Posted: 25 Jul 2010 07:31 PM PDT

The Virginian-Pilot
© July 26, 2010

Have you taken college classes or earned a degree online? The Fleet Reserve Association wants to hear from current and former enlisted members of the Navy, Marines and Coast Guard and their reserve branches about their experiences with distance learning and how it's affected their educational and professional goals.

Information from the survey, which is available at www.fra.org/survey, will be used to bolster the association's education foundation and scholarship program, according to a news release.

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New degree programs available at Alcorn

Posted: 25 Jul 2010 12:06 AM PDT

By Emily Lane (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Sunday, July 25, 2010

NATCHEZ — A new Alcorn State University degree program in Natchez will allow elementary teachers to dust off their backpacks and follow someone else's rules for a change.

Alcorn recently added elementary education bachelor's and master's degree programs at its Natchez campus, and it is not too late to sign up for the fall, Alcorn Associate Vice President for Branch and Extension Campuses Ruth Nichols said.

Nichols said the programs should provide the local community with a stronger pool of teachers.

In the past, students could take elementary education classes at the Natchez campus, but they could not complete degrees in town.

The bachelor's program is designed for students who have completed two years of college or earned an associates degree, Nichols said.

The master's program is designed for licensed teachers looking to advance their degree. Nichols Night classes will accommodate teaching schedules.

Nichols said the addition of the graduate program is a response to local school systems, teachers and community members indicating a demand for alternative methods of schooling for working teachers.

"One real advantage is (graduate) students can bond as a group and support each other, and it makes going back to school (as adults) less stressful," Nichols said.

The addition of a master's degree raises teacher salaries and qualifies them for better jobs, and overall quality of instruction in local schools will go up, Nichols said.

"It's a continuous improvement for the school system," Nichols said.

Nichols said graduate students can complete the program in one year.

Nichols said the bachelor's degree program is an ideal opportunity to Co-Lin students to complete their degree.

"Those students don't have to go away. They can transfer right across the street," Nichols said.

As part of the Miss-Lou regionalism effort, Nichols said Alcorn is offering 100 tuition grants for out-of-state students, which were set up for Louisiana folks across the bridge in mind.

Out-of-state students must first apply for financial aid can then apply for a grant, which would allow them to pay in-state tuition.

Class registration is open Aug. 19 to 29 for the fall, and prospective students should apply to the university as soon as possible.

Those interested can apply online at www.alcorn.edu or call 601-304-4335 for information about the program or to apply by mail.

Alcorn State University's Natchez campus also offers degree programs in nursing and business.

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Editorial: Online education? Beware of glitches

Posted: 23 Jul 2010 08:57 PM PDT

It's hardly surprising that, in an era of diminished state support, California's university leaders are trying to find new ways to work around budget-related enrollment restrictions.

Those restrictions have prevented qualified high school students from attending a UC campus, and reduced access to courses for those who do get admitted.

Yet as the UC Board of Regents ventures more deeply into the world of distance learning – online programs and degrees – they need to be careful to put the needs of Californians first and not undermine UC's reputation for quality.

At their July 14 meeting, the regents launched an "Undergraduate Online Instruction Pilot Project" with two parts – one for UC-enrolled students and one for "fully distant" students.

The potential for tapping fee-paying students far from California – the "Kentucky to Kuala Lumpur" dream – captured the headlines and the controversy. Based on the experience of others, there is good reason to be skeptical of a model where individuals never need set foot on a UC campus to get a bachelor's degree.

But discussion of the "fully distant" market ought not to mask the real impact of the online project, which will be on California students. That online shift deserves more in-depth debate.

The heart of the project turns to online courses (typically no face-to-face meetings) for California students to meet their introductory and lower-division course requirements.

These are courses that:

• Have the heaviest enrollments on UC campuses;

• Are most in demand by community college students planning to transfer;

• Are the most oversubscribed;

• And are the ones the faculty are less eager to teach.

So the pilot project proposes to create 25 to 40 online options for high-demand lower division and foundation courses: writing and composition, basic math, calculus, economics, statistics, biology, chemistry, earth sciences, physics, physiology, communications, history, philosophy, politics, psychology, sociology, American studies, anthropology, business.

This covers a big chunk of the undergraduate experience. Students and parents need to pay attention to this shift and weigh in.

Certainly online courses have advantages for students faced with the choice of a 300-seat lecture class or being shut out of a course. They have advantages, too, for students with work or family obligations.

But these courses should not simply be treated as "requirements to get out of the way." They are the principal gateway courses for students exploring a major.

Equally important, for non- majors, they may be the only courses students take in science or politics, for example, which should give them enough to be informed citizens. These need to be strong, interesting courses.

Nor should issues of student accountability be overlooked. How do you know that a student, and not someone else, is actually taking the exam?

Based on experience elsewhere, offering quality online courses may not be a cost-saver. Good online courses are time-intensive.

A few news stories from Inside Higher Education provide cautionary tales on this front.

One September 2009 story describes how the University of Illinois Global Campus "crashed and burned." This attempt to attract a global audience was "going to be a cash cow." Instead, "it's kaput."

Attempting to put up a high-quality program against dozens of low-cost, for-profit online operations proved more difficult than advocates thought. The university invested millions and attracted only a few hundred students.

Another story, featuring the University of Texas, is headlined, "Texas Kills Its Telecampus" (April 9). Money, the story indicated, "played a role in the TeleCampus's hastened demise." This experiment depended on a large annual subsidy from the UT system, plus fees from the campuses.

The University of Massachusetts campus-based online initiative, UMassOnline, has seen better success. It hasn't set unrealistic goals for cost savings. "Not all success is financial" is the motto.

Distance learning has a long tradition in this country and can be an avenue for achieving democratic ideals of access. But to maintain UC standards of quality and a California-first priority, it has to be done right.

That means it is unlikely to be a cash cow.

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Private university to be created

Posted: 25 Jul 2010 04:44 PM PDT

25 July 2010 Last updated at 19:17 ETBy Sean Coughlan BBC News education correspondent

The UK's first new private sector university college for more than 30 years is being announced by the universities minister.

David Willetts will allow London-based BPP, which has 14 regional branches, to become a university college.

The new college, which offers law and business degrees, wants to expand into health and teaching degrees.

Private universities will help to create a "dynamic and flexible" degree system, says Mr Willetts.

The new private-sector university college has ambitions to set up a range of new courses in the next 12 months.

US parent company

A planned school of healthcare could offer degree courses in areas including dentistry, nursing, radiography, speech therapy, psychology and physiotherapy.

"It is healthy to have a vibrant private sector working alongside our more traditional universities," said Mr Willetts, who has conferred university college status with immediate effect.

"I am delighted that, less than four months after coming into office, we are creating the first new private university college in more than 30 years."

Adding to the significance of this move is that the new BPP University College of Professional Studies is part of the group that owns one of the biggest universities in the United States, the University of Phoenix.

The profit-making university sector has grown rapidly in the United States - and this announcement signals the intention to have more such private providers in the UK.

Mr Willetts says that private universities will help to develop innovative ways of delivering courses, such as online degrees.

Pressure on places

Expanding the private sector is seen by the government as a way of tackling the financial pressures and lack of places facing the university system.

Private universities would add extra capacity, when hundreds of thousands of applicants are set to miss out on places this autumn.

The BPP University College will also receive no money from the higher education funding councils.

As a private university it will also be able to set its own level for tuition fees.

"Start Quote

We see ourselves as a pioneer in this field, and hope that our unique status and self-funding model will lead the way in which other providers will be able to operate in"

End QuoteCarl LygoBPP chief executive

The public sector universities have faced a strict limit on expansion, with individual universities facing fines of up to £3m for recruiting too many students last year.

BPP already has degree-awarding powers. It has 6,500 students taking courses in its law and business schools and a further 30,000 taking accountancy qualifications.

It will be the first private university college to have been created since Buckingham in the 1970s, which was first created a university college and then later became the University of Buckingham.

So far Buckingham has been the only fully-fledged university in the UK operating without direct government funding.

'Pioneers'

"The education landscape is changing, and over the next decade we will see a different picture emerging, where both students and employers will drive demand for their preferred method of study and training," says BPP chief executive, Carl Lygo.

"We see ourselves as a pioneer in this field, and hope that our unique status and self-funding model will lead the way in which other providers will be able to operate in."

This announcement will be seen as another piece in the jigsaw of re-shaping higher education.

A review of funding and fees in higher education is set to report in the autumn.

Speaking ahead of its findings, ministers have spoken of the need for a more varied system, including more private providers, two-year degrees and students living at home.

There are also disputes over whether tuition fees should be increased or a graduate tax should be introduced.

Ministers have recognised that demand for degree courses is set to grow. But they have warned that the current funding arrangements are unsustainable.

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Online Education

Sunday, July 25, 2010

“Survey seeks feedback on Web-based learning” plus 3 more

“Survey seeks feedback on Web-based learning” plus 3 more

"Start Quote

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