How To Succeed With Distance Learning Education While You Work
Posted by Mary Jackson | Filed under Reference & Education
One of the main attractions of a distance learning education is the ability to continuing working, and earning a paycheck, while going to school. With the best of both worlds, students do not have to attend classes on campus. In addition, they have the flexibility to study at a personal pace and during the time best suited to their schedule. No wonder obtaining an online degree is enticing more people to further their education.
However, even learning online is not perfect. It requires a lot of discipline to stay on task and keep personal priorities straight. As a learner, you must be intrinsically motivated to succeed. Without the in-class interaction between peers and the professor, it is more difficult to keep focused on the ultimate goal.
So, how can a distance learner overcome the challenges of shuffling work, school, and family? Creating and sticking to a schedule is the only way to survive and succeed. The trick is to apportion a 24 hour day to include enough time for the family, work, and school responsibilities. Thus, it is very important to let the family in on the plan, and when you should not be disturbed. Again, do not give into the temptation to deviate from the plan.
Getting yourself motivated is also essential towards distance learning education success. One of the ways to do this is to stay in contact with your classmates. With the internet today, it is often easy to stay in touch through email, instant messenger as well as internet phone. Discussing projects or assignments with your teammates will help you stay on track and keeps you and your teammates accountable for one another.
In addition to peer contact, rewarding personal education goals is an excellent way to stay motivated and succeed in obtaining a distance learning education. Write particular course milestones on a calendar, and then celebrate the achievement. For example, after turning in a major paper, do something nice for yourself. Then, cross out each accomplishment. With a sense of personal satisfaction, it will keep you motivated to face the next educational hurdle.
Finally, make sure to have a quiet, undisturbed place to study. It is extremely easy to be distracted by the television, a ringing phone, or normal family activities in the household. If necessary, lock yourself in a quiet room equipped with a comfortable chair, a good desk or table, and ample space to create a productive learning environment.
Distance learning education is an excellent way to improve job opportunities and acquire a desired degree. However, success depends on the individual. With hard work, determination and the discipline to stay on track and maintain good study habits, academic excellence is within sight, without relocating and sacrificing job and family.
Mary Jackson authors articles for online distance education including a guide where you also find information on various distance learning education degrees programs and colleges.
Tags: accredited college, adult education, college, eLearning, home schooling, k12 education, learning, Reference & Education, university
How Can You Spot A Fake Online Bachelor Degree?
Posted by Mary Jackson | Filed under Reference & Education
As the demand for the online Bachelor degree rises, so do the number of fake colleges and universities. Some actually offer diplomas for sale to potential customers through bulk emails. However, many take advantage of innocent and unsuspecting students by offering lower than normal tuition fees, credit for life experiences, no tests, and an easy road to that coveted diploma. If it sounds too good to be true, it generally is the case.
Unfortunately, it can be difficult for aspiring students to differential between a real online Bachelor degree and the one that is not worth the paper on which it is printed. Most students are seeking an online education because they do not have the ability to attend classes on campus. In addition, many simply live too far away-even overseas. Therefore, the only criterion for determining a school’s validity is the website. Important decisions are made on whether the site looks professional and seems to offer the right education; but, that is no way to judge whether a college is credible or not.
One of the best ways to determine credibility is to pay close attention to how the credentials are stated. For example, if an educational institution claims to have nationwide or worldwide accreditation, without revealing which government agency provided the accreditation, it’s possible the college or university probably does not possess the necessary seal of approval to provide legitimate online Bachelor degrees.
In the U.S., college accreditation is awarded by one of the following six accreditation agencies which are all appointed by the National Board of Education - New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), North Central Association of Schools and Colleges (NCA), Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges (MSA), Southern Association of Schools and Colleges (SACS), Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges (NWCCU). Each agency has been allocated responsibility for providing accreditation for schools in specific states. Therefore, it would be best to run checks on a particular online degree institution with the agency offering college accreditation for the state in which the college is registered in.
Another tell-tale sign of bogus online bachelor degrees offered is when the university advertises itself through mass-mailing email featuring university degrees for sale. Many bogus distance learning institutions prey on people who are desperate for a degree, but don’t have the time and money to go for proper education. That is why these colleges boast of degrees without any examinations, classes, studying or even waiting. There are even websites that offer online bachelor degrees for just a few hundred dollars which can be ordered and received within 7 days. Furthermore, some of them also have dubious accrediting links, stating accreditation from agencies which are not any one of the six listed above. Additionally, they offer fixed prices for their Master’s, Bachelor’s, and even Doctorate Degrees. Their justification for awarding degrees will be for giving credit to life experiences such as any type of work experience, any educational background, any workshops or community services attended as well as travel experience, hobbies and even on the number of books that a person has read!
In conclusion, as the awareness on bogus degrees increases amongst prospective employers, degrees obtained through a legitimate avenue of education can sometimes be mistaken for bogus online bachelor degrees too. Therefore, the best approach to select a college would ideally be based on legitimate college accreditation awarded by the appointed authorities to the respective colleges.
Find resources on online bachelor degrees programs including bachelor degree in education and online accredited colleges where you can get your credible education online.
Tags: accredited college, adult education, college, eLearning, home schooling, k12 education, learning, Reference & Education, university
AlterEgos Makes Articulate Tutorials Come To Life.
Posted by Andre J Jaay | Filed under Reference & Education
Having a virtual animated avatar or virtual tutor within your CBT, training or presentation media is a well proven means of dramatically increasing information retention, effectiveness and impact. However being comfortable incorporating our own likeness is something we normally steer away from. There is a great product partnership however that makes this process accessible, simple and highly compelling; Articulate and AlterEgos a revolutionary desktop avatar production system from AlteEgos.com.
Importing external media is common place in any media solutions and Articulate also offers a flexible approach to this function. AlterEgos provides the virtual representative in numerous video formats, a perfect synergy.
AlterEgos was specifically designed to make the production and integration of Virtual representatives or Avatars into third part media solutions such as Articulate a simple and effective solution.
AlterEgos allows you to use either your own or an imported voice for the narration, it even has a Text to speech interface to make life even easier. With 53 virtual characters available directly in the software and hundreds of tailoring items including backgrounds and clothing, it’s a simple process to create a highly compelling automated lip-syncing animated character. AlterEgos also supports various composition outputs including Flash and AVI so integration is a snip!
In less than five minutes you can script, design, generate and integrate your own virtual representative or virtual tutor dramatically directly into Articulate improving your productivity and streamlining your workflow.
With just a few clicks your AlterEgos fully animated composition can be imported into Articulate, no special techniques or conversions are necessary. Simplicity itself
The final productions for deployment on web or CD is compelling and effective with a fully integrated virtual, fully animated, talking teacher.
Professional quality presentation and Computer Based Training production now has a perfect partnership with AlterEgos and Articulate.
AlterEgos can even produce custom character to make your content even more unique. Compelling and memorable content has never been so simple to produce.
For a limited period you can also download a free trial edition here. Good Luck!
Tags: AlterEgos, Animated Avatars, Articulate, CBT, Computer Based Training, distance learning, education, eLearning, online education, Presentations, Reference & Education, SCORM, Tutorials, Virtual Teachers, Virtual Tutor
