Education Direct - Experiences?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by stressica, Dec 9, 2003.

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  1. stressica

    stressica New Member

    Hi guys -

    This is my 1st time posting here.

    I have been considering doing Web Design & Desktop Publishing (diplomas) - as well as Accounting (Assoc.).

    My question - have any of you studied through Education Direct? What are your opinions?

    I'm mainly interested in doing these for general education - not for a "degree." I currently have a B.A - I just want to update my skills, etc.

    I don't wish to attend a community college simply 'cos classes do not meet with my work schedule.

    Plus, I am not interested in listening to instructors and students discuss topics, esp. "off-topics."

    I know I could benefit from listening to others in a classroom, but I just want basic education with a diploma or Assoc. offered upon completion.

    I'd like to hear your opinions, but please back up your comments with specific situations - not generalizations like, "Hey - E.D s***ks ..."

    Thanks!

    Stressica
    www.stressica.com
     
  2. NNAD

    NNAD New Member

    Ed Direct, (formerly ICS) follows a simple format. They offer workbooks with twenty question multiple choice tests for 95% of thier lessons. It is designed to be an effecient, cost effective organization. They author and publish there own workbooks and occasionally texts, so cost is kept down.
    Occasionally they require a short essay or project. I know thier ASB/AST degrees require periodic proctored final exams (after a block of lessons), but not too many.

    My wife used an ICS High school degree to upgrade her foreign (non English speaking) high school diploma, and that has made employment and college enrollment easier for her, with no TOEFFL required. She is now doing thier Teacher Aide program in an effort to upgrade from part time to full time work.

    IN terms of rigor or depth, you can do better utilizing your library. But the degrees are worthwhile for some, depending on your goals. I doubt they transfer to non-DETC schools. Thier sister organization, CCHS, may take them in transfer towards a BS.
     
  3. MissyH

    MissyH New Member

    Education Direct

    Well, well...I would love to give them a glowing report but considering I spent the morning on the phone with various members of their staff, trying very hard not to outright accuse them of fraud, my report will be rather less than I might have once hoped.

    I'll tell the stories you decide what you need and expect.

    First read the tuition contract carefully. Thankfully I did do that. Depending on your course of study there can be 1k or more in costs not covered by tuition. Proctor exams in my case 4@$20.00ea. re-enrollment fee each semester 3@$100.00 ea. 2 weeks of room and board and transportation for resident labs in PA. They will make sure you do not get your first set of "real lessons" until after they have your signed contract committing you payment of at least 10 % of the tuition even if
    you're unhappy with what you see. All of the costs I understood.
    I signed sent in my contract. My first lessons 80 pages, my 8yr old could have read and passed the 2 exams in 48hrs. or less. In all honesty he would have blown the math questions but since there were only 2 out of 40 questions he would still be an honors candidate. I took the tests(cannot bring myself to call them exams again)...6 days later I have no new shipments. PDFs for my next lessons are still not put up for my veiwing. I contacted student services. 24hrs. later they write back, they said," just as soon as your shipment goes out your PDFs will be available for your next lessons". The next day my student site showed my materials were shipped. Still no PDFs. I wrote another email
    another 24 hours and I get a response:"Your lessons should be available @ www.edudirect-usa.com". AS IF I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE SITE IS!!!!! OK...so by now I was furious! Last night I couldn't fall asleep for thinking of that condesending service rep. This morning I did my best to compose myself. Not wanting to blame some innocent for her attitude.

    After 2 phone calls with people who could not answer my question. I am told to call back in 20 min. and speak with the program director (The only person I spoke to who seems to have a clue about what they do it, turns out.) He informs, me much to my surprise, that my program is unfortunatlly not available online with the exception of a couple courses. Including the introductory "classes" I completed. Well, just imagine that! Scammed in to thinking all my distance classes would be presented that way.

    Now I am in the situation of paying them $300.00 for 2 30page workbooks if I drop now due to the time that has passed since I signed the contract. I am paying online education prices for a LaSalle style mail order program where there weeks sitting here waiting for my next set of lessons to arrive via snail mail. I am torn. I think I may be able to bully them into a full refund based on their claims on their site and student handbook that "PFD lessons are available" There is no disclaimer I can find that says"where available" or "for select courses". Still I really wanted to do this and at this level. I am enrolled in a program at MU next fall but have not been in school for years. I wanted to brush up and get in a study mode before it begins. I can't find any other online schools who offer anything like this civil engineering tech
    program.:confused:

    I got myself into this. Still I would welcome any advice. Thanks for
    being here.
     
  4. MGKRILL

    MGKRILL New Member

    Education Direct

    Unlike the previous poster I’ve had a positive experience with Education Direct. Yes at first the course martial is fairly easy. Which I believe is to get you accustom to distant learning! As your progress through the course the martial gradually gets harder. There main delivery method is through correspondence via workbooks with a 20-25 multiple-choice quiz which you can submit online or regular mail. Some of the course content you can access online through Adobe Acrobat PDFs . Unlike online schools/collages there is no class schedule. You do the course work on you own time and pace. Some of there Associate degree programs require a two-week resident laboratory training session at Pennsylvania State University previous work or collage experience can be substituted

    If you thoroughly read their contract i.e. print on the back it will explain to you all cost and requirements associated with program you wish to take. They are accredit through DETC (distant education training council) and licensed by Pennsylvania state board of private schools. The American Council on Education has evaluated some of their courses, which means you may be able transfer some of credit you earn.

    I’m currently enrolled and in third semester of ASB degree in Applied Computer Science program. I also have taken distant learning programs through Cleveland Institute of Electronics and the U.S. Army Correspondence School. Distant learning isn’t for everyone but I personally find it challenging, rewarding and very flexible.

    My wife has also taken two courses with Education Direct Which help here gain employment as Computer Aided Drafter. Drafting with Autocad & Computer Graphic Design. (I wouldn't recommend Computer Graphic Design course because of the program it teaches (Corel Draw 11) isn't widely used deisng industry)
     
  5. MGKRILL

    MGKRILL New Member

    education direct

    oh yeah my wife has been employed for three years is the lead drafter making $42,000 year. The money spent of courses was well worth it
     
  6. philosophy

    philosophy New Member

    Education Direct

    I have had a good experience with Education Direct for the most part. They do have course content that does correspond to the requirements of most community colleges. The books that they use are some of the books that you will find at other colleges and universities. The tuition and fees I feel are very reasonable. With the costs of education skyrocketing, this definately does pose as a valuable alternative. I must say that sometimes I do not like the multiple-choice format, as I sometimes there could be an alternative answer that could go with the question that they ask. In other words, there is only one question that is right, and you either get it right, or you don't. The other thing that is nice about Education Direct, is if you did not do well on a lesson, and received a faling grade (less than 70%), they will give you the page numbers to look up for research and then you can look for the correct answers. Let's face it, there are certain subjects that you just aren't always going to do well. The only thing that I don't care for in terms of Education Direct, is that they only send you one book at a time, and you have to finish the one book, before you can get the other books. In other words, it goes in sequence, so if you would be better at Business Law, over say Accounting, if Accounting is before Business Law, there is no flexibility because you have to finish the Accounting before you get the Business Law, and therefore, you have to wait for the shipment of the book to you. In addition, if you have taken courses at other colleges or universities that are regionally accredited or nationally accredited, Education Direct will take the credits, and is one of the only DETC accredited schools, that will give you up to 50% (30) credits toward your degree, provided the courses that you took at the other schools match up with there courses that are offered. The only problem with this is that I had some courses that were transferred into Education Direct, but say you had received three courses in transfer, what happens is that they will give you transfer credit, but you might only have two or three courses to do for that semester, and this can take much longer. What I mean by this is that they have an established pattern that they have for each semester and each course has to be followed. I would rather have it where they just modify the semester so if you already had a certian course that you have taken, then they could just add whatever courses you were lacking to make for like 15 credit load or something to that effect, so that you can get done faster. Overall, it is a good program, and many 4 year colleges accept there credits. Hope this helps.
     
  7. philosophy

    philosophy New Member

    Education Direct

    The only other thing that I would point out to you is that the accreditation with Education Direct is through the DETC (Distance Education and Training Council) and ACE (American Council on Education). These accreditations are national accreditations which are not bad in and of themselves. However, my feeling is that it is better to get a degree from a Regionally Accredited school and some of the schools that you might want to consider is Excelsior of Charter Oak State College, as they will accept credits from Education Direct, and if you have taken other courses at other schools like community college, then you could have those evaluated as well. In other words, you have a choice of getting a degree from a school that is half/half, or getting a degree from a school that is full/full, that nobody could dispute or question. One last point about Education Direct, if you are considering there Technical Porgrams (Engineering) they are Regionally Accredited through the Middle States Association, so if you are considering this method, then I would say to go through them as this would definately be an advantage in terms of tuition. There is a proctored examination that is required after completion of all courses for each individual semester, which this is done essay format. You are allowed to use your books. However, I must tell you that you should reference different sections so that you can quickly go to whatever subject they are asking for, as you only get so much time for all the courses which amounts to 1 hour given for each course. Good luck!
     
  8. drwetsch

    drwetsch New Member

    I have had positive experiences with Education Direct, back when they were ICS. I still use them for some continuing education when the mood strikes me and I have found them to be good. The famed physicist Richad Feynman also used ICS at one time for an art course, he mentioned this in his book "Surely Your Joking, Mr. Feynman!" He never completed the course but he stated that the interaction he had was good. As stated in his section "But Is It Art?": "To get more practice I also signed up for a correspondence school course, with International Correspondence Schools, and I must say they were good. They started me off drawing pyramids and cylinders, shading them and so on. We covered many areas: drawing, pastels, watercolors, and paints. Near the end I petered out: I made an oil painting for them but I never sent it in. They kept sending me letters urging me to continue. They were very good." (p. 262)

    At one time the CDS (Center for Degree Studies, the degree granting arm of ICS) degree programs were Middle States accredited. I had completed the diploma program in Electrical Engineering Technology. I proceeded to enroll in the degree program for a semester whereby I completed the proctored exams (I didn't have to retake the courses), awarded grades, and had them transferred to my Excelsior degree (then USNY/Regents).


    John
     
  9. dis.funk.sh.null

    dis.funk.sh.null New Member

    Let me add some more...

    hmmm... I'll make this plain and simple.
    I have been watching their ads for 8 years now... They market themselves like UofP online. :D
    Approximately 7 years ago, I needed to complete my highschool credits to get into a degree program. Since I also had to work to support myself financially, I thought of completing highschool through DL. Now, I call these guys up (they were called ICS back then I think.. someone correct me if I am forgetting) and asked them about their high-school diploma program. For a minute or two, the representative appeared very patient and calm. Then, I asked the question, "Will this program enable me to get into a university"... I am not sure what happened after that. There was a slight pause (3 seconds) and then the guy starts shouting at me for no apparent reason... :eek: that was it; I hung up and here I am today. What a wierd story. I still don't know if their highschool diploma enables you to get into college or university.
    :confused:
     

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