What is your take on online schools vs local schools?

itangel

Well for programming which school option are better and have the ability to move forward with higher degree. An online school vs local community school. People say that community college getting an AA in Computer Science is better than getting a BS in programming from an online institute. Plus having the ability to join a University to get a BS/Masters degree etc... What you guys think and have you guys been able to get a degree for a online school like wgu.edu and transfer to a regular university to obtain a masters. Have you learn a lot from such schools?

Any input is appreciated.

jdancer

Think of it this way, a lot of brick and mortar (aka ground) schools offer online equivalents of their ground classes. For example, this semester I'm taking a course in C#.NET programming (yea, I already know Java). The community college offered the course as either an online or ground class. I should have taken my class an online course but for some bone-headed reason, I took the ground version.

All I am saying is that make sure the institution you are attending is accredited. For example, I'm searching for a AACSB-accredited school which offers an online MBA with an Information Assurance (security) concentration.

Just remember that online courses take a lot of self-initiative which is not a problem for me, since I earned all my professional certificates via self-study.

Psoasman

I am enjoying the online experience at WGU immensely. I work at my own pace- fast and am able to get things done. No more sitting in class, listening to the instructor and their favorite student spend half the class talking about rooting their android phone.

I graduated with my AAS in networking and probably about 75% of the degree was full online for me. Many B&M schools offer online versions of their classes, which makes it convenient to scheduling.

Qord

I think that you get out what you put in. That being said, you could go to the best school in the universe and take nothing away from it if you don't put forth the effort needed. I think online and B&M are on equal ground, and it's become more of a preference issue now.

itangel

***Update***

I totally agree with you Qord and I seem to do really good online over campus type of classes. I just have a full time work in the IT field, family etc... so time is pretty stretch for and is why I am trying to get something that work well with me. I get some nice time at work which I can do some online school work while answer calls etc.

Novalith478

The quality of education you'll get depends on your personality, how self-motivated you are, etc.

In my opinion the biggest problem with online schools is credibility. Here in Canada, online schools are looked down upon as credit mills and last resorts for the stupid (to be blunt). I can see this, mainly because what you don't learn at an online school is the ability to work under pressure.

The biggest issue is reputation though.

itangel

Novalith478 wrote: »

The quality of education you'll get depends on your personality, how self-motivated you are, etc.

In my opinion the biggest problem with online schools is credibility. Here in Canada, online schools are looked down upon as credit mills and last resorts for the stupid (to be blunt). I can see this, mainly because what you don't learn at an online school is the ability to work under pressure.

The biggest issue is reputation though.

I what about an online school with Certs, and already working in the IT field for 4.5yrs will that not be good enough for a company to hire you like Google, Blizzard etc... ?

Novalith478

itangel wrote: »

I what about an online school with Certs, and already working in the IT field for 4.5yrs will that not be good enough for a company to hire you like Google, Blizzard etc... ?

Getting a job with Google or Blizzard is insanely hard. An online school for Google will probably not cut it.

itangel

Well I guess I am stuck with local college then longer time and more money to trow into my degree.

SteveLord

Strict indeed. They're in areas with huge pools of qualified candidates.

itangel

Thanks for your guys input I feel that online is still the best way to go due to my situation. I guess I will have to do that, get certs and build up my skills to separate myself from other applicants.

tpatt100

I am not a fan of WGU anymore but that is because of me not because of the school. I am almost done, would have been done earlier but that's just me (which is the problem). I will always recommend WGU unless I hear something changes but you really need to take an honest assessment of yourself and personality.

I miss a B&M school and the environment. It was easier when I didn't have a commute for work and the college was down the street from me but now a days its impossible to attend a traditional college.

WGU has helped me immensely with a few of the courses because they rolled right into my work. ON THE OTHER HAND, I am getting frustrated with some of the cert choices WGU chose for their Masters.

Several of the certs I do not want and have no desire to take which was causing me to have motivation issues. I am struggling knocking out the requirements but I would rather take two classes than take the CHFI, I find the material is out of date and I read it and go "wtf do I need this?", yes I know I should shut up and just suck it up but certs are different than boring classes because at least with boring classes I can b.s. my way through a report and test but certifications require more detailed studying rather than general concepts (not always).

The good outweight the bad with WGU and my other online experiences but in the end I wish I had the time to go to a traditional school because I suck with the "do it your way sort of " with WGU.

Nobylspoon

Psoasman wrote: »

I am enjoying the online experience at WGU immensely. I work at my own pace- fast and am able to get things done. No more sitting in class, listening to the instructor and their favorite student spend half the class talking about rooting their android phone.

I graduated with my AAS in networking and probably about 75% of the degree was full online for me. Many B&M schools offer online versions of their classes, which makes it convenient to scheduling.

I do miss spending most of the class taking to my professor about rooting android devices...

However, I found online classes to better suit my needs. When I was at a B&M school, I felt like my time was being wasted. Because of the nerd I am, I usually had already read multiple books on the subject before starting the class so nothing new was to be gained. I took a server class and the professor handed us the semester's labs on the first day. I ran them all in my virtual lab that weekend and turned them in the next class (ended up spending the rest of the semester as a TA...)

Because of this, WGU has been ideal for me. I don't feel like my time is being wasted and I am not being held back by the former auto mechanics that decided on a mid-life career change but can't grasp the material...

Online classes are not for everyone and sometimes it just depends on the material. I originally tried taking a programming class online (through the same B&M) and I did terrible. I dropped it and took it again on campus and breezed through it without issue.