Online Degree

Pietrantonio

Pietrantonio

Well-Known Member
Just wondering what university you are enrolled at getting an online degree? How do you like online vs. in class lecture? Any recommendations? I am at a university right now where I attend lectures, etc. But, I was looking to maybe get into an online program. Problem is, is that I really don't know much about it. I've heard good things about online degree programs, but just wondering what your perspective is on it.
 
I went to both classroom and online classes at Embry and I liked classroom better, they make classroom last for 9 weeks while online classes are 12 weeks and that really seems like forever.
Other than that, online classes are easy once you get used to it, the major drawback is lack of interraction that you would normally have in the classroom. My guess is everything is gonna be online in the years to come so if you have any doubts whether to do it online or not, I'd say don't worry about it just do it any way you can.
 
skidz said:
I went to both classroom and online classes at Embry and I liked classroom better, they make classroom last for 9 weeks while online classes are 12 weeks and that really seems like forever.
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Eh, I disagree. With the classrooms you HAVE to go for 9 weeks. With online classes, a motivated person can finish early and be done with it. My record is 3 weeks with an ERAU on-line class.

Other than that, online classes are easy once you get used to it, the major drawback is lack of interraction that you would normally have in the classroom. My guess is everything is gonna be online in the years to come so if you have any doubts whether to do it online or not, I'd say don't worry about it just do it any way you can.
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I'll disagree here. It REALLY depends on the class. Ever tried to teach yourself physics, statistics or airline accident investigation? Yeah, you will be teaching yourself a lot during the on-line classes. You can send a message to the prof asking to clarify some stuff, but you may or may not get a timely response. You can also ask your classmates, but depending on how the material is written, they might be just as confused. With a brick and mortar classroom, you can always drop by the prof's office during office hours with questions. I found on-line classes harder in some cases than the classroom setting for that reason.

Also, if you're not a self-motivator, you're gonna be toast with on-line classes. I haven't had a class yet on-line with ERAU that we didn't have at least 4 or 5 people fail simply b/c they forgot to do the work or turned it in late.
 
kellwolf said:
I'll disagree here. It REALLY depends on the class. Ever tried to teach yourself physics, statistics or airline accident investigation? Yeah, you will be teaching yourself a lot during the on-line classes. You can send a message to the prof asking to clarify some stuff, but you may or may not get a timely response.
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I had several students go through ERAU classes locally and online. Overall, most agreed that the quality of the classroom instruction sucked and the standards were low. The teachers went to great effort to make sure that passing the courses was easy. One teacher told his class that if he ever said anything 3 times in class, that meant it was on the test.

However, online, you were expected to do the work and turn it in on time. And you actually had to read the book and conform to the syllabus. This generally resulted in a better coverage of the material and better learning because the typical textbook is better than the typical teacher.

Overall, I'm inclined to think that online learning better prepares you for life after college, because there's no one to spoon feed you information.
 
As far as online degrees go MAKE SURE IT (the online degree) IS THE SAME THING YOU CAN GET ON CAMPUS!!!! MAKE SURE TO ASK THAT QUESTION IT IS VERY IMPORTANT!!! In other words, specifically ask and make sure that it appears on your transcripts and diploma no different than any other degree.

I've done both online and on campus classes. I greatly prefer online classes not because they are easier (they're not, they're a lot harder), but because of the flexibility. In fact, I'm thinking about finishing my degree online and I should be able to graduate next year with my four year, which would be about a year ahead of schedule.
 
Just be careful with going to a pure online college to get your degree ex- university of phoenix. For better or for worse, I know quite a few business owners; my father included, who have said they would never hire a person who went to an online college. Maybe something isolated, maybe not...Just something to consider outside of aviation.
 
I did the ERAU online thing and loved it. I've never visited a campus, though so I couldn't compare and contrast the two. The thing I liked about online was the fact I didn't have to deal with any of the BS of actually attending class. All I had to do was study, do some assignments, write some papers and take the exams within a certain period of time. It was on MY schedule. I already got the Freshman/Sophmore lifestyle by living in the dorms on an Air Force base so I don't think I really missed out on anything. I highly recommend looking into online schooling if your already an aviation professional and just need a degree. If you're still in your early 20's and haven't yet established yourself in a career and/or family, it doesn't hurt to look at actually attending a university in person. As far as I know, the ERAU degree looks the same online or in house. Someone would have to look at your transcripts to see what classes you took. In my experience interviewing, the interviewers were either

A) Impressed that I was able to complete a degree online -or-

B) Took classes at ERAU online and had something in common
(I had a military board interview where 2 of the officers had taken ERAU online classes and we compared "notes")

It's much bigger these days and widely accepted.
 
Well right now, I do attend classes at Queens University in Charlotte. I am just getting sick of the constant two hour traffic jam because of accidents, and always getting stuck with professors who have below standard teaching abilities. I might as well teach myself. Also, I will be starting helo training in about a month, and I really just need some flexibility. I have the whole on-campus experience, and social skills, etc. I never really thought much of online courses until now. Right now I am looking into university that do offer online courses. I don't know, we'll see how things go. I sent some emails, but no replies yet. I appreciate the opinions, keep them coming.
 
Just be careful with going to a pure online college to get your degree
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I worked for and taught at a fully online university for three years (not UPhoenix) - currently working for a traditional university now .. but I second what was posted earlier regarding fully online programs.

I'd recommend finding a traditional university or community college setting that offers online classes to bust out the core requirements... then maybe transfer to your ideal program to finish up. Also keep an eye out for accreditation as well... alot of folks get caught up when they find out stuff won't transfer.

Online classes are great for quickly getting thru a degree but they're not always as easy as some think.

Best of Luck !!
 
haha watever you do DONT go to those marketable university such as Devry, ITT, or UOP!!!

Employers think it is a joke when they see it.

I had couple of my buddies graduate from devry and they say they still have no jobs since after the 5 monthes graduation.
 
Those that say they'll never hire a person that's done an on-line degree are serious living in the past. My degree says "Embry-Riddle" on it same as an on-campus guy. How the heck would they know for one thing? For another, if a job says "4 year degree," and they tell me they're not gonna hire me b/c my degree was on-line, there might be a nice little discrimination issue there.
 
wolf, i didn't mean embry riddle. FACT: Riddle has a campus and widely known for an aeronautical school. So an online degree from them is a solid degree.

What I mean is school like Devry or ITT or UOP. "Schools that are maketable"
 
Ducky said:
wolf, i didn't mean embry riddle. FACT: Riddle has a campus and widely known for an aeronautical school. So an online degree from them is a solid degree.

What I mean is school like Devry or ITT or UOP. "Schools that are maketable"
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Yeah, I understand about the tech schools like that. I was referring to the guy above who said his dad wouldn't hire anyone that got their degree on-line. Truth is, the diplomas aren't stamped "On-line degree," so their no different than the piece of paper you get from a campus.
 
Big difference between an online degree from ERAU and a degree mill like the University of Phoenix
 
Yeah I've been looking at online degrees a lot lately and the best bet seems to be state colleges. Oregon State University and Fort Hays State University offer some very good online degrees that are the same you would receive on campus. Not to mention, the tuition is unbeatable. Fort Hays, for instance, is around a $150/credit hour and OSU is around $210. And that's for everybody, not just in state.
Somebody else said it, but ten years down the road, a lot of people won't think twice about online degrees, it'll be the same for them as going to a campus. As it is, that's becoming more and more so. All of the places I am considering transferring to allow you to participate in all the usual college societies, activities, rankings and the like. Basically it's real college without the campus requirement (unless you go there to participate in activities). One thing is for sure (and echoing everyone else), stay away from the diploma mills and for profit colleges like DeVry.
 
I did my bachelors at the Air Force Academy so I didn't have the normal "college campus" experience to compare it with, but I'm doing my Master's degree online right now with the University of Delaware. I think if I had the ability to "JUST" go to school, I would prefer attending courses LIVE for all of the reasons stated above, however the online degree is excellent for people who have weird or inconvenient work hours. Just make sure you check out the format of the online degree. Mine is basically a video-recording of a series of lectures, and I can take the tests whenever I want in the 14 week term of the course. Some of the courses have homework and some don't, but the homework doesn't have a due date (other than you must do homework #4 before test #2, etc.)

I have seen some online courses though that have a particular meeting time. Everyone gets these video-teleconferencing devices that they hook up to thier computer and the class starts at a particular time each week. That would totally defeat the purpose for me, since the whole reason I need the online course is because I don't work the same hours from day to day.
 
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