Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Advantages of Online Education

Online degrees have completely changed the possibilities for anyone wanting to study for a degree, as new technology has made these more accessible. The flexibility associated with online education has made it an extremely popular method of study for existing students, mid career professionals and many others who are looking to advance their career.

A key advantage of online education is that it provides the student with the option of studying at the same time as holding down a job, and in many cases removes the need for travel. You can also decide the amount of time you will devote to your studying at times that suit you because of the flexibility offered within the method of delivery.

As the concept of online education, which includes bachelor degrees, associate degrees, masters and doctorate degrees, was becoming more widely accepted, there was a significant amount of time and effort invested by the online degree providers to achieve accreditation of these courses. They wanted to ensure that the degrees that they offered would be treated equally with degrees where you attended classes in person.

Initially, many employers were wary of accepting that degrees achieved by students through online study would be as robust as a classroom degree. However, as online education became more established as a method of delivery, and it was also introduced by many of the older educational institutions as part of their course offerings, the view of employers has changed dramatically.

This has created a situation where enrollments for online degrees has increased significantly but before you enroll, you must check for sure that the program is recognized and accredited, to ensure that it will offer you the career opportunities that you are aiming for. You should also telephone potential employers that you want to work for to confirm that the online degree you are considering studying will be acceptable to them.

The online education programs are usually tested and approved by state or national review boards and there are plenty of subjects to choose from, such as business management, law and healthcare. Now that this education delivery method has become established, it is generally recognized that there is little difference between online lessons and traditional coursework.

It is also important to check that the online college offers downloadable lessons so that you can refer to them while doing your course work and these should be available at the time that suits your study schedule. If you think that at any time you may wish to transfer your mode of study to a classroom degree, you will need to be able to transfer credits to this, so you should also check that the credits you earn are transferable.

There is no doubt that online colleges are continuing to develop their courses to improve these and meet the needs of both students and employers. This offers further flexibility to students, as the online degrees that they are offering are now accepted almost everywhere.

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