John Tipton

Sometimes, it’s really difficult to take a step backwards. There are some decisions that simply can’t be undone or even corrected. But distance learning and elearning have impacted the way many adults are getting and furthering their educations. The reason? It’s really a simple matter of convenience.

Once a person takes the first step into a full time job, their lives have probably changed forever. With a full time job, there’s the need for a car, a place to live and other purchases and financial obligations.

It’s difficult or impossible to satisfy those responsibilities without working full time, and it’s equally difficult or impossible to work full time while making any real headway towards a degree. At least it was, until distance learning and elearning appeared on the education scene.

Added to the financial aspect of adult responsibilities are the family obligations. Many adults who already have children are realizing that their income potential is much more than what they are making now.

But having a family further complicates the issue. Instead of just holding down a full time job while attempting to get a degree, the parent is also juggling, for example, soccer practice, dance recitals and parent-teacher conferences.

By the time the parents help kids with their homework, it’s bedtime and another day is gone. While most adults with a drive to learn can squeeze in a few hours each week to work on their degree, some find it impossible to create a routine that allows them to attend classes.

Elearning is the answer because the student works at his or her own pace with materials that are exclusively online.

An added benefit of elearning is that many programs offer greatly accelerated graduation time. Can you imagine dedicating the next three or four years to a full-time student status in order to gain a degree? Many programs offer certificates of training or even degrees in just a few months, depending on your previous educational background and the program you seek to enter.

You might immediately come to the conclusion that elearning will be easy. The fact is that it takes dedication - probably more so than a regulated classroom. Instead of having teachers to report to on a regular basis, students are left to work on their own.

For some, the temptation to simply not work on the assignments is strong because there’s no one periodically checking progress. Some programs require students to physically attend a class on a regular basis, usually once a week and sometimes as a distance-learning environment. This helps the student stay on track to ensure that the course is completed on time. =========================================================== Find out why distance learning lets anyone go back to school. Discover what you need to look for in a distance learning program, and what you should avoid. Click http://www.distance-learning-exclusive.com/

About the Author

John Tipton dropped out of school early, and worked boring jobs for 20 years. Then he discovered ‘distance learning’ and finally got the education he missed. After lots of different courses at lots of different schools, Peter shares his experience in this series of useful articles.

John Tipton

Before distance learning and elearning, students in rural school districts were often at a great disadvantage when it came to subjects being offered. A small school district sometimes didn’t have the resources to attract teachers that were in high demand.

Math, science and foreign language classes were often limited because of this shortage. Today, distance learning and elearning have changed the way school districts determine class schedules, making many more opportunities available to students.

Public schools have changed dramatically over the past century and a great number of those changes can be put down to two factors - state and federal mandates governing the classes that must be offered and requirements for graduation, and (of course) the ever-increasing world of technology.

Computers have made the world a global neighborhood in which anyone can instantly communicate with those from another country, even if that country is half way around the world. Language and time differences are virtually the only barriers. This means that distance learning and elearning are a part of the curriculum of many schools.

As schools began to connect to the Internet, the immediate concern in most cases was how to regulate the use. The next was how to best use the technology to benefit school districts and students. Distance learning and elearning became the way to provide options, especially in those rural districts that couldn’t meet state mandates.

Consider the situation of many smaller, rural schools. If the school is required to offer a foreign language but can’t recruit a teacher, what should happen to that school? Forced consolidations have been common in some states. Students lost the benefits of schools in their own towns and faced long bus rides to new districts.

With distance learning and elearning, more schools can meet the state and federal mandates to offer specific classes.

Consider yet another situation. A smaller district has four students who show great promise in their math studies and it’s quickly apparent that they could go well beyond the normal math classes offered in high school.

There’s no one on the teaching staff capable of teaching those advanced concepts and it’s financially impossible to hire someone for that task alone. Distance learning or e- earning could provide those classes.

Special needs children are another group to greatly benefit from distance learning and elearning. While many issues can only be dealt with between teacher and student, face-to- face, there are many things that can be taught and learned online.

Whether the subject of distance learning or elearning is a foreign language or sign language, and whether the class or courses are being offered to one student or the entire student body, distance learning and elearning have become an important tool for many public schools. =========================================================== Find out why distance learning lets anyone go back to school. Discover what you need to look for in a distance learning program, and what you should avoid. Click http://www.distance-learning-exclusive.com/distance-learning-colleges.html

About the Author

John Tipton dropped out of school early, and worked boring jobs for 20 years. Then he discovered ‘distance learning’ and finally got the education he missed. After lots of different courses at lots of different schools, Peter shares his experience in this series of useful articles.

Rose

There is a ground swell of support globally to support the growth of distance learning. Market research firms, government agencies, public and private companies, and even venture capital firms – those companies that invest in new and emerging businesses – all agree that distance learning’s future is very bright, and a good investment opportunity as well.

All this translates into a bright future for anyone looking at distance learning to accomplish their career, educational, and learning objectives. Chances are if there isn’t a program in place today for your specific needs, there will be one – soon. This article explains how the perfect storm is brewing for distance learning, in a very positive way. Several market factors are presented here, along with research from research and government agencies that show that distance learning is here to stay and may someday surpass traditional classroom attendance approaches to learning.

What’s driving Distance Learning growth?

Consider the following statistics from International Data Corporation on the market for distance learning – these figures and others are making many traditional colleges and universities re-vamp their courses and degree programs to make them available online.

* There are 133 million U.S. adults or 66% of the adult population, which have Internet access today. That’s over half the entire U.S. population and serves as a strong incentive for colleges and universities to re-vamp their programs to support this untapped educational market.

* According to International Data Corporation, over 90% of college students access the Internet, with 50% accessing the Web daily, and this is on a global scale. Colleges and universities have also found that to stay relevant to their traditional students, they have had to create online and distance learning programs quickly to stay up with their learning needs.

* 87% of four-year colleges will offer distance-learning courses in 2004, up from 62% in 1998. According to International Data Corporation, 25% more colleges and universities added distance learning programs between 1998 and 2004.

* By 2004, 2.2 million degree-seeking students are enrolled in distributed courses – CAGR of 33%. The growth of distance learning on a global scale has the attention of companies as well – they plan on spending $272B in the next five years on in-house training and education programs, according to International Data Corporation.

* 51% of all online courses worldwide have online discussion forms in 2001, growing to 65% in 2005. This is a sign of how quickly the Internet’s performance is improving around the world. The bandwidth required to support online discussions is great news for distance learning. Now even the most geographically remote student can get the education they want.

Summary

The implications are clear. Distance learning is growing rapidly and has been fortunate that many countries teach English in addition to their own native languages. What’s next on the horizon of distance learning is offering courses and degrees in multiple languages. International Data Corporation predicts that by 2006, 65% of all Internet users will be international.

About the Author

Rose is the editor of www.distance-learning-college-guide.com where you find answers, information and advice on distance learning colleges, accredited online degrees and online courses. See more related information at Just what is Distance Learning?