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Thursday, December 17, 2009

Online Degrees Get No Respect

Saturday Night Live certainly doesn't think much of online degrees a subject that I was thinking was going away since I posted about it back in 2006 - Lower Value of Online Degree Programs?

8 comments:

Rina said...

Can't see the content, but in the world that is coming to stand still with economic upheavals. Have seen some courses on e-governance like ITIL and am convinced after that experience that if online degrees get no respect, it is no surprise.

Only Me said...

It doesn't surprise me of that, I actually took part in the online program at University of Colorado Denver and it was one of the most challenging programs I have ever experienced...

"Guppy" Honaker said...

Saturday Night Live isn't alone in this!
- David
Aloe Vera Juice 101

umbahli said...

I suppose it's a case of SNL letting a few bad apples spoil the bunch! If online degrees are worthless across the board, what about people who earned degrees through correspondence courses? I suppose those were first met with resistance too? Some students may go to great lengths either on campus or from a distance to try and get out of doing work--but they have to be in the minority--perhaps in a few years, this will seem like a ridiculous position to take?
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Herman said...

You are right Dena. Well-designed online programs have the potential to be more fruitful than traditional programs. Online programs provide the learner with the opportunity of immediately applying content in their workplaces and in their immediate world. This enhances retention. Small wonder that many corporations send graduates from traditional programs to their own in-house "universities" for refined training. Most graduates from traditional programs graduate having forgotten almost all they learned. Online graduates rarely have this problem since they are immediately applying content in their daily lives.

Ace Maxwell said...

I have not participated in online degree programs but I ultimately think that it takes away from traditional learning and diminishes human interaction. It is always better to learn in a classroom because you get the benefit of meeting new people and networking which cannot be done through a computer screen.

Rob said...

I started a masters program at SDSU on campus. I then moved across the country, but was able to complete the coursework online. It is just as rigorous. We met weekly via a synchronous chat client (Adobe), so there was "face to face" interaction. We used the same texts, and shared our experiences and projects with students on campus. There was also asynchronous discussions via a forum. It just depends on the school and professors.

online colleges and universities said...

You are right Rob, it is a matter of choosing the right school wisely and focus on courses where he/she is interested. That way, it will be easier and enjoyable for a person to attend the classes online or and excel in that course. Then it will be impossible not to gain respect if you are doing excellently with the kind of degree that you completed.