Online Education - Online education degrees | accredited institutions of higher learning

Pursuing online education degrees is now as common as obtaining education via brick-and-mortar institutions, thanks to great advances in online technologies in recent years. Mind you, we are not talking about ordinary online degree programmes, but PhDs and master degree programmes in a wide variety of fields.

In fact, my MBA was obtained via an online education degrees programme offered by an Australian public university. All students were given a username and password to access the university's website from where students could access its library, course materials, lecturers' communication and notes, and students forum.

For the online education degree I was pursuing then, the tests were done online too. For such tests, you must make sure that you have a good Internet connection. Let me explain why the connection is crucial. Each tests were "opened" for about a week, lets say, Jan 1 to 7. Students can sit for the test at any time during that period. The problem is that once you start taking the test, you only have an hour to complete it. You cannot stop half way and then continue some other day because the test is automatically timed. That is why a good Internet connection is crucial when doing such online education degrees. Just imagine, you are 80% through the test and then you get disconnected!

Overall, online education degrees are ideal for people who are financially constrained, or who want to kill two birds with one stone - work and study. Another advantage is that they can pursue higher education without sacrificing career or family.

Online education programmes are mushrooming everywhere in cyberspace, so its best you pick the university carefully.

Try to go for one which is reputable and well established. If possible, try to ensure that what they are offering can, among others, strengthen critical thinking, research, and problem solving skills. It would be great if their program is continually updated to ensure that students can meet modern challenges.

One often asked question about online education degrees is whether employers value such degrees. Well, there are a few ways to look at this, and one of them deals with accreditation.

Accreditation is a validation process by which institutions are evaluated against established standards. The standards used do vary, but generally the focus is on: the institution's mission, goals and objectives, resources, student admission requirements and support services, and the quality of educational offerings. If you are staying in the US and want to know if an online education institution is accredited, check it out with the U.S.Department of Education. If it is an Australian university, then check it out with the education authorities there. If you are a public servant, and you are eyeing a certain degree, well its best to check with your superior whether the department or agency you work for recognise the degree you are eyeing. It will save you lots of heartache later on.

This leads to another question - must you avoid non accredited institutions? The answer is no. It depends on what you plan to do with the degree. If it is just for self development and self satisfaction, who cares if the online education degrees you signed up for is accredited. And remember, a school that is not accredited does not make them inferior or illegal. There are a myriad of legitimate reasons why they are not accredited.

In general, online education degrees is god send. It has enabled countless people throughout the world to lead better lives by studying from the comfort of their homes.