Online courses

[WCUgirl]

Originally posted by gamma_girl52
My school isn't a "diploma-mill" and I think obtaining my M.Ed here is actually helping me. Again, that was why I checked to be sure that my school was ACCREDITED. If I couldn't get that, then I wasn't applying. And it's accredited by the same people who grant accreditation to the school where I'm getting my B.A. from. I see what you're saying, but I don't think we should discredit ALL online schools/programs/etc.

My school works like DWAlphaGam's. There are two campuses and you can actually attend class or go the online route.

I'm sorry, maybe I'm not making myself clear here. I'm not trying to imply that your school is a diploma-mill. Actually, I am trying to do the opposite and disprove the perception that ALL schools that offer online/distance learning programs are diploma-mills.

I am looking into a few online Professional MBA programs myself - the main program I am interested in is the same way. You have the campus where you can actually attend class or you can go the online route. Every program I am looking at is accredited. I agree - I wouldn't bother applying if the program wasn't accredited.

Like ThetaGrrl said, (not picking on her, just using her statement as an example), most people associate the schools that advertise these programs as not being good schools.

What I want to know is, other than accrediation, or ranking (and a lot of these schools with the online programs aren't ranked yet, because this is still such a new issue, I think), how do you know that you're choosing a good program (other than accrediation)? How do you know that you're going to get a job with this degree? How do employers view online classes/programs?

I'm just really having issues with this because a lot of people seem to be discouraging me from pursuing this degree through an online program - they're telling me it would be better to just attend the local university (which I really don't want to do).

To the original poster - I'm sorry I hijacked your thread! I think that what a lot of people have posted about it being a good option if you're self-motivated. Most of the online courses are not very structured, so you have to MAKE yourself do the work, and MAKE yourself log in so your professor knows that you are making the effort. You do have to be very organized. If you are a military spouse, then yes, online would be beneficial because you'll never know when you might just have to pick up and move, and if you did so in a traditional classroom environment, that would mean a whole semester of withdrawals.