Top Universities Increasing Online Degrees Programs to Meet Needs of over 5 Million Learners

Top Universities Increasing Online Degrees Programs to Meet Needs of over 5 Million Learners

Arizona State University is just one of many major universities that have started to increase the number of online courses they offer.  Within the next decade, ASU expects that 25% of their students will be exclusively taking virtual classes.  ASU and other schools are keeping up with their learners’ desire to take online courses. 

The Sloan Consortium, also known as Sloan-C, is an institutional and professional organization integrating online education into mainstream education.   The consortium is committed to quality online education.  The Arizona Republic reported, “According to an annual Sloan Survey of Online Learning at 2,500 colleges and universities, 29 percent of students took at least one course online in fall 2009, up from nearly 12 percent in fall 2003.”

In a recent webinar I created and delivered for Sloan-C, there was strong interest by educators to learn how to deliver effective online courses. There is no mistaking the popularity of online education. Even Bill Gates praised online learning in his 2010 Annual Letter stating, “A lot of people, including me, think this is the next place where the internet will surprise people in how it can improve things.” According to a recent survey by the Sloan Consortium, more than 5.6 million students took an online class last fall, which translates to about 30 percent of college students.

The days of thinking that online education is somehow inferior is changing.  Arizona’s three main universities are all embracing online learning.  ASU is ramping up their online program. University of Arizona (U of A) has nearly 30 degree programs exclusively available online; many of these programs are graduate-level.  Northern Arizona University (NAU) has 63 exclusively online programs and anticipates a 10% growth increase per year.

Arizona universities are not the only major universities to get on board with online education. Some other very prominent universities that also offer online courses include:   

If you or someone you know is considering taking an online class, it is important to understand the terminology, the process and the tricks to being successful as an independent learner.  For help, check out:  The Online Student’s User Manual:  Everything You Need to Know to be a Successful Online Student. 

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Career Dreams are Attainable: Expert Guides Readers to Ultimate Success

 

01.17.2011– Dr. Diane Hamilton is the go-to expert on all things career. The author of three books, she urges readers to not be afraid to try new things. Most importantly, students and job hunters alike must be self-aware, allowing them to know what they want and to allow them to have the career of their dreams.

Bill Gates is not the only one who believes that online education is the wave of the future. In The Online Student’s User Manual: Everything you Need to Know to be a Successful College Online Student, Hamilton guides readers through the process. It took Diane many years to become a successful online teacher and it is the job she loves the most from her 30+ year working career. It’s time readers heed the advice of seasoned professor Hamilton.

In her second book How to Reinvent Your Career: Make More Money Doing What You Love, Diane delves deeper into the importance of taking that degree and making life choices to better oneself. After reinventing herself over 10 times in her career, Diane Hamilton learned many business and life lessons along the way, making her the consummate professional for advice regarding all things career. This in-depth book covers everything from how to properly use social marketing to studying the marketplace. A detailed analysis of up and coming careers is also included. Getting down to the “nitty gritty,” Diane Hamilton proves with this book that she has the power to convey what would be overwhelming information in a concise, no-nonsense yet friendly approach.

“With my first two books, I based my writing on life experience and sharing what I know,” said Hamilton. “Then I wanted to take it to the next level, taking advantage of my training and certification in personality assessments. I chose to have some fun and co-authored my third book with my daughter, Toni Rothpletz. Together we created a book, meant to be entertaining learning for post-boomer workers trying to decipher personalities in the workplace.”

Personality tests abound. Which one is right for each individual? Together Hamilton and Rothpletz analyze each test and leave it up to the reader (with guidance) to find the personality test that works for them. They make the case that having a certain level of self-awareness prepares those of all generations for the complicated personalities issues in the modern workplace. “New Gens,” a term coined by Hamilton and Rothpletz, includes Gen X, Gen Y and the Millennial generations. The authors explain how this unique group has specific expectations in the current working environment. Honing in on the fact that Americans spend a large majority of their time in the office, Hamilton and Rothpletz claim that it is not only encouraged but necessary to find a way to get along with all generations. It is a vastly diverse workplace in 2011 with boomers still working and Millennials soon to be taking their place. With Hamilton’s and Rothpletz’s sound advice new workers will be geared up for career success. A fun, entertaining, inspiring read, It’s Not You, It’s Your Personality: Skills to Survive and Thrive in the Modern Workplace, is a must-have for job seekers and survivors in today’s every-changing work environment.

Hamilton has taken it to the next level this year, offering three informative reads. With her work, readers can navigate the often scary and unchartered world of careers. The US is the land of dreams and opportunities. Authors like Hamilton can help guide readers to improve their potential. Careers can be fun. Careers can be reinvented. Most importantly—dreams are attainable. Dr. Diane Hamilton has proven that.

About the Authors:
Diane Hamilton currently teaches bachelor-, master-, and doctoral-level courses for six online universities. Along with her teaching experience, she has a Doctorate Degree in Business Management and more than twenty-five years of business and management-related experience. She is a qualified Myers-Briggs instructor as well as a certified Emotional Intelligence trainer.

Toni Rothpletz has a Bachelor Degree in Global Business Marketing and is currently working on receiving her MBA. She currently works as a business developer/sales executive in the computer industry. Her background includes working in several industries including computer software, identity theft, and social networking organizations.

To find out more about their writing or to schedule an interview, visit Dr. Hamilton’s website at https://drdianehamilton.com or her blog at http://drdianehamilton.wordpress.com/.

Review copies are available.

The Online Student’s User Manual: Everything you Need to Know to be a Successful College Online Student by Diane Hamilton—August 2010 ($14.95/Amazon). ISBN: 9780982742808

How to Reinvent Your Career: Make More Money Doing What You Love by Diane Hamilton—September 2010 ($16.95/Amazon). ISBN: 9780982742815

It’s Not You It’s Your Personality: Skills to Survive and Thrive in the Modern Workplace by Diane Hamilton and Toni Rothpletz–December, 2010 ($19.95/Amazon). ISBN: 9780982742839 Approximately 220 pages

PR Contact:
Rebecca Crowley, RTC Publicity
649-619-1178
rebecca@rtcpublicity.com

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Employers Embracing Online Education

How do employers view online degrees?

Online degrees are often in the news.  When I first began teaching online, there were far fewer schools offering an online education.  This led to some negative interpretations when employers were considering applicants with an online education.  

Thankfully it is 2011 and people are waking up! In today’s AOLjobs.com article, the author noted, “While online degrees were once largely seen as being second-rate, recent studies have reported that employers are not only more open to, but are even showing a favorable sentiment toward candidates with online degrees these days. Besides the increase in reputation these programs are experiencing, online degrees have also become so popular, that if employers were to disregard candidates with such degrees, they’d also be disqualifying a significant portion of the work force.”

How popular is online learning? According to Campustechhnology.com, “Nearly 12 million post-secondary students in the United States take some or all of their classes online right now. But this will skyrocket to more than 22 million in the next five years.”  

With the growth of the Internet, the ease of accessibility to computers and the flexibility that the online environment affords students, online learning has become more popular than ever. The advantages of not having to buy gas to get to class, not having find a car park or pay for parking, and being able to attend class at any time of the day or night have all contributed to its popularity.

A large percentage of students who are studying online are working on their associates, but there are baccalaureate, master, and doctoral programs available online as well. Much of the growth that has occurred in online learning has happened since 1999. With the recent changes in the economy, online classes have seen a surge in enrollment. “Bad economic times have often been good for education, either because decreased availability of good jobs encourages more people to seek education instead, or because those currently employed seek to improve their chances for advancement by pursuing their education” (Sloan, 2008).

There is no mistaking the popularity of online education. Even Bill Gates praised online learning in his 2010 Annual Letter stating, “A lot of people, including me, think this is the next place where the internet will surprise people in how it can improve things.”

If you are thinking about going back to school in 2011, check out some of the following articles for more advice:

How Employers View an Online Education

In the book The Online Student’s User Manual, I wrote quite a bit about online universities, their perception by employers and how they compare to traditional universities. Check out the following article from elearners.com that gives some interesting statistics about employer’s perception of online education, also see my previous posting about some of these results by clicking here.

How do employers view online degrees?

How do potential employers view online courses and degrees? How are job candidates viewed based on their academic credentials, online or traditional? Under what circumstances are online degrees viewed as a “non-issue” or an asset for job applicants?

These were some of the questions posed in Hiring Practices and Attitudes: Traditional vs. Online Degree Credentials, research undertaken by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and commissioned by eLearners.com, a web resource of EducationDynamics, which connects prospective students with online degrees. And as with a number of similar studies undertaken over the past ten years, the results reflect an interesting and transitioning set of assumptions among hiring managers about the value of online degrees and degree-holders.

See the key findings as an infographic!

To read the rest of the article click here:  elearners.com