First off, let me say this forum has been a great source of information. I've seen several members mention other boards and would like to visit them as well to make sure my research is as thorough as possible. Can anyone provide me with the addresses for some other distance education forums? Thanks!
Well, of course degreeinfo is best. But there are a few others that are legit. Degreeforum (www.degreeforum.com), degreeboard (www.degreeboard.com). and USNews education (www.usnews.com , then click on education in the top right corner) come to mind. Alt.education.distance used to be a good board, or so I'm told, but they got taken over by trolls and went downhill, which is why this board had to be founded. Also avoid the troll-controlled online-college.info.
Hello, I asked the same questions! Answer: This is the best site Here is the thread http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20099 Good Luck!
Re: Re: Other forums Thank you! It's nice to read the opinions of others involved in distance education. I hope to be able to contribute more soon. Most of the people I know either think I'm making a bad decision, or are curious about online learning themselves and are watching me as the "guinea pig". I'm hopeful I'll be able to prove the doubters wrong
It is not a forum but have you checked out http://bain4weeks.com/ It has interesting listing of post grad degrees.
Re: Re: Re: Other forums You'll learn quickly enough. For now, read, learn, post questions, and find yourself a good distance learning program in the field of your choice. The people here (and even at degreeforum and degreeboard) are generally very knowledgeable and very willing to help. Dr. John Bear is a member of this very board. He is the authority in distance learning. His _John Bear's Guide to Earning Degrees Non-Traditionally_ has gone through sixteen editions since 1974 and has spawned other other dl guides. The Bear's Guide books include also _College Degrees by Mail_, _Bears' Guide to the Best MBA Programs by Distance Learning_, _Bears' Guide to the Best Computer Degrees by Distance Learning_, _Bears' Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning_, _Bears' Guide to Earning High School Diplomas Non-Traditionally_, _Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead_, _Walston & Bear's Guide to Earning Religious Degrees Non-Traditionally_, and _Finding Money for College_. Dr. Rich Douglas is also an authority on distance learning. He earned his PhD in Non-Traditional Education from the Union Institute in 2003. His dissertation had something to do with accreditation issues and non-traditional degrees. Dr. Bear was on his dissertation committee. And there are many other knowledgeable posters, too numerous to name. While _Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning_ is clearly the best print source of distance learning, there are a few other books that might be worth looking at. Marcie Thorson's _Campus-Free College Degrees_ is good as far as it goes. It lists fewer schools than Bears' Guide, but gives longer descriptions. Unfortunately, it has not been updated since 2000. Matthew & April Helm have authored _Get Your Degree Online_. They give exhaustive descriptions of every online program within the schools they include in their guide. However, looking at all of the books written by the Helms, it seems that their "expertise" is in "things you can do online." Also not updated since 2000. And there are the old guys that made their college guide reputations with guides to traditional schools. Peterson's and Barron's both have distance learning guides, but they tend to do a bit of overkill for my taste, lumping in schools that offer just a few courses by distance learning with those that offer entire degrees by distance learning. Princeton Review has a distance learning guide, but they seem to have missed some of the more obvious distance learning schools. At any rate, you'll learn. Soon you'll be teaching the newbies.
Re: Re: Re: Other forums Those of your friends who think you're making a mistake have probably seen exposes on 20/20 or 60 Minutes or something like that where some degree mill has been exposed and it's owner arrested on camera. Well, the way to prove your friends wrong is to stick with accredited schools. Following are the basics of accreditation. There are accrediting agencies and then there are "accrediting agencies". When I say there are "accrediting agencies" (in quotation marks), I mean that there do exist some shady schools that actually create their own accrediting agencies for the sole purpose of accrediting themselves. Then there are the real accrediting agencies. Any serious accrediting agency should itself be accredited by the United States Department of Education (USDOE) www.ed.gov or the Council for Higher Education Accredition (CHEA) www.chea.org . As to the real accreditors, there are three types. They are regional accreditation, national accreditation, and professional accreditation. The six regional accreditors are: the Middle States Association www.msache.org (DE, DC, MD, NJ, NY, PA, PR, VI), the New England Association www.neasc.org (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT), the North Central Association www.ncacihe.org (AZ, AR, CO, IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, NM, ND, OH, OK, SD, WV, WI, WY), the Northwest Association www.cocnasc.org (AK, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA), the Southern Association www.sacs.org (AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, TX, VA), and the Western Association www.wascweb.org (CA, GU, HI, American Samoa, Trust Territory of the Pacific). The national accreditors are the Distance Education and Training Council www.detc.org and the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools www.acics.org . There is some thought that national accreditation (NA) may have less utility than regional accreditation (RA). To some extent, graduates of NA schools may have some difficulty getting their degrees accepted by employers and RA graduate schools. This is basically a reputation thing. Historically, the national accreditation agencies started out accrediting vocational programs and only relatively recently started accrediting academic programs. Professional accreditation might be either very important or non-existent, depending on your field. If you go for a British university, you'll want to look for the Royal Charter. If you choose a school in Australia, you'll want to know about the Australian Qualifications Framework. If you choose a school in any other Commonwealth country, you'll want to check their entry in the Commonwealth Universities Yearbook.
Re: Re: Re: Other forums Well, after your "guinea pig" test case proves successful, you can round 'em up, move 'em out, and keep them dogies rollin'. Rawhide!
Re: Re: Re: Re: Other forums Just ignore Ted, Vincey37. He falls down alot. (Just kiddin' Ted! I just couldn't resist.)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Other forums OK, DesElms! By the way, Vincey37, Mr. DesElms is one of the extremely knowledgeable Senior Members on this board. He likes to mess with people from time to time. But, if he messes with you, it means he likes you. He will teach you good googling skills if you ask him nicely. He also likes to get into robust exchanges of billingsgate over in Political Discussions.
I picked up Bear's Guide a couple days ago after seeing so many recommendations here. It's great! Right now it looks like I'll be going with Excelsior or Aspen to finish my BS, depending on how well some CLEP testing goes. Bellevue looks good for a Masters down the road a bit. Thanks again.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Other forums Aw, DesElms, I know I'm clumsy, but did you have to bring it to everyone's attention?
