e-Learning Pundit

Today brings yet another collection of distance learning news for your viewing pleasure . 

+ Saint Louis University (MO), ranked #82 on the US News and World Report Top National Universities list, apparently offers two master’s degrees and one graduate certificate in biosecurity and disaster preparedness “entirely using distance technology”. 

+ A seventy-four-year-young student completes a master’s degree in instructional technology through Utah State University.  She utilized the accessibility afforded by a distance learning program to realize the dream. 

+ Community College Week put together an informative report about innovative course delivery methods in use by Coastline Community College (CA). Check this out.

…For the computer tool to learn Arabic, students can navigate with either a keyboard or a mouse, and walk through a 3D virtual world that simulates a village in the Middle East. A Coastline designer even went to the Middle East and took photos for the designers to use when creating their simulations, so that it would have the ring of authenticity. It is driven by a game engine similar to those used by games like the World of Warcraft.

Students control an avatar who walks around the village. Using a microphone, the students speak Arabic to various characters, such as shopkeepers. They can change the speed of the characters and keep track of their progress.

If they speak clearly enough, the shopkeeper will respond…

Community College Week also has other juicy distance learning tidbits in their latest edition.

+ College athletes take online classes too.  This piece in the East Valley Tribune (AZ) discusses how some college athletes are approaching online courses at Arizona State University. 

+ Kansas State University and Purdue University (IN) team up with the Grain Elevator and Processing Society (GEAPS) to offer two courses via distance learning.  The courses are “Safety Management for Grain & Processing Facilities” and “Fundamentals of Fuel Ethanol Production”. 

+ More scrutiny of California Coast University (i.e. “Cal Coast”) degrees by the media in Texas.  A person mentioned in the report earned his Cal Coast degree prior to the date when the school received DETC accreditation.

+ Broome Community College (NY) was recently cited for its extensive use of iTunes. 

+ Online courses are becoming more popular at the University of Iowa. 

+ 112 out of 753 students receiving diplomas during this weekend’s graduation at Brenau University (GA) “completed their studies through the Online College”. 

+ College options grow for servicemembers deployed to Iraq. 

+ University of California-Irvine now has two more free online courses available. 

+ Indiana University and Purdue University will each offer three online courses to high school students in rural areas.  This initiative begins fall, 2008. 

+ University of North Carolina-Greensboro recently won two awards for online learning.  One award came from the U.S. Distance Learning Association while a second is via the N.C. Distance Learning Association. 

+ East Carolina University (NC) was awarded a $50,000 grant to develop a graduate certificate in health informatics (scroll 1/2 down the page). 

+ Web-based courses are increasing in popularity at Amarillo College (TX) and West Texas A&M University. 

+ Lincoln Memorial University (TN) plans to “look into distance education”. 

+ Springfield Technical Community College (MA) establishes a presence on Second Life. 

+ A couple in Knoxville, TN graduated from Pellissippi State Technical Community College with a perfect 4.0 GPA.  Their associate’s degrees in computer science and IT are part of the Regents Online Degree Program. 

+ eCornell introduces a new certificate program in strategic hospitality management. 

+ Ohio Christian University anticipates holding commencement next year for the “first group of students to complete degrees online”.

+ University of Wisconsin-Superior distance learning program is growing as well.

Have a great weekend!

Someday, I’ll compose a really comprehensive post on technical communications degree programs that are available through distance learning.  I’ve previously blogged about online tech comm degrees.  Below are a few more programs.

- Mercer University (GA), Master of Science in Technical Communication Management.

- New Jersey Institute of Technology, Certificate in the Practice of Technical Communications (graduate). 

- New Jersey Institute of Technology, Master of Science in Professional and Technical Communication.

- Rochester Institute of Technology (NY), Basic and Advanced Technical Communication certificates (undergraduate). 

- Rochester Institute of Technology (NY), Technical Information Design certificate (graduate).

- Northeastern University (MA), Master of Professional Writing and Information Design.  The program can be completed in as little as 18 months. 

- Texas Tech University, Doctor of Philosophy in Technical Communication and Rhetoric.  A couple short residencies on campus are required.

And will these discussions remain as such? A post at Wired Campus Blog raises some intriguing questions about privacy — present and future – relating to discussions held in an online class.

“Somebody’s going to get badly burned by this,” he said, “because people aren’t thinking about this.”

Unfortunately, we usually focus on security after the damage is done.

Crain’s New York Business recently published a report concerning a new associate’s degree in fashion marketing to be offered online by Parsons The New School for Design. This online offering represents the most expensive associate’s degree program that I’ve seen thus far. In addition to the report, the university’s tuition page confirms program costs.

In all fairness, Parsons and its parent, The New School, are highly acclaimed institutions with storied histories. Assorted past and present faculty reads like a Who’s Who of accomplished artists, designers, scholars, writers, and so on. For that matter, The New School noted alumni list isn’t too shabby in its own right. Moreover, the current university president — former Nebraska Governor and US Senator Bob Kerrey — can present a jaw-dropping resume upon request. But still, $67K for the equivalent of a 2-year undergraduate degree is a hefty price to pay.

By and large, bureaucrat development receives little attention. Surprisingly, for students intent on pursuing these career paths, online education options are plentiful.

The National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) could arguably be considered the public administration counterpart to the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). NASPAA not only serves as a promoter of public service and related education, but also an accreditor for public administration, public affairs, and public policy graduate degree programs.

I’ll get to the point. NASPAA publishes an “On-line Courses & Degrees” page on the association’s site. Online master’s degrees from 14 not-for-profit universities are listed there. Additional online options — courses, graduate certificates, a bachelor’s degree, and even a Doctor of Public Administration degree — are linked on the page as well. It is important to note, however, that a difference exists between NASPAA member and accredited institutions. Therefore, if a prospective student seeks an NASPAA-accredited, public service-related master’s degree that can be attained via distance learning, then it is advisable to cross-reference the online degrees page with the accredited programs list (PDF document).

All the distance learning news fit to print magically appears every Friday. ;-) 

+ Fitchburg State College (MA) plans to offer the nation’s first master’s degree in forensic nursing beginning fall, 2008.  In a previous post, I mentioned an online MBA program through Fitchburg State.  Tuition rates for non-residents, while riddled with pesky fees, are quite affordable there. 

+ Baker College (MI) is for real.  A team from Baker College recently won the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. 

+ Wayne State University (MI) will begin teaching an online Master of Library and Information Science degree. 

+ City University of Seattle is launching an online Master of Arts in Leadership that is slated to begin fall, 2008. 

+ Due to popular demand, the “100-cow outreach program” at Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture will expand to a distance learning format.  This program actually seems like an interesting learning experience. 

+ Indiana State University and Ivy Tech Community College sign a credit transfer agreement. 

+ University of Connecticut Insurance Law Center is adding a special online course next year that focuses on insurance in the European Union and China.  “Visiting” professors will login from China and Italy. 

+ West Virginia University at Parkersburg intends to add four online associate degrees. 

+ The media has noticed that online college degrees are growing in Kansas.  Much more coverage from The Hays Daily News Online.

+ College-level education for corrections officers.  Dennis Souther, Dean of the Online Campus at Stanly Community College (NC), approaches the subject in this lengthy piece.  

+ Aquaculture classes at Kentucky State University take advantage of various media to serve distance learners.  I’ve heard Kentucky State ranks among national leaders in the aquaculture field. 

+ Survey results of online students from St. Cloud State University (MN):

* 37 percent of students surveyed had taken an online course since enrolling at St. Cloud State.

* 82 percent were very or somewhat satisfied with the online course they took.

* Less than half of all students surveyed were aware that online courses cost an additional $75 per credit, including 34 percent of the students who had taken an online course.

+ More on the online-only Ivy Bridge College to be offered by Tiffin University (OH). 

+ Polk Community College (FL) is considering more online classes as well as the addition of 4-year undergrad degrees to its offerings. 

+ Western Governors University recently won two US Distance Learning Association awards. 

+ The Army wife and Ohio State University student featured in this report discusses the challenges of online learning while her husband is deployed to Iraq. 

+ It appears that the National Science Foundation awarded a fellowship to a Penn State online student. 

+ The Greenville Technical College’s (SC) incoming president brings quite a bit of distance learning administration experience with him. 

+ This report in The Flint Journal describes how military personnel are earning their degrees while deployed abroad.

“In my opinion, I appreciate my education more because of the situations and scenarios in which I worked to obtain it. Where else can you, by day, help to build a school or have your vehicle struck by an IED (improvised explosive device) and by night, complete and submit your English paper?”

+ Inside Higher Ed looks at alternatives to expensive textbooks — online textbooks — for community college students. 

+ Library Journal examines Web 2.0 and the “parallel information universe”. 

+ This non-traditional student at Winona State University (MN) kept at it — for ten years — and will soon graduate with a bachelor’s degree.

+ The National Fire Academy launches two new online self-study courses.

Have a great weekend!

The Worcester Business Journal reports that online enrollment is up 26.2% over last year.  Remarkable, indeed.

UMassOnline = a first-class institution offering an outstanding variety of quality distance learning opportunities.

Feel-good stories like this one are just so cool.  An 89-year-young grandmother, enrolled at TTU since 1991, looks to graduate with her granddaughter in the near future.

Elleta Nolte said age is no reason to avoid going to college.

“Who originated the idea that mainly the young should attend college?” she asked. “Youth has no real advantage to learning, for we oldsters have experience and insight they lack. We can relate a new concept to a fact we already know. As our age goes up, so can our confidence and our capacity for concentration. And many of us have tolerance, objectivity and are more open-minded than the very young.”

Despite being decades older than most of her classmates, Elleta Nolte said she never felt out of place.

“I was accepted in college as just another student; I never felt any difference,” she said. “I began a conversation with the others as they did me. Always, I was in awe that I was a college student. I never took it for granted.”

Ms. Nolte took advantage of a distance learning program offered by Texas Tech.

“Covering the Latino community”.  The course runs from May 5-30. 

From a news release on the Indiana University web site:

….The executive certificate program, which begins in September through the Kelley Executive Partners, will allow working professionals — including engineers, researchers, scientists, product managers, logisticians and attorneys — to conveniently learn the business behind the life sciences. It uses the same, proven method of learning employed by the school’s Kelley Direct online MBA program…

Additional information is available at the program page.  This certificate is not cheap - $15,000.