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. 

Related articles

Top 10 Free Online Courses

Teaching Online Courses – Top 10 Free Courses  from GetEducated.com

via Teaching Online Courses – Top 10 Free Courses | GetEducated.com.

Check out this article to find some great resources for online instructors including sites to teach best practices, developing course content, designing classes, tips on distance education, step-by-step training videos, links to sites like MERLOT which has vast resources for online instructors and of course a link to Sloan-C.

Student Success Secrets Revealed by Author Whose Book is Required Reading at Arizona University

Dr. Diane Hamilton’s new book, The Online Student’s User Manual: Everything You Need to Know to be a Successful Online Student, may be geared toward the online learner, but instructors and online professionals can also learn from her advice. To find out tips and insight regarding how to help online students succeed, Dr. Hamilton will be conducting a webinar for the Sloan Consortium on October 27, 2010. This is an excellent opportunity to find out why online universities have tapped into Dr. Hamilton’s expertise to help their students succeed. Author and professor, Dr. Diane Hamilton’s (https://drdianehamilton.com/), new book will be required reading for all new online students at an Arizona university and is being considered as an addition at several other universities. To find out more about how to help online students excel, educators can access the webinar through Sloan’s website and students can obtain the book in paperback and digital formats through Amazon.

Help for online students and online professors.

Quote start“As a former online learner myself and online professor for more than a decade, I can say this is by far the best book I have read on becoming a successful online learner. I WILL recommend this book to my learners.” Quote endDr. Dani Babb Author and Professor

Tempe, AZ (PRWEB) September 7, 2010

The Online Student’s User Manual had been published less than two weeks by the time a well-respected Arizona technical university sought to include it as required reading for all of their new online learners.

Some of the things the new online student will learn from Dr. Hamilton’s book include:

*computer and software requirements
*how to use the search engines and upload assignments
*how to organize and manage your time
*how to track and schedule your assignments
*how to communicate effectively with your professors and fellow students
*how to maximize your grade
*what mistakes to avoid
*how to create measurable goals and stay motivated
*how to prepare for tests…and so much more.

Dr. Hamilton currently works as an online professor for 6 different universities. She has taken her experiences and incorporated them into her book to help online learners succeed. Now she is taking it one step further, as she shares her expertise with other online professionals. Dr. Hamilton will be conducting a Student Success Strategies Webinar for The Sloan-Consortium, Sloan-C, on October 27, 2010 at 2:00 pm EST. Sloan-C is an institutional and professional organization that integrates online education into mainstream education For more information go to SloanConsortium.org or click here.

Online professors who attend this webinar will learn ways to improve their students’ skills in the following areas:

*Navigation
*Terminology
*Academic Honesty
*Goal Setting
*Time Management
*Motivation
*Increasing Retention
*Understanding Learning Preferences
*Writing and Formatting
*Test Preparation Techniques

About the Author

Diane Hamilton currently teaches bachelor-, master-, and doctoral-level courses. 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. To find out more about her writing or to schedule an interview, visit her website at https://drdianehamilton.com or her blog at http://drdianehamilton.wordpress.com/. Review copies are available.

The Online Student’s User Manual is available in paperback and digital formats–August, 2010 ($14.95/ Amazon). ISBN: 0982742800/9780982742808 Approximately –184 pages

 

Success Strategies for Online Students | The Sloan Consortium

Success Strategies for Online Students

August 23, 2010 – 4:27pm | by Sloan-C
Date: 
October 27, 2010 – 2:00pm – 3:30pm

Important Guidance Tips to Address Student Concerns

Students have a variety of unique issues they face in the online environment. Many are either too intimidated to ask, or are unaware of what to ask instructors about how to be successful. This webinar will address how students and online professors can both benefit from guidance provided in the online classroom.
The following topics will be addressed:
  1. Navigation Issues
  2. Terminology Issues
  3. Academic Honesty
  4. Goal Setting
  5. Time Management
  6. Motivation
  7. Increasing Retention
  8. Learning Preferences
  9. Writing and Formatting Skills
  10. Test Preparation Techniques
Although these are common topics addressed in many online courses, many instructors may be inadvertently omitting some important guidelines necessary for their students’ optimal success. In this webinar, the focus will be on providing satisfactory answers to questions students really have,  alleviating their concerns. The end result of learning these techniques will be more successful online students as well as more effective online professors. 
Price:
Individual Members (Free)
Institutional Members ($25/participant)
Guest and Non Members ($99/participant)

 

Powered by Elluminate

Facilitators: 
Diane Hamilton received her B.S. in Business Management from Arizona State University, her M.A. in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix and her PhD in Business Management from Northcentral University. She currently teaches bachelor-, master-, and doctoral-level courses for six online universities. Her books and articles focus on understanding online education, career reinvention and understanding personalities in the workforce. At one of the universities where she teaches, her book The Online Student’s User Manual: Everything You Need to Know to be a Successful Online College Student, is required reading for first-time online students.
Register here: 
Guests and Non-Members ($99/participant)
via sloanconsortium.org

Please click on the above link to find out more about a webinar I will be fascilitating for The Sloan Consortium. “The Sloan Consortium is an institutional and professional leadership organization dedicated to integrating online education into the mainstream of higher education, helping institutions and individual educators improve the quality, scale, and breadth of education. Membership in the Sloan Consortium provides knowledge, practice, community, and direction for educators” (Sloanconsortium.org).

For a list of members of this important consortium of institutions and organizations, please go to: http://sloanconsortium.org/members_list

I personally teach for some of these universities that are listed here. It is an honor to be part of such a quality institution that is committed to teaching excellence. I highly recommend checking out this site by clicking here.