Education Online ~ Good?

I have written about education before, and if you have read my posts about it, you know that I think our system is in dire need of a complete overhaul. This has made me think about an emerging form of education, "Online Education". I can't really call it new, because it has been with us since the beginning of the Internet, but in the past few years it has begun to really take hold. Some nice people from "Nicepro.net" have been reading my Blog, and as a result, I have been reading theirs. They have a lot of good information about this subject, and I urge any of you who are interested to drop by their blog and give it a look. In general, I like the idea. Any means to obtain an education is worth investigating, and I am a strong advocate of implementing technology for the purpose of education.

The most obvious advantage it that it can be done from home. When you live in rural America, that is a very big plus! Since I am not knowledgeable about this subject, there are things I really don't know, but maybe some of you can comment and give me more information. As with all things, there is always the other side of the coin, and there are some things that I am a bit leery about. The most questionable aspect of online education for me is the quality of education. This concerns me for the following reasons.

Looking at a quickly generated list of some online schools, I really didn't recognize most of them. I think it fair to say that if you attend a major State or private college or university, the vast majority of the teachers you will get are very good and  well respected in their field. I am not so sure that this is the case in online schools. Accreditation is another area that I question. If you begin your higher education at, say Penn State, and you decide Winter is not such a good thing, you can transfer to UCLA or Florida State, and your class credits are generally accepted by the new school. Is the same true if you begin your education at an online college, and decide to complete your education at a traditional school? My guess is that this is not always true. In fact, from information I have received from a few friends, I know that this is not always true. But, it is something for you to research if you are considering online education. Just think before you jump, as my Grandmother would tell me. Lastly, there is the Internet itself.

I happen to live in an area where my choices for Internet service are dial-up, or satellite. I can't imagine trying to use dial-up for online education, but satellite is not all it is cracked up to be. Unlike conventional DSL Internet service, I have to pay for the volume I use each month. And the cost is 3 times that of a land line. Added to this is the effect of weather. I live in an area where there are frequent thunder storms. Storm starts, Internet stops. Sometimes I lose the Internet for an hour, other times I lose it for a couple of days. Unfortunately, when this happens, I usually lose my TV, because it is also satellite service, and too often my electricity. Nothing left to do but to light the oil lamps, grab a beer while it is still cold, and read a good book. For an Old Hippie, this is not so bad, but for a student trying to get a paper completed and submitted on time, I see this as a bit of an inconvenience to say the least.

But, what I have said to this point are things that you can deal with if you take the time to research. Online education is here! It is very real, and it is a viable alternative to traditional schools. And it will only improve with time. Already, there are traditional schools that offer some courses online. And the possibilities are nothing less than amazing. Say your major is Asian Studies. You could take a course from a university in Beijing from a renowned professor and never have to leave your desk. You could study Japanese in the privacy of your home. You could take classes in Chinese history from a Chinese university, and social customs and politics from a Japanese university. The immediate future of online education will be one of rapid development, and the integration of traditional and online schools will provide vastly greater choices and opportunities for students.

But, today, right now, there are many great opportunities for students who want to get their education online. There are some fields that do not lend themselves to the current online technology. I wouldn't want to have a surgeon remove my appendix who has never done the operation on a real person. He may have done it a hundred times on a simulator, but, no, I don't think so. On the other hand,  I would hire an accountant who had an online degree. I'd take my children to a school where the teacher had an online degree, and I'd go to a tax specialist who had an online degree. Hundreds of degrees are perfect for online education using current technology. History, the arts, languages, social sciences, education and literature are but a few, and all perfect for online education, right now!

I have told you many times that I am an Old Hippie. I don't think that anything can take the place of a classroom experience, because it is an interactive environment, and in an interactive environment, people talk, ideas are expressed and exchanged, both inside of the classroom and within the social structure of a college environment, and that enhances the learning experience. But the fact is that not everybody has the ability to go to traditional schools. This is truly a tool that gives you a viable alternative.  It gives you the opportunity to expand your education, get a degree and become a professional in a field you have a passion for. It has it's limitations, and it is not perfect, but little in life is perfect. And for those of you who have a degree, this is a tailor made way to add to your education, be it an advanced degree or continuing education within your field.

In short, I advise you to look seriously at online education. Research the choices you have identified thoroughly. Make sure that you know as much as possible, but I would give the same advise to you if you were considering a traditional school. There is no substitute for education. The more you learn, the better your life will be. But, you don't have to take my word about this. Just look at the people around you who don't have an education, people who have jobs they hate, but can't afford to quit. Look at the people you know. You will see that those with an education are the ones headed toward the future, and those without are simply by the side of the roar watching the world go by.

But I am nothing more than an Old Hippie, and this is simply my opinion. What do I know? The world out there is waiting for you, the young people, not for relics from the past like myself. Have A Great Day,

The Old Hippie