By: Ross Bainbridge
According to a recent survey conducted by The Sloan Consortium, an online education group, at least 2.3 million people took some kind of online course in 2004. The survey also reports that two-thirds
According to a recent survey conducted by The Sloan Consortium, an online education group, at least 2.3 million people took some kind of online course in 2004. The survey also reports that two-thirds of the colleges offering on-campus courses also offer online courses. Some schools report that online learning courses, originally intended for distance education, are surprisingly popular with on-campus students. Students have also found to be ‘mixing and matching’ traditional and online courses. The reasons range from lifestyle to accommodating job schedules to getting enrolled for high demand courses.
The distinction between online and traditional classroom courses is also blurring rapidly. Most traditional classes now also use online components including message boards, chat rooms and electronic filing of papers. Lectures are available for download in the form of a video or a podcast.
Online learning courses are available at the undergraduate, masters and the doctorate levels. Some of the most popular online courses include Business and Management, Human Service, Health care, Communication, Information Technology, Public Health and Administration, Mathematics, Statistics, Psychology, Political Science, Economics, Social Service and women’s studies.
Students interested in online courses can take classes on the Internet, except practical work for courses such as health related programs and engineering, which requires to be done in a lab. Almost all general education and accounting courses, which can be transferred to meet a full year of basic requirements at the state's public universities, can be completed online.
Some of the popular institutions offering online courses include University of Phoenix, Capella University, DeVry University online, Walden University, Kaplan University, ECPI, Ashworth College, Berkeley College, Boston University Metropolitan College, Indiana Business College, Kennedy Western University, Cardean College and Penn State University.
Recent surveys that highlight the difference in income between college and high school graduates have resulted in an increasing number of people enrolling for college education and online courses have made it all the more easier for them to do so.
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