Came across this rather venomous piece... (Original Credit, it was via FARK) What really got me is the quote The comments that are there are rather telling too... (I'm sure there's been some moderation of the comments to keep this guy's view looking rosy, except for the last one from 'Phoenix Graduate'.) Every time I think that the business world is comming around to acceptance of DL degrees, I see little pieces like this that just seems to cause DL equality to lose ground. True, its just a blog, but its hard to tell how many companies out there are entrenched in I guess you could almost call it educational nepotism and inbred to the point of excluding educational that doesn't suffice as traditional. Especially when a lot of these 'traditional' schools have formulated distance education programs of their own.
No, no, no. See, it's the opposite. If DL degrees were actually dismissed as being illegitimate and insignificant, pieces like this would never be written. Fads effortlessly fall away, and no one needs to write anything. As they are exposed to the masses, they are dismissed and people move on. In contrast, an attack and defense happens when people feel threatened. This guy feels like online degree holders are encroaching on his turf- threatening his traditional views of "learning" and possibly offering a "short cut" when he had to walk 4 miles uphill in the snow. He grasps tradition and tries to poke holes in the "new" idea. I look at press like this as a thermometer, and things are warming up! Pieces like this make me feel warm and fuzzy.
>> I responded to the quote because for some reason I couldn't get that page to load- I still can't actually???
You didn't miss anything if you had already heard about/read the gov't report that was released last week. It was essentially a recap of the report.
That quote was specifically about diploma mills, not online learning in general. I think the concern raised is legitimate and probably already a reality. But what? It is just a blog. So is this: House of Kitty Blog That article wasn't about DL degrees, it was about for-profit institutions. AUTiger00 agrees with me: So the article wasn't about distance learning, but some of us were ready to jump to arms over it. There will always be people who look down on distance learning, just as there will always be people that look down on home schooling, community colleges, public high schools, Tier 2 schools, non-ivy league schools, Japanese motorcycles and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. DL is becomming more, not less, accepted in every concieveable way by every concievable agent. If one is defensive, one implies that there is something that needs to be defended. I would defend my degree to an employer who was considering my hire or to a friend who was considering his own educational path, but I seriously do not wish to expend my energy nor time defending it to someone whom I will never meet and who is of no consequence to me.
True, I did jump the gun and automatically equate For-Profit with DL. As I look back, this happened more from the resulting discussion on the site that I found the link initially. I was sloppy in my OP about this. And I apologize to those whom might take umbrage with my general equation of For-Profit with DL. Not all For-Profit schools have are DL or even have DL components. Mea Culpa. The quote though was not about diploma mills as we know an understand them. The author equated For-Profits with Diploma Mills. Just curious, how many DL (as in DL Only, no B&M side) schools (outside of TESC & COSC) are non-profit? I guess it just irked me. Shrug.
You like I Can't Believe It's Not Butter? I now look down on you. Us elite only use Imperial margarine.
I think that a number of companies maintain a B&M stance as well as a stance on AACSB, etc... type of accreditations soto decrease their expense on reimbursement for college. In the government we are excluded from reimbursement for "degrees" (with limited exception) and can only authorize reimbursement for "courses" directly related to the position of the employee. In addition, we are prohibited from reimbursement for a program/course that would lead to an individual to qualify for a position for which the indivudual would not otherwise be eligible. In the private sector most of these stipulations do not exist. Leading to an employee completing a degree and looking for a better position, or leaving the organization all together. DL kicks down roadblocks to employee attendance costing the organization more money in the short term and potentially the employee in the long term. I have never wondered why employers take a non DL stance but rather why employees don't look to HR, EEO, etc... to resolve the discrepancy. I personally believe that some of these practices, at least on the surface, are discriminatory. And I've always found in humorous that an organization will have some type of recurring training (EEO, Security, etc...) available via a web interface but then turn down a DL course request.
I stand by my comment MC, the dude is a B&M snob. I read the same article you read and the guy works for a B&M school. What is so hard about understanding what I wrote? He is a snob......I did not make any comments about distance education. I’m mad at you anyways, leaving MO to run things while you’re off on vacation.
I found it takes several minutes to download - when this hapens I just open a new window and work on something else, then go back to the download later.