online schools...anyone doing this?

I am thinking of "attending" and online school. I began thinkibng about this after I saw a commercial from Kaplan University, the commercial with uncle phil (Experiential Learning | Kaplan University). It looks interesting and seems intriguing.

I like Kaplan because they have the test prep service and seem genuine, plus its owned by the same company which owns the Washington post newspaper, so its not some fly by night outfit.
But I know Kaplan is not the only school offering online.

Anyone have any experience with an online school? If so please share

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Unamerican Idol

I don't understand why people pay thousands of dollars for these types of instructional courses.

I think that the best types of IT individuals are the ones that can learn on their own by research, experimentation, and trial & error.

Following a set classroom type plan would teach you most of the fundamentals I suppose, but the most important and useful knowledge is often gained by going on your own little tangents and experimenting.

VMWare is a great tool if you want to simulate a networked environment with multiple types of OS's and don't have a lot of different desktops available at home.

I would imagine that most HR people don't really know much about online universities and therefore don't take them too seriously.

msteinhilber

Unamerican Idol wrote: »

I don't understand why people pay thousands of dollars for these types of instructional courses.

I think that the best types of IT individuals are the ones that can learn on their own by research, experimentation, and trial & error.

Following a set classroom type plan would teach you most of the fundamentals I suppose, but the most important and useful knowledge is often gained by going on your own little tangents and experimenting.

VMWare is a great tool if you want to simulate a networked environment with multiple types of OS's and don't have a lot of different desktops available at home.

I would imagine that most HR people don't really know much about online universities and therefore don't take them too seriously.

Unfortunately many employers disagree with you here. It should be no surprise that a college education is a value to your career and generally speaking an individual with a degree and similar experience/certifications will have an edge. And given that there are a good amount of people out there with a degree, it's certainly a wise investment. That's precisely why people invest thousands of dollars in an education. I'm not saying being able to learn on your own isn't important as it obviously is, and many people have just done the self-study route and earned some certifications to help get ahead. Regarding HR, if an HR person doesn't take online degrees very seriously, then they have been living under a rock. There are MANY schools that were once strictly brick and mortar, and they are beginning to offer online courses and in many cases you can complete your program requirements entirely online. To imply it's a waste is just ridiculous.

That being said, I'll be glad to contribute useful information to the OP's thread.

I am nearly finished with my program with Herzing College, approximately 5 months away from a B.S. in Technology Management with a minor in Network Security. My program is a bit unique in that it was not 100% online delivered. Instead I took advantage of a "hybrid" program where most of my technology related courses I took half online and half on-campus. It was on-campus for one night a week for a 5 hour session, this was mostly going through labs and whatnot - the hands on. The online portion was turning in assignments, tests and so forth. Most of the non technical classes (business, general ed, etc) were delivered in a 100% online environment.

I think it is a great way to learn (online classes) for a person who works fulltime or if you are in a situation where a campus is not nearby and the travel would be a burden. The big thing with online classes instead of on-grounds classes is procrastination becomes incredibly easy to fall victim to. You need to be VERY disciplined to keep up with assignments, reading, discussion posts, and so forth. In some of my classes I thought the instructors were more picky given the online environment, and were very strict about making sure you are an active participant in both bringing new discussion to the class as well as contributing to existing discussion topics. There can be some more challenges if you get into team settings for class assignments, it seems to be a bit harder to coordinate with a group through the Internet. Perhaps this is because of others procrastination, I'm not sure - just has been my experience.

seuss_ssues

Unamerican Idol wrote: »

I don't understand why people pay thousands of dollars for these types of instructional courses.

I think that the best types of IT individuals are the ones that can learn on their own by research, experimentation, and trial & error.

Following a set classroom type plan would teach you most of the fundamentals I suppose, but the most important and useful knowledge is often gained by going on your own little tangents and experimenting.

VMWare is a great tool if you want to simulate a networked environment with multiple types of OS's and don't have a lot of different desktops available at home.

I would imagine that most HR people don't really know much about online universities and therefore don't take them too seriously.

Being able to teach yourself does not provide you with a degree.

msteinhilber

Unamerican Idol wrote: »

I don't understand why people pay thousands of dollars for these types of instructional courses.

Sorry, I just also noticed your other post on your resume critique, and I noticed that you hold a Bachelors degree. Out of curiosity, do you feel that college in general is a waste of money? Or is it just college courses that are delivered through an online program that you feel are a waste? Have you taken any online courses previously?

Unamerican Idol

I don't think that a college/university education is a waste of money/time. Going through a 4 year degree in say Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Mathematics, etc. with decent grades shows that a person can set semi-long terms goals & achieve them, is teachable, has reasonable time management skills, can work under pressure, etc.

I'm talking about traditional college/universities above. Eg. Waterloo, UBC, U of T (Canada) or Stanford, UCLA, etc. (USA).

My main concern was about these online universities that seem to be popping up everywhere. I'm just not sure how much credibility they have or how HR people view these types of institutions. Maybe they love them and see them as being equivalent to regular universities.

I have taken two distance ed courses as electives and they were okay. I don't have an issue with distance ed / online courses in general. It's just that I don't see too much value in a degree or diploma that was entirely obtained through online classes.

msteinhilber

Unamerican Idol wrote: »

My main concern was about these online universities that seem to be popping up everywhere. I'm just not sure how much credibility they have or how HR people view these types of institutions. Maybe they love them and see them as being equivalent to regular universities.

I have taken two distance ed courses as electives and they were okay. I don't have an issue with distance ed / online courses in general. It's just that I don't see too much value in a degree or diploma that was entirely obtained through online classes.

Certainly valid concerns. As the only degree I have completed yet is the Associates, I haven't had any issues but on the flip side my school isn't a strictly online campus so I don't foresee issues there now or once my Bachelors is finished.

Having gone through a number of online courses as well as on campus courses, I hold the same value in them regardless of delivery. For me it was in some cases more work for the online classes. I've had various classes where a speech was required for an online class, in these instances I was required to record a video of me delivering my speech in front of an audience ranging from 5 to 10 individuals depending on the requirements of the class. I can see where some online schools could structure the classes so it would be a bit easier, but I doubt this would be the case for any reputable facility since they would want satisfied customers and in order to have satisfied customers they cannot afford to tarnish the schools reputation.

My opinion with no factual data to back it up is that I feel most employers recognize the changing times. I think we are going to see even more growth with online educations, partly because of the trend towards more and more relying on the Internet and partly because of displaced workers returning to school to make themselves more marketable. I believe that most employers already place a good amount of value in a degree regardless of if it was obtained on campus or entirely online so long as the school is accredited. There of course will be possibilities where an individual might hold a lower value in an online degree such as yourself, and that is unfortunate. In many cases I seem to have a bit more admiration for people who obtain a degree online than many of those who do so in a classroom environment. I only say that because most of the target demographic for the online degree pursuant is a fulltime worker, possibly has a spouse and/or children. I've taken classes back when I was single and working parttime, and it really doesn't compare to the responsibilities of a fulltime worker, fulltime student, and fulltime parent/husband combined into one. I think the online programs will continue to be mainly taken advantage of by exactly those types of people, and I think many potential employers will recognize the effort and drive somebody must have to do so. By no means am I trying to discredit anybody who went with a traditional classroom regardless of family or work status, I'm just describing how I would potentially view the online degree in situation if I were responsible for hiring.

binari

Unamerican Idol wrote: »

I don't understand why people pay thousands of dollars for these types of instructional courses.

I think that the best types of IT individuals are the ones that can learn on their own by research, experimentation, and trial & error.

Following a set classroom type plan would teach you most of the fundamentals I suppose, but the most important and useful knowledge is often gained by going on your own little tangents and experimenting.

VMWare is a great tool if you want to simulate a networked environment with multiple types of OS's and don't have a lot of different desktops available at home.

I would imagine that most HR people don't really know much about online universities and therefore don't take them too seriously.

hmmm....I do not remember asking what YOU thought of online schools. It is very interesting that you responded in a negative fashion even though you had never gone to one yourself. Very ignorant, very ignorant indeed.

Just FYI, Kaplan, in addition to offering online courses, had many campuses around the country. As do many other schools that offer online courses.

I do not want to go to the local community college, and going to the local State university full time is out of the question. These schools are regionally accredited, which means their education is just as valid as any other college.

As far as "teaching myself", As you can see if you were look @ my name, just below it it states I have a couple certs. I also work in the IT industry. Some of the customers I interact with are very big in the IT world, names like SUN, Cisco, Google. I have spoke with some of the employees and you know what the difference is? A college degree....that and the fact they are getting paid about 40k more a year. The person with google said that they wont even look at a resume unless they have a college degree.

Different people grew up in different situations, Stop being so elitist.

mikej412

binari wrote: »

hmmm....I do not remember asking what YOU thought of online schools.

You posted your question in a PUBLIC Forum.