Should They Be Called "Online Degrees?"

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Maniac Craniac, Aug 26, 2010.

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Should They Be Called "Online Degrees?"

  1. Yes!

    5.9%
  2. No!

    68.6%
  3. Not sure.

    9.8%
  4. Who cares?

    15.7%
  1. Dave Wagner

    Dave Wagner Active Member

    No, the term "Online Degrees" is becoming increasingly meaningless, as nearly every school in North America offers at least a few courses online. The instructional modality used is not really not a useful way of classifying schools.
     
  2. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    I was just noticing- this poll has received many votes from people who I have never seen post. I'm a little freaked out, because that implies that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of regular readers of the site who I don't even know. I feel like I'm being watched. I'm recounting every joke I have ever told and am wondering what percent of the nonposters thought it was funny. I am recalling every incorrect piece of information that I have posted and am wondering how many people laughed or yelled at their computer screens at my expense.

    It is scary to think that any one of you may know all about me, having read nearly all of my 1000+ posts, yet as far as I know, you don't even exist. **shudders**
     
  3. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Not only that, anyone who goes to the forum jump and takes a peek into the who's online function will quickly learn that at any given time there are ten times more lurkers on the site than registered members. This site is widely read. It's BIG! So watch what you say, one of those lurkers might be someone who knows you.
     
  4. cjzande

    cjzande New Member

    LOL! I have noticed that, although, to be fair, half the time I'm here, I'm "lurking," - I don't sign-in unless I'm actually replying to something.

    In any case, I think "online degrees" is sorta silly, actually. I mean, I don't go around telling people I have a "brick-and-mortar degree". I just say "degree". I agree with the others who've said how the degree is earned isn't necessarily something that needs to be addressed in describing the degree.

    Someone here may have already referenced THIS ARTICLE yesterday or today and I missed it, but one thing I found humorous was this:

    I dunno why, but I find the idea of going away to college and living in a dorm, and then taking online courses from your dorm room very funny.

    In any case, online delivery of course work is becoming more and more common place, to the point where I imagine in the furture a vast majority of grads will have had at least one online class. Are we going to start saying "online degree" for everybody?
     
  5. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    I tend not to use the term "online degree," since the courses, objectives and learning outcomes of the on-ground and online degree programs are the same. My students have the choice of doing several of our degrees on-ground, online or hybrid. The transcripts and diploma do not reflect whether a given course was completed on-ground or online--it really doesn't matter. Now, I work for a brick & mortar university that has a large online program, so we are in a different situation that a totally virtual university like Capella, Walden, Jones, Northcentral, TUI, etc.
     
  6. Dave Wagner

    Dave Wagner Active Member

    How are you in a different situation? Don't professors at the brick & mortar campus at your University use email and the web to augment face to face lectures?
     
  7. peejcj8

    peejcj8 New Member

    I have posted on a online fishing forum since 2004, Imagine talking about fishing with yours buds, and knowing that anyone can see your post about where the fish are. Hell Bin Laden can read about your fishing hole!

    We had about 100 guys that posted regular, and 11K members! Facebook has all but killed that, as we all chat it up on there now.
     
  8. -kevin-

    -kevin- Resident Redneck

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  9. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    OK, I'm the one this whole discussion started over. I have been saying "What's the big deal? We all know what we're talking about when we say online degree". But I have to admit, you have all convinced me. I'm going to change my evil ways and use more specific terminology. You have a new convert! :)
     
  10. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I was in a situation once where I was trying to sign in to a required course, the only section that fit into my schedule, and that particular section was full. The professor wouldn't let me in (LB). I wound up having to take an overload the next semester so that I could graduate on time. That was a hard semester. If there was an online alternative I could have taken the course in a more appropriate timeline and not stressed out later in the year. I don't think I'm the only person who has ever experienced this sort of scheduling conflict while enrolled at a B&M university program. This is one scenario where taking an online course from a dorm makes sense.
     
  11. cjzande

    cjzande New Member

    Sorry, I didn't mean it doesn't make *sense* - I meant it strictly from a visual-imagining-the-scenario stand-point. I know when I was in school, I had to leave my dorm and go to the library most of the time when I wanted to study/complete assignments, because the dorm building seemed to be in a perpetual state of noise and partying, no matter what the day or time. I just found it humorous to think of some poor student yelling, "Hey! Knock it off! I'm in class right now!" Dorms seem like about the *worst* place to ever try to actually do school work, IMHO. Or maybe - eep - that was because I went to UF when I was living in a dorm? (I lived off-campus while at Holy Cross.)
     
  12. BrandeX

    BrandeX New Member

    It is a misnomer imo. The "degree" a noun, physical object, would only be online if you just got a jpg picture of it when you graduated. The "degree" status has no physical form or location so that also would be inapplicable. The schools are "online", not the degrees.
     
  13. dfreybur

    dfreybur New Member

    That's been the case on line for as far back as I can remember. Lurkers outnumber the chatty folks by gigantic ratios. I've never understood why so few want to write but I've always been aware of how many read without posting.

    On topic - My degree from Excelsior then named Regents listed itself as "external". By the time I learned that it was possible to test out of a large percentage of courses I was only one course from my degree. I challenged a small number of courses in person but that fact doesn't show up on my transcript. Nearly every course applied to my degree was at residential brick and mortar colleges.

    If I had know that Regents accepted GRE subject tests for large fractions of a degree, and if I had thought through we they did so, I might have taken several at the time I switched from full time college to night school. I could have gotten my Bachelors many years sooner.

    On line, distance, external, remote, brick and mortar, traditional, non-traditional. Should it even be listed? What matters is level of accreditation and whether the institution has some sort of elite status.
     
  14. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    Many do. We have three physical campuses and one online campus. I was referring to the perception that many people have that fully virtual institutions are, somehow, inferior to brick & mortar institutions (a perception that I do not share). Many people choose online programs from a brick & mortar university due to a belief that their degrees will be looked upon with less suspicion. Unfortunately, as anyone involved in distance learning knows, percepetion and opinion are often very different than reality and data.
     
  15. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Many politicians depend on this fact!
     
  16. rickyjo

    rickyjo New Member

    I have no aversion to the term at this time, but I'm interested in the discussion. If ever there was an online degree, my degree will truly be it. Never shall I set foot in a classroom so long as I live.

    Disclaimer: The above does not represent the possibility of court ordered "classes" (more accurately: complaining about the government sessions) due to speeding tickets, or my whimsical tendency to change my mind and do the opposite.
     
  17. b4cz28

    b4cz28 Active Member


    Yes you're correct, look at U of P. They have 200+ plus B&M locations and that's the bulk of their students. But everyone falsely believes that they are a all online school when many of their student earn degrees in a classroom.
     
  18. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    About 50% of their students are B&M. In fact, there is a UofP campus really close to where I live, but even around here people consider it to be an online school.
     
  19. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    I had heard different things about U of Phoenix's enrollment, so I went in the Department of Ed websites (National Center for Educational Statistics and IPEDS). According to those sitea, total U o P enrollment is about 445,000. The largest B&M campus is Southern California (Costa Mesa) at just over 11,600. The U oP Online Campus is listed as having about 380,000 students, so that would be its largest campus.
     
  20. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Hmmm, that makes what I said sound... wrong. Now I'm on a feverish search to find where I read the information for the comment I gave earlier.

    It could be, however, that it meant that 50% or more of the students take at least some B&M courses along the way?
     

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