I read the article and a key point was accountability in assessment in distance education. When students take DE exams, such as the Excelsior exams, they must be in an approved setting and duly proctored. For years, indepedent study courses by colleges and universities have required proctored exams. Consequently, the article was not convincing as it didn't really address assessment methodology but rather a concern that DE opens the door for abuse. I would like to know what the author suggests for greater accountability? John
Hey Lewchuk, I wanted you to know that I got out of your BA thread mainly because I didn't think it was really getting any where. It was really easy for me to go at it (perhaps not as hard though) as B Liang did. I kind of thought on the same line like Liang who knew that no major academic institution was going to let an anonymous caller know information about a former student without written authorization, but it was too petty to continue the kiddish debate. Even if I hadn't gone to such a great school, I could have listed any major school--but I just didn't want to--I knew the crazy girl wasn't worth my time. I'm just glad someone else pointed that out indirectly besides me. I find it strange that I left my personal e-mail and was willing to give out my educational background, Bar number, etc. (which the educated person would realize that it presupposes an undergraduate and law degree at least), however, no one has contacted me and that crazy girl is still harping about getting people's school name. Like what is that going to do? I'd be interested to see how crazy these people get with Liang. Do you know the guy? He's not an Ivy Leaguer but definitely went to a school on a league of its own. EsqPhD
You got out of the thread because you and your bogus claims to credentials had been rumbled EsqPhD. You are a bullshiter of the first order. There is no B Liang, he is you. Having claimed to have withdrawn from the thread, you then reappeared as Liang and immediately started to abuse all and sundry. You've been rumbled sunshine. You are a flim flam artist. A con man. Your last post as B Liang was fine for a troll, but you signed it EsqPhD. You have violated the terms of service old fruit.
You don't know how funny that sounds this morning. Rev. Dr. "Ph.D" Esq. I guess you and Liang see eye-to-eye on an awful lot. LOL. But the fact is that universities routinely verify over the phone that individuals graduated from them with such and such a degree. Employers call them all the time to verify claims made by job applicants. It's true that they won't release transcript information like courses taken or grades received without additional authorization. But he fact that the degree was awarded is open and public. Unfortunately, you demonstrated exactly the opposite. Basically, all we are here is words on a screen. If we make good arguments, then our posts are strong. If we just post insulting and inflamatory opinions, they are weak. The posts stand or fall on their own merits. If anyone tries to step beyond that fact like your "EsqPhD" did, and claim special authority based on personal experience, then there may be some need to provide verifiable credentials. While you are certainly under no obligation to provide them, the rest of us might not accept your opinions as authoritative if you don't. Of course, even if you provide credentials we still might disagree with you. And I needn't point out that this little "EsqPhD"/"Liang" embarassment of yours just underlines what I'm saying. It's too easy for people to pretend to be something that they really aren't. A little skepticism on the internet is healthy. I personally don't care what your credentials are "Esq", because I disagree with your arguments on their merits. I accept nothing from you on your own personal authority. Yeah, right. LOL.
Interesting article - I believe the author has hit on one of my key concerns - not only with DL, but with the explosion of part-time graduate programs. While it is true that ever MD doesn't have to be a world famous doctor to practice medicine - there are minimal standards exepcted to be a practicing physician. Uniform testing helps ensure this. Why then should MBA degrees be granted without some minimum expectations? Many of the DL and part-time programs I see skirt the absolute minimum academmic requirements in an effot to be more accessible to students (or is it "more profitable" to schools?). Alas, I'm not just concerned with "for profits" like Jones and UoP, as non-profits sometimes look to MBA programs as "cash cows" to balance money losing programs. Thanks - Andy ------------------ Andy Borchers, DBA NSU (1996)
I am sick of your self righteous Cal State Dominguez Hills level attack on people who has or claims to have Ivy League level credentials. The truth is, most people are impressed if a person graduates from a high caliber and/or Ivy League school. You may not be impressed in whatever state school world that you go to, but most people are. Any reasonable parent would be more proud of their children graduating from Harvard or Yale than some low level state program (assuming in similar majors, etc.). If you want to debate someone with high credentials, why don't you debate me? Also, please tell me what schools you went to. It may not be important to you, but it is to me, because I will judge you by your school, program, and what you do for a living. Donahue
I thought the doomsday scenario was bordering on silly. How many people with advanced degrees have nothing more lucrative to do (personally, professionally or financially) than to baby-sit a student. Even if they are "masters" of their subject area, it still takes time to take tests (sometimes online and timed), write research papers and the like. And guess what? They might have to prepare for an exam, occasionally. They would have to write new research papers for each student or else the students would be busted for plagiarism. The "tutor" could suffer some ethical backlash from the cheating as well, depending on his/her profession. A student who depended totally on hired help would probably have to juggle quite a few masters in several disciplines before it was all over. I think that if the cheating situation worsened then several, simple authentication counter-measures would be employed, the simplest of which is proctoring. That could be abused, too, but residential programs have some authentication problems as well.
