Will Employers Value Degrees Earned Online? Article

http://www.collegejournal.com/jobhunting/searchstrategies/20011108-vogt.html

 

Hmm...72 views at this post and no replies?!?! Any thoughts from the esteemed faculty members here? I am especially interested in the thoughts of revealing the fact that one's degree was done online/distance and how that affects some employers outlook as to the validity of the educational process. If one who has an unacredited degree should be "outed" to prevent taking a position form a qualified canidate with a RA, or if one with a NA should be compelled to wear the Scarlet letters NA at every turn if they won't burn their degrees and trash the institution from which they earned the degrees, then what is to say that one that has earned their degree totally online or though distance should not have to do the same? Is the perception by some that "it is not a real degree" valid and if not what can be done to change it?

I am not debating the RA issue and from what I have read in this article even that does not affect adversely this negative perception by some. Even RA degrees online have this perception in some quarters. (Not all but some) I have alluded to this in other posts but it was ignored becuase...egads...I have unacredited degrees, therefore nothing I say can be right.

Personally I am in favor of distance learning. Being in this forum has taught me many things, yet I want to learn more. I just want to know what the experts think after reading this article.

 

Flipkid: "Hmm...72 views at this post and no replies?!?! "

Cehi: Please see relevant discussions at
http://www.degreeinfo.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=13
Thank you.

 

Thank you. I will read the thread in it's entirety before I post again. However I was commenting on the article that was linked by manjuap and wondering why there was no reply (one way or the other) to the article itself. Since there are other issues of relevance to distance education that are beat to death, revived, and beat again...I simply wondered why not this article which seems to be contrary of the view of so many in this forum? Or is it that which is contrary to our professed positions we reject, regardless of the legtimacy of the source, the credibility of the evidence, or the logic of reason?

 

The article is old news, based primarily on the Vault.com article more than 2 years ago. That article has been discussed in detail on this forum.

I don't see anything unusual or contradictory about this article's content. Perhaps that--and not that it is "contrary of the view of so many in this forum"--is why no one responded.

 

perhaps...

 

Perk up, Manjunath. We are in the vanguard of history, riding the jagannath of the future, shattering the bastions of reaction, liberating the enslaved and downtrodden of all the...

Oh, sorry.

The article was interesting as a portrayal of retrograde opinion. One statement I would agree with is that the young student (normal college age) benefits in social skills and maturation from on-campus study. If DL is the best practicable choice, I would even so advise a young student to go with a good DL program over a run-of-the-mill B&M program.

 

I have read the article and I have a number of observations and criticisms.

As a relatively senior person in an organisation, I consider commitment be a significant factor in maturity. The distance learner is a person who has usually a job and a family. He/She has to make contributions to the educational process and these other important areas of life as well. I would consider that only high achievers can succeed in distance education because it requires tenacity, focus, and effective time management. Accordingly, I value the successful distance learner as an employee.

The critical issue concerning the educational process is the knowledge obtained. In my workplace, there has been a significant shift to the CBT mode because quality can be controlled, and training can occur at times suitable for the learner and the organisation. I am sure that most other organisations are the same throughout the developed world. There can be little argument concerning the ability of CBT to deliver the goods if most major organisations are using it inhouse. I understand that even bricks and mortar universities use it for their staff.

The issue of maturity as mentioned by the recruiters is really about networking not maturity. Law firms, for example, in the elite range really only recruit people who can bring business with them. If you go to an"elite" university who will probably mix with the more wealthy members of society. These members are people who will generate wealth for the firm because they, like most of us, will deal with people they know. They are also more likely, because of their position in life, to penetrate into the higher levels of government and corporation life. This is not an issue of maturity but one of privilege.

Interestingly, landmark cases in significant areas of law are made by lawyers of more humble origins representing people of even humbler origins. A landmark case for unilateral contracts,for example, was the result of an old lady suing a corporation over breach of contract. She was promised that if she took a"carbolic smokeball" she would not get a cold and, if she did, she would get compensation of five pounds. She did get a cold and she sued the company. She won and created a landmark case. She used a small law firm. No doubt the defending company used a slightly more established firm.

As an outsider in the discussions concerning California DL Law schools, I often wonder if the issue is about networking or becoming a lawyer.
If you want to become a lawyer, again, as an outsider, I see that there is greater professional scrutiny of the distance learner than for the ABA schools. I note that the profession sets the examinations and requires more independent verification of the standard of the distance law student than it does for the ABA Law School student. The former has to sit for a formidable examination at the end of the first year of study that it is externally developed and marked.
Who would you employ? A person who has excellent marks in the state bar exam or a student from an ABA school? Which is the better test of quality?If you want a performer in the court perhaps the state bar. If you require the network then perhaps the latter. In the end, you are either a lawyer or you are not. Once admitted the rest is with the individual and his/her performance whereever you are.

In any case, distance learning is here to stay and in the new global market with its technologies it will not be a case of which state you go to for your education, it is more likely to be the case of which country.

There is an emerging strong argument for national legislative standards for post secondary education or, even perhaps, more applicable international accreditation. The DETC in the states may have more value for international students than other forms. There is more trust of government regulation in off shore communities than there is of private bodies. This is obviously a cultural difference between the US and other places. The international market for education and multi national organisations,however, will be knocking on the door for the international community to steer governments this way.