Ten Online School to Watch

Ten Online Schools to Watch

1. University of California at Berkeley
The UC-B Extension Online Department offers 15,000 courses to 400,000 students.

2. University of Wisconsin
The University of Wisconsin offers 500 courses, including high-school diplomas.

3. Rochester Institute of Technology
RIT is the third largest distance-learning degree provider in the United States with seven graduate degrees, three graduate certificates, and thirteen certificates programs. Try out the free mini-course in distance learning.

4. Charles Sturt University
Here is Australia's largest distance-education institution with 2,000 course offerings. Here you have access to the university library system, bookstore and student services.

5. Jones International University
JIU is the first university born on the web to gain accreditation.

6. Unext/Cardean University
Cardean University works with faculty from Stanford, Columbia Business School, and the London School of Economics to create virtual college-level, distance-learning courses.

7. University of Washington
UW has over 6,500 distance-learning students enrolled, and offers over 270 online courses. IT has 10 degree programs and 17 certificate programs.

8. Indira Gandi National Open University
India's national distance-learning initiative is housed at Indira Gandhi National Open University. The school focuses on helping the population transition careers as demands for new skills increase.

9. Penn State
Penn State works closely with industry to offer distance learning to employees in corporate facilities.

10. University of South Africa
The University of South Africa houses five learning centers and five provincial centers around South Africa, as well as connections with 450 exam centers around the world to support remote students.

From: Stevenson, Nancy. Distance Learning Online for Dummies. IDG Books, 2000, p 261-268.


link

 

Mary Adams, is this true?

Perhaps Mary Adams could address this issue. According to JIU, "In 1993, Mr. Jones founded JIU, the first university to exist entirely online."

I do know that ISIM University was completely online in 1994, and I suspect it predates that. ISIM used CONNECT as their online courseroom environment. Mary, how early did ISIM offer full programs online?

 

Hi Paul - You are correct - we just didn't have the PR money that Jones had! ISIM was founded in 1987, approved by the State of California in 1989 as a degree granting institution and accredited in 1993 when we moved to Colorado. I often wonder what people would be saying about us today if we hadn't run out of money so early on. We made a conscious and deliberate decision to stick with what we knew was (and still know is) a sound academic philosophy for delivering education online rather than opting to sacrifice quality of programs in order to try and grow the school. Of course we'll never know the answer to that one!

Best,
Mary

 

I assume that "schools to watch" are schools that may do something interesting in the future (beyond their current activities). zvavda's post got me thinking about what my top 10 would be with regard to an interesting future:

1. Union Institute and University. Will the PhD program survive? Will it continue its focus on wide-ranging interdisciplinary research?
   
2. Unisa. Will it maintain its standards under the pressures of South African social reconstruction?
   
3. NCU. Will it prove to be legitimate and respected? Or will it sink into the netherworld?
   
4. Open University (UK). Will it make a successful foray into the U.S. market?
   
5. Central Michigan University. Will the restructuring let it regain momentum?
   
6. AMU/APUS. Will it become a major player with RA? Will it successfully challenge UMUC and CMU etc for military contracts? Will it launch PhD programs? Etc.
   
7. UMUC. Will it collapse under its own weight?
   
8. MIT. Will the "open knowledge" movement gather momentum? What impact will this have on the world of DL?
   
9. British universities. Can they continue to support non-traditional learners (especially for degrees other than vocationally/professionally-oriented ones -- e.g. MBA)? We recent had a story describing the weeping at Birkbeck about the top-up fees issue. And the School of Continuing Education at the University of Leeds is likely to close (see http://sce.leeds.ac.uk/home.php).
   
10. Harvard. Will it offer degrees without the residency requirement?

OK, those are 10 off the top of my head. What do the rest of you think about schools that have interesting futures (good or bad)?

 

Top Ten to Watch

For what it's worth.
For entertainment value I'd have to choose...
1. NCU for sure. Strange things are happening there, but they have proven that they can surprise everyone.
2. Fort Hays State. They are adding more and more concentrations to their MLS (Liberal studies not library science) program.
3. Vermont College. I just feel these folks will pull out of their current funk and become the thinking persons choice. They have the feel of a small, ivy covered, liberal arts institution. The very opposite of the UoP phenom. I think there is a market for such. Even if that may be an illusion. I don't know. The MFA program looks so tasty!
4. Norwich. Maybe these guys will begin offering more and more program that don't compete with VC.
5. UWA/Colombia Southern seem likely to merge into one virtual university or an amalgam that stands as a seperate entity supported by both. If they can get their act together with the regional accreditor.
6. Argosy. Seems to really want to be mre distance but is puttering around with the idea.
7. Eastern Carolina University. Now has an all online psych masters. The on campus suggestions are just that.
8. University of North carolina. Their Friday Center for distance learning grows every year.
9-10. The growth of distance options is ridiculous. Even this discussion area may soon, become simply a place to watch for degree mills as every public university and community college out there seems to have a PDF somewhere discussing their entrance into the online world. With the introduction of workable virtual classrooms, the whole situation will probably change. Look for great real estate deals at some of these monsterous infastructure heavy traditional colleges!

 

I'm interested in some of the same schools mentioned above. UCB extension is interesting. They have a fair online offering, but no degree granting power. UC Berkeley seems very ambivalent about distance learning. The school goes out of its way to make sure that the Extension school is kept very separate from the university itself. UC Extension instructors are NOT allowed to call themselves professors, as an example.

I think Harvard feels the same way, though their Extension school does have degree granting power. It will be interesting to see if they ultimately get rid of their residency requirement.

I'm also interested in the distance learning vs. distance teaching issue. Do DL learners work better in an environment that acknowledges their different status, and whose materials are geared towards the distance learner? Or should schools try and duplicate the in-class experience with streaming video, mixing DL students with real time on-campus students etc.? Columbia takes this approach and charges $3,500 per class as a result. They can get it, because they are offering an ivy league degree by DL.

I'm somewhat unimpressed by MIT's open course ware effort. Yes, they have tried to standardize the process, but in truth, you can glean the same info from thousands of other academic web pages. I have visited a number of MIT's pages. Some are quite good. Others just offer a syllabus, book list, and maybe a few sample exams. Not really a big deal. If you poke around university/faculty pages, you can find that stuff everywhere.

You want finance courses on the web?
Try URL=http://fisher.osu.edu/fin/resources_education/edcourse.htm]this[/URL]

 

oops screwed up the link. Try this:

http://fisher.osu.edu/fin/resources_education/edcourse.htm

 

Re: Top Ten to Watch

Hi

Any chance you have a link to the above program? I can't find any info on it. Thanks!

 

Re: Re: Top Ten to Watch

http://www.ecu.edu/psyc/grad/ar/acad.htm

Can't tell if there is any required residency....the main ECU DL page states there is.

 

The World Lecture Hall was an interesting earlier effort.

As an instructor, I find it interesting that MIT is encouraging others to use their course materials. Course materials have long been available on the web (and I have materials for my own courses on the web), but without any implication that it's at all acceptable for other instructors to use them.

 

I looked at a few of them a few months back and all they were is bare-bones syllabi. Never has there been so much hype about so little.

But from a student's-eye view, many faculty at many universities have created superb course websites. They include class notes, usually outlines but occasionally what amount to online books. They have supplementary readings and illustrations. Sometimes they have links to their own and other's published and unpublished papers.

Often one has to put together the best items from several universities, but it's possible to create what are in effect no-cost no-credit online classes for yourself that way.

 

Berkeley #1?

Hunh, you can not get a degree from their extension program, or use any of the courses for credit in their regular programs, even if they are the exact same course, taught by the same proffessors!

And no plans to change that.

 

Two that I'll watch (for obvious personal reasons) and that are significant players:

1. Baker College - Baker has grown its on-line operation dramatically as well as growing through campus locations throughout Michigan.

2. Nova Southeastern (my alma mater) - So far they've done nothing but grow and grow (as has Baker). Will NSU emerge as a more respected player as the years go by? I also have to wonder - will they keep growing forever? Or are there limits to growth?

The last point is one that strikes me about a lot of schools. Most DL schools are tuition driven and many are for-profit. Everything is great, as long as you grow enrollment. But what happens when enrollment drops (or at least stops growing)?

Regards - Andy

 

Eastern Carolina

They (ECU) "suggests" that students take in a week of campus classes during the summer. I really don't know what that means.
But it covers so much of their psych core and additional classes, really a pretty worthwhile consideration except for the general GRE bs requirement. And the diploma probably reads "Eastern Carilina University" no doubt about that name, eh?
I like the UWA because they ask for a MAT score. What a fun test, I've do that for recreation. But the GRE? Yuck! The problem I have with UWA/CS is the damnable "School Psychologist core just to get to the psych courses and I really don't understand why they call the degree a "Masters of Arts in Continuing Education" I mean you just haveta hate that.
I'm not certain, but I think I read that Tom Nixom was there. Mayeb he could shed so light on their program?

Dan B

 

Re: Eastern Carolina

Yup, I'm a student there, but in the M.Ed. in School Counseling program. The other programs are actually Master of Science in Continuing Education (MSCE) and I find it rather absymal as well (as a degree title). However, it is my vague understanding that it makes sense within the Alabama educational context. Not much help, I'm afraid.



Tom Nixon

 

Hmmm...

I am kind of scratching my head at the General Psychology and Academic Psychology labels. I wonder why they can't just call it Psychology? Well, at least it isn't a MLA or MS in CE degree.

 

A link to descriptions of ECU's DL programs.

http://www.options.ecu.edu/programs/

 

Nomenclature

I guess the academic psychology program is designed only to help one teach the basic social sciences courses at community colleges (18 credits). But then the website goes further to say that one should earn an additional 18 credits to be fully ready for such work. uh, what? I just think they have jumped into the distance thing and this is their department's offering. Don't have all the glitches out yet.

 

Re: Nomenclature

I took that reference to mean they suggest having 18 or more credits in two different areas so that the person would be able to teach courses in two differrent areas (i.e. Psychology and History).

 

Where did that story appear? Do you have a link?

Thanks