I was checking out this section of the forums, and for someone like me, barely starting on the road to education, I found that this would be an option worth exploring. So, I ask, what are the subjects that currently dominate the distance education market? And when it comes to teaching, which do you believe would be a better fit for someone with no real employment history? In other words, which one favors theory over (job) experience? Thanks for any answers you can provide.
The overall impression I have is that business/management related degrees are the most prevalent DL options at both the undergrad and graduate levels. At the graduate level, I see a lot of degrees in the general field of education in addition to the business/management fields. Other people’s opinions will undoubtedly vary.
From Geteducated.com: Top 10 Online Business Degree Majors: 1) Business Administration 2) Management 3) Leadership 4) Project Management 5) Information Systems Management 6) Finance 7) Technology Management 8) Entrepreneurship 9) Human Resources 10) International/Global Business Most Popular Online Graduate Degree: The Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) Not only is the MBA the most popular online degree, it holds this distinction by an impressive margin. The second most popular online graduate degree, the Master’s in Management, is only half as popular as the MBA. The third most popular online degree choice, Leadership, is only one-quarter as popular as the MBA.
Great list - is this opinion or fact? Is Geteducated.com a marketing company or are they indepentant?
Well, if you want to teach and don't have any experience it may be tough. If you do not have corporate expereince, try to learn and teach subject that can not/ do not require corporate experience such as histroy or english. I would not think you could get an adjunct job teaching management if you have never managed anyone.
For undergraduate teaching, working experience is not as important as the 18 credit requirements. Many schools would allow you teaching a subject only based on your transcript. However, if you have competition, teachers with experience will be preferred but it is really hard to tell who really has experience because schools hardly check your working experience. For IT teaching, IT certifications are preferred and having them would put you on top of the list even if you have no working experience.
Well, this is not the case if you have a PhD from a top tier school for example. There are plenty of full time faculty teaching management with no working experience. I personally have taught subjects for which I don't have not much working experience like Finance, accounting and marketing. When you teach business, you might need to take assignments for subjects out of your comfort zone because teaching only subjects for which you have experience would limit your options. Even when you teach subjects for which you have experience, you cannot have experience in every chapter covered by the book. It helps to have working experience for sure but it is not very realistic to say that you will need to have experience for every topic you teach.
I agree - I was not thinking of a PhD from a top tier school. I was speaking in broad terms. If you have a PhD in Business but work as a security guard, I would think it would be tougher to get an adjunct position as opposed to the PhD that is a security guard manager getting an adjunct position.
I don't know much about them, only that I saw them in the website from Upper Iowa University, and I though was a very good list or at least can give some directions to some programs.