt crisis. ( See this post ) This may be a new phenomenon affecting the United States but has been a well known problem in the dismal economic scenario in poorer parts of the world. In other country they have had the tragedy of graduate and even post graduate students fighting over janitorial opportunities in the arid job market while thousands of students never have the wherewithal to continue their studies beyond high school ( Class XII) or even middle school (Class X) In the gloom that is gathering over the global economy it is the student and the education system that is finding itself trapped in a cul-de-sac that seems to be leading nowhere in general and despair in particular !

Telling The certainty of Universal Online Education 2013
Yet, it is only education and learning that could provide a safe, guaranteed, environment-friendly and sustainable way for the world to dig itself out of the hole that it has found itself in. But to use it effectively we must be open to throwing away many of the myths and misconceptions that cloud our judgment and inhibit us from crafting a bold new architecture on which the world of the future can or should be based. An architecture that is based on distance learning and online education.

The biggest myth about online education is that it can never be as effective as face to face classroom training. This has been repeated ad nauseum and has acquired a ring of Gobbelsian authenticity. The fact is that very often face to face classroom education, when delivered by incompetent and under prepared faculty, is no better than no education at all even though students are presented with a degree or diploma for simply sitting through the course and writing an exam. On the other hand, self motivated acquisition of knowledge from websites and Youtube videos have equipped many people with the skills that are necessary in their daily work -- even though there is no universally accepted certification in the end. The bottom line is that it is futile to compare online and class room education. Instead the comparison should be between effective and ineffective pedagogy, between good and bad teachers -- irrespective of the medium or the technology used to transfer data, information, knowledge and wisdom from the teacher to the taught.

The Massively Open Online Courseware ( MOOC ) movement is a step in this direction. In fact big name universities on either side of the Atlantic have come together to create two major consortia -- Edx created by MIT, Harvard and UC Berkeley in the US and FutureLearn consisting of 12 British Universities namely  Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Anglia, Exeter, King’s College London, Lancaster, Leeds,  Southampton, St Andrews and Warwick, along with UK distance-learning organization The Open University (OU)  -- have been formed to develop the concept. And then of course there isCoursera a commercial entity  and Udacity created by Google employees who have all stepped into the game. While the jury could be out on the effectiveness and eventual viability of these enterprises, it might make sense  to see what is it that a traditional university has that distance learning must meet, match and exceed to be taken seriously. To understand that let us ask ..

What is a University ? At its most fundamental level a university has three critical characteristics, namely
    People : Lots of people, both students and teachers
    Space : A shared space that all these people can access simultaneously
    Interaction : An environment that encourages vigorous and rich interaction amongst all these people


Now let us look around us and see if these three conditions are being met anywhere in the digital world and the first place that we look at is
Social Media : Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, Google+, Instagram ... what is common to all these platforms ?
People : Again we have lots of people, though not necessarily teachers and students, though they are not excluded.
Space : Obviously these platforms are accessible to, and are indeed accessed by, all the people who participate
Interaction : There is no dearth of interaction and in fact interactions are the lifeblood of any social media platform.


What is even nicer is that these interactions can be very, very "rich" interactions, not just in terms of media -- that is images, audio, video -- but in terms of questions, answers, clarifications, comments, appreciation, criticism and even evaluation in terms of likes, shares and votes on each and every interaction. In fact I believe that social media interaction is far more richer in terms of diversity and depth than what could ever be possible in the physical world.

So the success of a distance learning program in emulating and surpassing a traditional university lies in its ability to map the university model on the social media model that has become so wildly popular.

In this context, it would be nice to keep in mind that when Apple had first introduced the Newton, a personal digital assistant, way back in the dim, dark “middle ages”, it was not accepted. But the iPad, which is essentially a similar device, was an instant success because ubiquity of the web and proliferation of the cellphone network through which the web could be accessed inexpensively created an environment where the iPad (and other tablet computers) could thrive.

Similarly, distance learning and the concept of open universities as established by institutions offering correspondence courses may not have been very popular but the same when delivered through the medium of a “Web 2.0” or social media platform could be far more effective and popular and pose a credible alternative to the established brick-and-mortar classroom that have become so impossible expensive and unaffordable for large parts of the global population.

One key area that distance learning falters on and yet, one that is of crucial importance to students is a credible evaluation mechanism that employers can depend upon and on the basis of which they can offer job placements. In fact, the popularity of most universities rest, not on what they teach or how, but how many of the graduating batch is placed and at what salaries. In fact, irreverent commentators have compared universities (see here) to job placement agencies but from the student’s perspectives that is great significance.

So the real challenge in distance learning is to put together a periodic examination process that attaches a credible grade or marks to each student that the employer can use to sort and sift the good, the bad and the ugly ! This can easily be arranged if we adopt a hybrid model where teaching is online but evaluation done in a  physical classroom under the supervision of strict invigilators in a number of distributed locations that need not be anywhere near the teacher who taught the course. This is hardly a big challenge since we are quite used to conducting examinations like the GRE, GMAT, CBSE, JEE on a nationwide or even global basis through certified and credible franchisees.

The last thing that we need is a placement service that will allow employers to reach out to qualified students and evaluate them in an objective manner. Job portals like Monster and Naukri can be plugged in with the online university and interviews can be conducted on Skype or Google Hangout to any level of detail.

All the pieces are in place. We just need someone to tie all this together and create a solution to problem of delivering credible college degrees to motivated individuals in an inexpensive manner.

Quality Of The Best Online Education Institutions 2013

Quality Of The Best Online Education Institutions 2013 - Thanks to the development in Internet technology and increasing use of Internet by the users worldwide that has led to explosion of online colleges/online universities that award online degrees in different streams such as associate's, bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. The goal of providing education by one of the accredited online schools or online colleges/universities is to ensure that programs provided by these institutions of higher education to all potential students are quality and meet the exact demand of student's character's and personality development. However, considering the abundance of online schools/colleges, students should avoid the fake ones and make sure that the online education institutes are accredited and recognized by a state government.
The importance of getting online master degree or online bachelors' degree from an accredited online school is that students of different kinds can get the utmost benefits out of it. It ensures accredited higher learning for students, who are physically challenged, soldiers and those students living abroad and busy working class people just to mention a few. There is basically a slight difference between physically attending a lecture class by sitting an auditorium and watching a webcast video of your professor online. The first option requires you to be physically present there while the second option lets you enjoy the lecture of your professor from the comfort zone of your home.

More so, there is a difference between accreditation of the quality of the online degrees and on-campus degrees. Most of the top-notch online colleges or schools are regionally accredited. However, a variation in public perception about these accredited online colleges is a common occurrence.

Considering the importance of getting online masters degree from an accredited university seems much more cost-effective way of realizing your dream of higher education. Since, offline education institutes are not suitable for physically disabled or busy working class people or those staying in foreign land, the online college or university is really a one-stop destination for them to achieve higher accredited education. There are considerably a large number of online universities or colleges in the world offering their quality education to all those students/business executives/employees who seek a comfortable way of getting higher education without any hassle of attending class. From getting quality online degrees to enjoying comforts at home, online colleges or schools or universities are ideal choice in this regard.

While you are thinking about pursuing higher education through online colleges, you should consider some vital points beforehand in this regard. Considering abundance of online colleges/universities, it is important to make sure whether the college you chose to study is accredited. This will ensure that the online degree you have earned is a genuine academic record of your study in the college. More so, you should get all essential information about the online college from students or online reviews to finally deduce the reputation of the college. The Internet is fraught with such resources that will guide you which online degree or school will be an ideal choice for your academic purpose.

Be Careful Online Fake College Degree And Diplomas

Be Careful Online Fake College Degree And Diplomas
Be careful Online Fake College Degree And Diplomas - In order to earn a legitimate degree, a student must successfully complete an accredited online college degree program or traditional college campus course. In the past, going back and forth to campus or living on campus was the way people went to college. In today’s world, online study is becoming the more preferable way to earn a degree. There is a long list of reasons why people make this choice instead of getting fake university degrees.

An accredited online school offers much more convenience because students can earn a degree from home. Because all courses are taken via the Internet, it is even possible to turn in assignments from the office or even while traveling. This feature is not only convenient, but it also saves some of time, money and gasoline that are used when attending school on campus. In addition, students can schedule their online education around the rest of their lives. They can continue to work and earn a living while they complete their degree.
Just like with a brick and mortar school, accredited online schools accept financial assistance from qualified students. This is a relief to students who need help paying for their education. If you are interested in studying online, you can also look for a school that provides counseling and job placement after graduation. Choosing this as an alternative to get fake diploma online programs also lets students work at their own pace. For many motivated students, this means taking accelerated courses so they can earn their degree in a shorter period of time, which provides an even grater advantage.

There are no limits to the field of study for students enrolled in online degree programs. Among the many careers that individuals can choose from include, law, IT, the travel industry, education and business. Depending on the chosen career, the student can complete a quality online bachelor degree, or any other undergraduate or graduate degree. It is this variety that keeps online schools filled every year. If you are interested in attending school online, do some research on a number of schools before making a school choice. The good news is that you need not be concerned about where the school is located because you will be studying online. Every school will have different tuition costs, offer various programs and have other unique features that can influence your decision. Make sure the school you choose offers the option of financial aid in the event the need arises.

On the other hand, a lot of people today would rather order fake certificate documents rather than attend school. The reasons for their preference in obtaining online fake college degrees vary depending on the person and the circumstances. Some people simply find it more convenient to do so, while others do not want to invest the time or money going to online classes. Each individual should weigh their options and decide whether an online degree or fake diplomas will provide them with an improved quality of life in the long run.

Will Online Education Make Us Smarter?

Will Online Education Make Us Smarter?Will Online Education Make Us Smarter? - Predictions are 1/2 of higher Ed will be online in the next 10 years. K-12 will follow by 2019.  How do we assess quality with all of the online education providers that are out there? Small start ups and giant MOOCS. Think a lot about how to get personalized support to individuals. Think about scaling content while not losing the focus on the individual.

Adult learning space, higher Ed, and K-12 all have different needs so they create different markets. All of the panelists are from companies that connect teachers directly to students. InstaEdu - even split between high school and college with about 10% adult learners. Students come at first for immediate need and then wind up staying because they build a relationship with the tutor. Teachers are students at high end universities.
Course Hero - 80% higher Ed students. Building learning content that students can access on their own. Building quality content from students and teachers takers time. Requires feedback from students.

Udemy - 80% male because focuses on tech space. Adult learners adding to skill sets or learning about hobbies. Students like the on demand aspects of the learning. Teachers are industry experts, half of whom have some sort of previous education experience. Motivated by reach they have and ability to share their passion. A few instructors have earned $100,000.

Important to get feedback from students through surveys to assess quality of teaching and content. Make sure reviews are available to future students. Can base revenue sharing on popularity/effectiveness of teacher.

Also important to support course developers/teachers with instructional design training since many may not come from education backgrounds.

Certification: In some cases, must have gone to a particular school (top colleges) and have prior experience in tutoring. See very few problems after getting through the initial screening process for tutors.

How do you know it is working? Re-engagement is huge. If students are willing to pay more for more tutoring, that's a good sign. Comments and reviews from students are also important. Survey students to see if they feel they have improved in their understanding or have gotten other benefits such as job advancement or career change.

What is the motivation for online learners? Often it's increasing a grade or obtaining a certification.

What is on the horizon for building the online learning space? We are still in the early days - 1st or 2nd inning. To get more mainstream: build quality content in multiple languages, bring down costs, provide more certificates/certifications. Mobile devices will help integrate online learning into people's busy lives. Need to watch for over-regulation and under-regulation.


Q From audience: How do you scale giving rich feedback to thousands of students with budget constraints for hiring staff?

A: Peer to peer tutors or peer grading can help. One to one teaching will never be free. It is a tough problem.

Q: Any unexpected gains from online tutoring?

A: Learning is on demand any time you need it. Can take courses in subjects not available locally. Badges make it fun for students to learn beyond basic requirements.

Q: How can online learning help students that traditional schooling fails?

A: More diverse set of teachers to choose from so more chance of connecting. Online learning in conjunction with in person can help support students. Finding niche content that engages students in ways that in-person only schools with more limited offerings can't. Offer practical, job-focused and passion focused content to students.

Q: Are any courses accepted by colleges?

A: Udemy has a few professors who use their online courses as part of blended learning. Not transferable to just any institution though. People are willing to pay for high quality content even without a degree plan.

Q: What about copyright?

A: Instructor is responsible for content copyright. If company receives a DMCA notice they remove the content. Course Hero runs a filter to detect content that might be a copyright violation and works with instructor to verify.

Q: How do you avoid mistakes in growing your company?

A: There will be mistakes. And it takes time to build success. You can't do everything overnight but you can do a lot over a longer period of time.

Q: How do you deal with communication problems from students?

A: Try having visual elements with text. And don't forget in person tutoring might be the best if there are communication/language barriers.

Online Education May Make Top Colleges More Elite

Online Education May Make Top Colleges More EliteOnline Education May Make Top Colleges More Elite - Online education may have arrived at the upper echelons of higher education, but it's not going to make elite colleges any cheaper to attend. Massive open online courses and other online tools, however, may change many aspects of top undergraduate campuses. That was the conclusion of a private summit, held here on Monday and sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, at which many of online education's heaviest hitters discussed the future of residential higher education, particularly at elite institutions, in a digital age.
After years of standing by while the online wave gathered momentum at lower-tier institutions, MIT and Harvard last year gave online education a $60-million bear hug by collaborating to found edX, a nonprofit MOOC provider that could also serve as a laboratory for studying the dynamics of virtual classrooms.
The universities made it clear then that they intended to use their MOOCs to improve, not supplant, traditional courses.

Monday's daylong conference, which was largely off the record except when permission was granted, featured many of the voices commonly associated with the current upheaval in higher education. They included Clayton M. Christensen, the Harvard Business School professor, who gave a crash course in his influential theory of "disruptive innovation"; and Salman Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, an online-lecture repository, who appeared, Oz-like, as a 12-foot-tall talking head projected on the wall above the stage.

Online tools that track how much students use certain course materials could give professors insight into how they should design their traditional courses, several panelists said. Professors might be surprised by what the data tell them. Eric Mazur, a professor of physics at Harvard, drew murmurs from the crowd—which mostly consisted of Harvard and MIT faculty members—when he showed research indicating that students at a lecture have brain activity roughly equivalent to when they watch television.

Eric S. Rabkin, a professor of English at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, suggested that professors could direct students to learn the most basic material in a course at their own pace, via online modules. Professors could then use the time saved, he said, on the parts of the course that require more thoughtful, individual attention, such as giving feedback on long essays. "Maybe we could have 100 people register for a seminar," Mr. Rabkin said. The students could work through the first 12 weeks independently and online, "and that teacher can finish the seminar five different times in the course of a 15-week semester, spending the last three weeks with each of those groups of 20."

Getting Their Money's Worth

Some attempts to use MOOCs to improve the experience of traditional students have not panned out. One panelist said early attempts at his university to foster interaction between learners in the traditional and MOOC versions of a course met with resistance from the tuition-paying students, who wanted a distinct experience for their money.

Those students may eventually come around, but the amount they are paying for a traditional college experience probably will not—at least not at top colleges. None of the institutions represented at the summit is likely to use any revenue or savings from the use of online tools to lower tuition, said one provost. No one at the session disagreed.

It's more likely that online tools will be used to increase value at the same price, said another provost. That means more seminars, more project-based courses, and more mentorship opportunities, he said. That is a privileged position. William G. Bowen, the former president of Princeton University who has studied the efficiency of online tools, reminded the audience that they occupied "really rarefied air" in deciding how they might want to use online education.

But professors who are serious about reaching the masses online, he said, will have to think about innovation and design with a broader, more diverse audience in mind. I would humbly suggest that the kinds of assessment and standards and all the rest that I'm sure are appropriate at MIT and Harvard and so forth," Mr. Bowen said, "have very little relevance for the large parts of American higher education, particularly in the state systems, that are under genuine siege."

Best Distance Learning Mathematics Degree 2013

Best Distance Learning Mathematics Degree 2013 - The following universities are offering distance learning programs in the field of Mathematics/Statistics:

The Open University (UK)

  • It offers a number of Maths degrees including the BA/BSc (Honours) Mathematics; BA/BSc (Honours) Mathematics and Statistics; BA/BSc (Honours) Computing and Mathematical Sciences; BA/BSc (Honours) Economics and Mathematical Sciences; etc.
  • It also offers the MSc in Mathematics for mathematicians, scientists and engineers. Options include calculus of variations, functional analysis, number theory, fractal geometry, and coding and approximation theory.
  • The University achieved the second largest climb in UK research rankings in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise.

Sheffield Hallam University

  • It offers the MSc/PgDip/PgCert in Applied Statistics for statisticians or those employed in related areas such as planning, operational research, business intelligence, marketing.
  • The course is delivered by distance learning, with tutorial support.
  • It is one of the UK's most progressive universities, ranked top among all new universities in the RAE 2001.

University of London

  • The BSc in Mathematics and Economics degree programme has been developed by academics at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
  • The programme is designed for those who want to pursue a career in economics and need a firm foundation in mathematics.

University of Southern Queensland (Australia)

  • It offers the Graduate Diploma of Mathematics by distance education.
  • This program gives graduates from a non-mathematical area the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills in areas of mathematics. Applicants whose degree or equivalent qualifications includes a major in mathematics or statistics will not normally be eligible for admission.

Texas A&M University (USA)

  • It offers the Masters of Mathematics with a Teaching or Computational Math Option.
  • The degree program is fully online. All courses will be taught over the Internet. M.S. students will be quired to complete a final examination after completing all program requirements.
  • The University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Some of The Most Common Myths of Online Education

Some of The Most Common Myths of EducationSome of The Most Common Myths of Education - Despite profound popularity, the concept of online education has not been able to gain complete acceptance. This is because of the myths regarding the concept education

Some of the most common myths of education are:

  • courses are identical: It is generally assumed that the content and the results of all online courses is the same but this is not true. While some courses deliver only the crest of a particular concept, others provide an in-depth knowledge about the course. Some recognized courses offer a lot of dynamism and versatility.
  • It doesn't require faculty: It is sometimes believed that online education will reduce the need for faculty and qualified instructors. But, this is not the truth. It has been observed that the greatest reason for a student's success is a motivating instructor. In an online class, the size of the class might be small or large, but there always faculty members to support all the students. Qualified faculty is also required for writing and creating new courses.
  • Online courses are less worthy: Many a times it is believed that courses don't hold the same worth in the eyes of the employers as a regular course. But this is not so. The correct blend of online and offline education and appropriate professional experience can do wonders to your career.
  • You have to be tech savvy: Many people think that an e-learning class requires one to be highly tech-savvy and requires you to possess high level of technical know-how. But in reality, online courses are designed in a very user friendly manner. They are especially designed to cater to the needs of the common man.
It takes lesser efforts: People believe that online learning takes less time and is an easy way to take a degree. If you are taking up an online course just because you want to take a short cut in your career, then online education isn't certainly the right option.

These are the most common myths that are associated with online learning. Students are sometimes skeptical about adopting online education because of these myths. There is a need to realize that online education is much more than what it is thought to be. It isn't a shortcut route but a catalytic factor which will help you to enhance your career.
One such measure to promote online mode of education has been taken by EduKart. EduKart provides certificate courses in Digital Marketing certified courses, Retail Management (certified by RAI), Financial Management (Wealth Management certified by AIWMI), Programming Language (certified by CSI), Project management and in Skill Development. It also provides some UGC-DEC-AICTE UG and PG degree courses like BBA, B.Sc.IT, MBA and M.Sc. IT.