Education, Careers & Professional News
College May Become Unaffordable for Most in U.S.
The rising cost of college — even before the recession — threatens to put higher education out of reach for most Americans, according to the annual report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
Over all, the report found, published college tuition and fees increased 439 percent from 1982 to 2007, adjusted for inflation, while median family income rose 147 percent. Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade, and students from lower-income families, on average, get smaller grants from the colleges they attend than students from more affluent families.
“If we go on this way for another 25 years, we won’t have an affordable system of higher education,” said Patrick M. Callan, president of the center, a nonpartisan organization that promotes access to higher education.
“When we come out of the recession,” Mr. Callan added, “we’re really going to be in jeopardy, because the educational gap between our work force and the rest of the world will make it very hard to be competitive. Already, we’re one of the few countries where 25- to 34-year-olds are less educated than older workers.”
Although college enrollment has continued to rise in recent years, Mr. Callan said, it is not clear how long that can continue.
“The middle class has been financing it through debt,” he said. “The scenario has been that families that have a history of sending kids to college will do whatever if takes, even if that means a huge amount of debt.”
But low-income students, he said, will be less able to afford college. Already, he said, the strains are clear.
The report, “Measuring Up 2008,” is one of the few to compare net college costs — that is, a year’s tuition, fees, room and board, minus financial aid — against median family income. Those findings are stark. Last year, the net cost at a four-year public university amounted to 28 percent of the median family income, while a four-year private university cost 76 percent of the median family income.
More : nytimes.com
China Distance Education Holdings Limited Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2008 Results
China Distance Education Holdings Limited (NYSE Arca: DL) ("CDEL", or the “Company"), a leading provider of online education in China focusing on professional education, reported today its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended September 30, 2008. Such unaudited financial results are our estimates, and our audited full fiscal year results could differ materially from the estimates provided below. These results may, for example, become subject to adjustments based upon, among other things, completion of our full year reporting processes. For additional information regarding the various risks and uncertainties inherent in estimates of this type, see the section entitled “Safe Harbor Statement” below in this press release.
More : marketwatch.com
Dowling College Now Offers Distance Graduate Studies Program
Dowling College’s graduate business program will now be conducted as a fully online distance program by a faculty of highly qualified experienced business professionals. The program serves as a valuable resource for today’s business community in the development of its management talent and leadership. The curriculum of each program has been designed to meet the specific needs of working professionals.
The Distance MBA in Management and Leadership is defined by 30 credits of advanced coursework, finalized with a 6-credit capstone experience. The MBA offers students a professional point of view in the science of management and leadership. Emphasis is placed on creating a sense of responsibility as the student reflects on the complexity that leaders face in today’s global market. The eleven courses that are offered within the Distance MBA Program satisfy all requirements of the degree.
The Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs at Dowling College provide an educational foundation for responsible business leadership. Students develop a professional point of view in the science of management. The Master of Business Administration programs at Dowling College are accredited by the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE). The Master of Business Administration in Management and Leadership degree program has been approved by and duly registered with the New York State Education Department.
More : newsli.com
Distance learning program provides options for students
Thirty-five students could obtain bachelor’s degrees from Ohio University without ever setting foot on its campus — and that number could increase as partnerships with community colleges continue to be added.
Students can take online courses through OU’s distance learning program after completing their associate or technical degree, said Charles Bird, vice provost for University Outreach.
The program operates solely through distance learning and costs about the same per credit hour as an upper division regional OU campus for an in-state student — $153, Bird said. Upper division regional campuses are OU Chillicothe, OU Zanesville and OU Lancaster.
The amount of time each student is enrolled at OU depends on the length of the program he or she completed at community colleges. In most cases, students complete three years with the community college and one year with OU.
Right now, OU is offering a Bachelor of Technical and Applied Studies and a Criminal Justice degree. Bird said next fall there could be a Registered Nurse to Bachelor’s in Nursing program.
The plans are conducive to Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric D. Fingerhut’s Strategic Plan for Higher Education 2008-2017. According to a press release from the University System of Ohio’s Web site, the plan was presented to Gov. Ted Strickland and the Ohio General Assembly and details strategies to meet the governor’s goal of enrolling 230,000 more students while keeping college graduates in Ohio and attracting more students to the state.
Because fewer students are attending college after high school, there is an increased demand for adult learners, Bird said.
“All over the country, colleges are looking for new sources of revenue. Given the demographics in Ohio, these programs will be increasingly important,” he said.
Programs began last spring with partnerships between OU and Washington State Community College in Marietta and Columbus State Community College in Columbus. The most recent college to join the program was Owens Community College — which has locations in Toledo and Findlay — Oct. 22, Bird said. Currently, seven schools have partnerships with OU and 35 students from a variety of the schools are enrolled in distance learning classes.
Michael Chaney, chief communications officer at the Ohio Board of Regents, said the goal behind these programs is to provide people with as many affordable educational options as possible.
“Ohio is competing not just with other states, but with every region in the world. … In order to do that, we need to increase the education of our population,” Chaney said.
The program’s flexibility could be attractive to nontraditional students, who often have more obligations like full-time jobs and families than students who live on campus, said Paul Unger, executive vice president and provost at Owens Community College.
Unger said he thinks OU is taking a leadership role in working toward the Strategic Plan of Ohio.
“We have seen a positive response not only from students, but from faculty as well,” Unger said. “I think time will tell, but as students see different ways of obtaining education, I think it will have a positive impact.”
More : thepost.ohiou.edu
No higher degree without having basic ones says SC
NEW DELHI: In the age of the open university system of distance education where one can get a higher degree without having basic ones, this
ruling from the Supreme Court has come as a dampner.
To the question — whether a candidate, who has got a post-graduate degree from an open university without completing his graduation, be eligible to be admitted to the LLB course requiring graduation as an educational qualification — the apex court’s answer was an emphatic ‘no’.
Upholding Guru Nanak Dev University’s contention and setting aside a Punjab and Haryana High Court verdict, a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and R V Raveendran said once the minimum eligibility criterion was a regular graduation degree, the stipulation could not be side-stepped by a post-graduation degree from an open university.
Appealing against the HC order directing it to admit Sanjay Kumar Katwal to the LLB course on the basis of his post-graduation degree through the distance education from Annamalai University, GNDU said it recognised the regular and correspondence course degrees conferred by Annamalai University but not the ones obtained through the open university system. Counntering GNDU’s stand, Katwal argued before the Bench that the distance education system included correspondence courses and therefore post-graduation through correspondence was equivalent to the regular MA degree.
More : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Dubai International Academic City Seeks to Capitalise on e-Learning Boom
Dubai International Academic City (DIAC), the region’s leading destination of higher education and a member of TECOM Investments, today announced its capabilities to capitalise on the prolific growth of online education that the region is currently witnessing.
DIAC offers a range of online education programmes through some of the world’s most prestigious universities such as The University of Exeter, UK; University of Phoenix, US; Manchester Business School, US, and JSS Mahavidyapeetha, India and Universitas 21 Global, Singapore.
Dr Ayoub Kazim, Executive Director, Dubai International Academic City and Dubai Knowledge Village, said: “The earlier perception that online and distance learning programmes do not find favour with the academic community at large is being quickly outmoded with the concept taking a steady foothold in the educational system over the past 20 years. Widely recognized by the educational community and international bodies worldwide, distance learning is in many ways a welcome phenomenon as it holds enormous promise for enriching education.”
The global growth of e-learning is significant across the board and according to figures in a recent US study titled Online Nation: Five Years of Growth in Online Learning by the Sloan Consortium, online enrolments achieved a 9.7 per cent growth rate compared to 1.5 per cent growth of the overall higher education student population.
More : eyeofdubai.com
Chicago Public Schools Receive Major Corporate Donation for Science Education
Mayor Richard M. Daley and Chicago Public Schools (CPS), announced today that Baxter International Inc. will donate $5 million over five years to support CPS district science initiatives – the first program ever to fund biotech education in CPS history. This significant contribution has the potential to impact more than 450 CPS teachers through professional development and 75,000 students – all at the junior high and high school level – who by the year 2012 will benefit from the new innovative schools, enhanced teacher skill set, materials, and direct interaction with Baxter scientists and engineers.
“This contribution has the potential to have a major impact on hundreds of our teachers and thousands of our students, and on behalf of all our residents I want to thank Baxter International for its strong and consistent support of education in Chicago,” said Mayor Richard M. Daley at Lindblom Math and Science Academy, 6130 S. Wolcott St., a recipient of grant funds.
The donation from Baxter will go toward three science initiatives as part of SCIENCE@WORK: Expanding Minds with Real-World Science: 1) The development of a Biotechnology Center of Excellence at Lindblom Math & Science Academy; 2) The launch of two new Renaissance 2010 schools through The Renaissance Schools Fund, and; 3) Support for Illinois Institute of Technology’s (IIT) Instructional Development System program to enrich teacher professional development at participating schools and provide broader student access to science and biotechnology. It is anticipated that through the cascading effect of the programs the partners provide, SCIENCE@WORK will impact 96 teachers annually – 30 teachers via Lindblom Math & Science Academy teacher training and 66 teachers via IIT’s teacher training system. In turn, the enhanced teacher training will impact 15,000 students per year. Over five years, the program could reach up to 90 percent of the nearly 500 biology teachers in CPS and 67 percent of the 112,000 high school students in CPS currently.
“Baxter is bringing science directly to our students in an exciting way, while also setting a remarkable example for other corporate partners to follow,” said Rufus Williams, president of the Chicago Board of Education. “Thank you, Baxter, for this amazing investment in Chicago Public Schools.”
More : marketwatch.com
Tri-state colleges growing online
The world of online education flows from around the country into many local post-secondary institutions.
While some distance-education programs have offered a wide variety of online classes and programs for quite some time, others have only started to dabble in the practice.
The following is a history of how local post-secondary institutions began their foray into online education.
University of Wisconsin-Platteville
The southwest Wisconsin university got it all started in 1999 with a single online master’s degree program.
The first online program at UW-P was the Masters of Science and Project Management.
“At that point, the market was starting to show that online education was going to be a formidable force in education,” said Les Hollingsworth, UW-P’s corporate marketing director for the distance learning center.
The Internet allowed the university to extend its reach nationwide and offer programs that would be difficult to provide on campus.
“It was a great way to offer graduate education that the campus simply couldn’t fulfill based on the population density in this area,” Hollingsworth said. “The online allowed us to reach out to a much, much larger geographic area to fulfill that need.”
Today, UW-P offers five online programs and has about 2,200 students from around the country enrolled in the Web-based programs.
Northeast Iowa Community College
NICC started to offer a small selection of online courses in 2000. Those first students and instructors who agreed to go online were the matriculating equivalent of guinea pigs for online education at the college.
“It was kind of sink or swim,” said NICC’s Jill Ferrie, director of distance learning.
From that first semester to 2006, more professors agreed to offer their classes online as well as on the campus.
With the growth of student demand came the growth of the college’s Web-based programs.
“Our mission is community focused, student-driven,” Ferrie said. “The student’s demand for online has grown.”
More : thonline.com
Accredited Silver State High School offers online education
Coming and going is more irregular than a traditional high school, but the students attending Silver State High School still have to get the work done.
“It’s not a gimme,” said SSHS Principal Steve Knight, the brainchild for the blueprint of SSHS.
There is less teenage angst common in traditional schools, and discipline problems, while rare, can be resolved quickly by simply sending the student home, according to some of the teachers and students of the free, charter school located in north Carson City.
In the five years the school has been open, Knight said only four parent complaints have been made.
“There’s not a whole lot of angry kids walking around here,” said senior Dane Hexberg, who said he often was bored and unchallenged when he attended a traditional high school. “There’s more freedom.”
The typical student at SSHS is outgoing and wants to get their work done, said Hexburg.
Billing itself as “Nevada’s First Statewide Virtual High School,” the atmosphere is likened to a college approach, where students are largely in charge of how many hours they spend at the school – located at U.S. 395 and College Parkway – or working online. The only requirement is one day a week for four hours.
Online education
The school is an online distance education high school where students may be separated by time and location, but technology can bridge that gap. Most class work can be done online. It ranges from straightforward material to interactive, real-time experiences, such as a streaming Web cam lecture.
According to the school’s Web site, students can also phone or “contact their teachers using instant messaging during the day and into the early evening whenever they need help.”
“That’s why they love it. We are so high-tech,” said Vice Principal Alan Staggs.
The school is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. to accommodate different schedules. In July 2006, SSHS was accredited by the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools, the same accrediting body of any other area traditional high school.
This means a diploma is acknowledged as equal to one from any other accredited school, Knight said.
“I think it is wonderful,” said Joy Hexberg, Dane’s mother who has sent all three of her sons to SSHS. “It is an alternative for students to be responsible for themselves.”
Hexberg’s oldest son started attending SSHS because the family was big into BMX racing and needed to travel often. She said it turned into a real blessing in disguise for her boys.
More : news.rgj.com
A new kind of distance learning
The North Platte Telegraph
A group of students, teachers and administrators from Mid-Plains Community College recently experienced a new type of distance learning as they traveled to North Lindsey College in Lincolnshire, England.
In April, a similar group of students enrolled in the automotive programs at North Lindsey College came to North Platte to work with the students and staff at MPCC and learn about American-style auto mechanics.
These trips are part of a Global Education Partnership Agreement between the two colleges that was officially signed in November of last year when administrators from North Lindsey College visited North Platte.
According to the agreement, the purpose of the partnership is to develop academic cooperation and exchange between to two colleges in order to promote relationships among students, faculty, administration and board members.
This was the first group from MPCC to travel to England as part of this partnership. The group returned to North Platte on Oct. 9 after spending eight days over in the United Kingdom.
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“It was a great cultural experience,” said Rachael Tuggle, who is second year automotive student at MPCC.
Tuggle was the only female student to participate in the trip. She said she really loved the experience, and she would love to have the chance to do it again.
“I learned a lot actually,” Tuggle said.
While the students spent a lot of time in class, they also got to do a little sightseeing. Tuggle said they toured an old castle as well as the historical city of York. She noted they saw several churches and abbeys.
“It was amazing,” Tuggle said. “The architecture was awesome.”
Dustin Howard, who is a second year auto body student at MPCC, had never been out of the United States before going on this trip. As a result, he said he experienced a little bit of culture shock.
“There’s just a really big difference in the way people live,” Howard said.
He noted the people in England are much more environmentally friendly. He said this is evident not only in their efforts to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles, but also in the materials they use to build their vehicles.]
More : nptelegraph.com
State grant improves distance learning at Bethel
A grant of nearly $15,000 from Kan-ed, a statewide information network administered by the Kansas Board of Regents, has enabled Bethel College to improve its ability to offer distance learning.
Earlier this school year, Kan-ed named 94 organizations, including Bethel, as recipients of Equipment and Technology Grants for 2008. Kan-ed members are K-12 public schools, higher education institutions, libraries and hospitals.
Bethel used a significant part of its grant to upgrade and improve the interactive TV (ITV) capabilities of the distance-learning classroom in Krehbiel Science Center, replacing the standard definition TV with a high-definition one.
According to Karl Friesen, Bethel assistant professor of computer science, “standard definition allows students remotely to see the professor and what he or she is writing on the whiteboard but not to read what’s on a computer screen,” used to show PowerPoint® slides, scanned documents and so on. In addition, a high-def ITV system “gets the whole board, whereas the old one would get only half of it,” Friesen said.
The math and computer science departments of Bethel and Tabor College in Hillsboro have been working together since 2007 to provide classes each would have trouble doing alone because of small numbers. Distance learning is easier on the students who would need to commute, given higher fuel prices and the amount of time they would spend driving relative to time in class.
Currently, Bethel and Tabor are sharing four classes. Lisa Thimm, assistant professor of mathematics at Bethel, teaches a math class and Friesen teaches two computer science classes. Glen Diener, Tabor associate professor of computer science, is also teaching a class in that discipline.
Friesen noted that there are actually more Tabor students than Bethel students in Thimm’s modern algebra class. “There are exciting possibilities for collaboration here,” he said.
Jeff Roberson, director of Information and Media Services at Bethel, wrote the grant to Kan-ed, which was awarded in the amount of $14,872.40. It purchased the piece of equipment that transmits the video feed from the originating classroom to the other side, along with two cameras, a plasma TV and supplementary equipment.
“The grant awards provide Kan-ed members with a tremendous opportunity to obtain the latest technology and equipment available in order to enhance video conferencing services,” said Kan-ed Executive Director Brad Williams. “Advanced video conferencing technology enables organizations to better serve their communities. The ability to identify critical member needs and offer opportunities to enhance access through technology contributes to the continued growth of Kan-ed.”
Kan-ed created the Equipment and Technology Grant Program in 2004, and in 2008 distributed $2.1 million through the program to its members for upgrades or enhancement of video conference equipment. Any connected Kan-ed member, or member that agreed to connect to the network, was eligible to apply. Currently, Kan-ed has 834 members, with 288 of them connected to the network for high-speed access to resources and programs. This program is funded by state appropriations, revenue generated through the E-rate program, and federal sources.
Kan-ed reviewed 139 proposals submitted and granted awards to 94 organizations. Priority consideration went to proposals that focused on meeting infrastructure development goals and objectives for the Kan-ed network and members. In Harvey County, in addition to Bethel College, Burrton USD 369 received a grant of about $14,500.
More : bethelks.edu
College goes distance for learning
College courses are now just a computer click away at the Wayne County Community College District (WCCCD).
The college is now offering more courses and programs through the Distance Learning Division, where options for taking classes are beyond the traditional classroom, according to officials.
It allows people the ability to pursue higher education anywhere and in multiple locations, said Dr. Stephanie Bulger, vice-chancellor in the center for distance education and learning technology. It doesn’t mean it’s easier, but course it’s flexible and can be taken anywhere in the world.
The distance learning division offers academic credit courses and programs through three primary venues—online, interactive television and live interactive online—as an alternative to the classroom. The division also offers non-credit courses for professional development through the e-learning center and, gives high school students the opportunity to jumpstart their college career by taking online courses through the Virtual Middle College, officials said.
It’s real-time interaction so it affords the students the ability to remain in the local region and connect, said Bulger.
Courses and programs offered online cover a broad range of areas, like entrepreneurship, surgical technology, hotel management, homeland security, project management, allied health and computer information systems.
Students can select from the numerous online course offerings and gain flexible access to high quality education wherever they are located through Wayne County, the State of Michigan, around the country and around the world, according to the college.
It’s geared toward learners of all types, said Bulger. We have high school students taking online courses, university students who need extra courses; it’s high quality at a reasonable cost.
It provides opportunities for working professionals who want to expand and students to complete a certificate program. It’s changed the way students participate and the way they learn, she added. It’s available 24-7 at different times, there’s a high level of interaction and I think it’s really the most dramatic change in education.
More : journalgroup.com
Distance Education Council Bill referred to GoM
A Bill seeking to make Distance Education Council (DEC) a statutory body was today referred to a Group of Ministers for consideration by the Union Cabinet.
The Cabinet took this decision after objections were raised by a number of ministers, including Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, over the proposal of the HRD ministry to set up a new and independent regulator in the form of a 19-member DEC.
According to the proposal, the DEC would monitor and regulate the standards of open learning across the country and also keep a watch on all open learning institutes, including the regular institutes that offer correspondence courses.
HRD Minister Arjun Singh, who has been strongly batting for the DEC Bill, reportedly did not press for it in the cabinet meeting, where at least three ministers expressed their reservations over it.
“While giving their opinions, the ministers noted their disagreement with certain parts of the Bill after which the matter was referred to GoM,” a union minister told reporters.
More : zeenews.com
Distance education Bill goes to Group of Ministers
This is the second proposed legislation of the ministry to have gone the GoM way ahead of the Parliament session. Earlier, the Right
to Education (RTE) Bill was referred to a GoM in August this year.
The Bill seeks to establish an independent and statutory regulator in the form of a 19-member DEC to monitor and regulate standards of open learning in the country. It is learnt that the proposed legislation was strongly opposed by Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath among others and HRD Minister Arjun Singh is finally said to have given in for a GoM referral even though his ministry is keen on pushing the Bill through this session. Sources said questions were raised on the constitution of this body.
Watchdog for distance education before Cabinet
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 15 The distance education sector is all set to get a new and independent regulator in the form of a 19-member Distance Education Council (DEC). The legislation for the constitution of DEC, which will monitor and regulate the standards of open learning across the country, will come up for Cabinet approval on Thursday.
While a DEC already exists under the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), the new regulator will be a statutory body independent of the central university.
Besides monitoring courses conducted via satellite-based channels and Internet courses, the new DEC is proposed to keep a close watch on all open learning institutes, including the regular institutes that offer correspondence courses. The new DEC will also be empowered to check fake institutions or institutions imparting sub-standard education.
De-linking of DEC from IGNOU had been a long-pending demand by universities offering Distance Education Programmes (DEPs), as they felt that the university, which itself was conducting such courses, should not prescribe norms for them.
More : indianexpress.com
Cash-strapped schools turn to foundations
When Derry Area School District officials wanted to build a preschool, they didn’t go begging to the school board for tax dollars.
Instead, members of Derry’s nonprofit education foundation took matters into their own hands and went to work to raise the money.
In the end, it was $1 million in public donations and grants from the Mellon and Heinz endowments – not taxpayers’ money – that led to the opening of the Barbara Thompson Early Literacy Center last year. Today, six dozen children attend pre-kindergarten classes at the center, according to Kathy Beining, the center’s director.
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It’s a fundraising scenario played out more often than ever across the nation, as educators facing dwindling public funding look to these foundations to raise money for programs their districts would not otherwise be able to afford.
More foundations are created every year, said Jim Collogan, interim director of the National School Foundation Association. The association, which was established in 2005, has seen its membership increase from 120 local foundations after the first year, to nearly 600 this year.
Today, there are between 6,000 and 7,000 local education foundations in the United States, and they pay for everything from sports equipment to SAT prep classes, Collogan said.
In Pennsylvania, the much-debated 2006 Taxpayer Relief Act, or Act 1, limits local school tax increases to about 4 percent a year and requires voter approval if districts want more.
Robert New, president of the Mid-Atlantic Consortium of Education Foundations, called Act 1 “a big problem.”
“Superintendents have to make cuts because nobody wants to go to referendum,” New said.
That same type of funding crisis in 1979 was the genesis of the nation’s first public school foundations in San Francisco when California’s controversial Proposition 13 was approved, capping property taxes on which school districts relied.
More : pittsburghlive.com
Courses a shot in the arm for nurses
Orange’s Charles Sturt University (CSU) campus will train an extra 30 nursing students from next year.
The announcement of 30 new nursing students to be trained through the Orange campus and 15 graduate certificate students through CSU’s Dubbo campus has been welcomed as a boost for regional nursing by the university and the Greater Western Area Health Service (GWAHS).
“We know there is a shortage of nurses and mental health nurses in the region so this will benefit greatly the workforce in the area,” head of the CSU nursing and midwifery school, Elaine Duffy said.
The courses will be provided through distance education, meaning students will not be permanently based in Orange, but Professor Duffy said the course would still provide graduates for regional areas.
“I think what’s important is the majority of our graduates start their careers in regional NSW, so it’s really good for recruitment to have CSU providing these courses,” she said.
The distance education model would also allow the university to provide education to remote students, not able to relocate for several years of training.
She said CSU was one of Australia’s biggest providers of distance education for nurses.
GWAHS says it is expecting many of the new students will eventually work for the service.
“It is absolutely a positive thing from GWAHS’ point of view,” GWAHS nursing workforce development manager Linda Lynott said.
“When we look at recruitment numbers we’ve found about three-quarters of the people who want to work for GWAHS have come from CSU.”
She said there were many distance students at CSU who were already enrolled nurses who would soon become registered nurses and she expected this trend to continue following the announcement of more places.
The recent announcement of a $2.1 million medical trade school at Canobolas Rural Technology High School and the CSU announcement showed encouraging signs for the nursing shortage
More : orange.yourguide.com.au
eLearners.com Helps Students Avoid Diploma Mills
eLearners.com, a web resource of EducationDynamics, today announced its comprehensive resource to help prospective and current students avoid diploma mills. Diploma mills pose online as a legitimate university and then take advantage of unsuspecting students by offering programs. To help students, eLearners.com offers resources on how to spot a diploma mill program, located at
The deceitful practices were alarming enough that President George Bush signed the “College Opportunity and Affordability Act” into law on August 14, 2008, which includes the establishment of a Diploma Mill Task Force. The task force will create a plan to help eradicate the sale and use of fake degrees, but until that plan is in action students need to watch out for deceptive practices.
“Diploma mills just want your money and don’t care if you get the education you are looking for to advance your career,” said Terrence Thomas, EVP Marketing Operations at EducationDynamics. “Online education is a perfect solution for many people, but you have to make sure the program you sign up for is accredited. In today’s tight economy every dollar counts, so make sure you’re spending money on a degree that’s part of a legitimate program.”
Although it is hard to determine an exact number of diploma mills, John Bear, an author and expert in the field of distance learning, said that in 2004 there were more than 300 unaccredited universities. To help spot a diploma mill and not pay money to a bogus institution, eLearners.com offers these tips:
More : marketwatch.com
eLearners.com, a web resource of EducationDynamics
eLearners.com, a web resource of EducationDynamics, today announced its comprehensive resource to help prospective and current students avoid diploma mills. Diploma mills pose online as a legitimate university and then take advantage of unsuspecting students by offering programs. To help students, eLearners.com offers resources on how to spot a diploma mill program, located at
The deceitful practices were alarming enough that President George Bush signed the “College Opportunity and Affordability Act” into law on August 14, 2008, which includes the establishment of a Diploma Mill Task Force. The task force will create a plan to help eradicate the sale and use of fake degrees, but until that plan is in action students need to watch out for deceptive practices.
“Diploma mills just want your money and don’t care if you get the education you are looking for to advance your career,” said Terrence Thomas, EVP Marketing Operations at EducationDynamics. “Online education is a perfect solution for many people, but you have to make sure the program you sign up for is accredited. In today’s tight economy every dollar counts, so make sure you’re spending money on a degree that’s part of a legitimate program.”
Although it is hard to determine an exact number of diploma mills, John Bear, an author and expert in the field of distance learning, said that in 2004 there were more than 300 unaccredited universities. To help spot a diploma mill and not pay money to a bogus institution, eLearners.com offers these tips:
More : marketwatch.com
KEMP Technologies Accelerates Website Efficiency for K-12 Schools and Universities
KEMP Technologies, a leading provider of affordable server load balancers and application delivery controllers, today announced continued success with universities and K-12 schools choosing KEMP products to deliver secure and reliable web access to students and faculty. Educational institutions looking for affordable solutions are selecting KEMP’s LoadMaster devices to meet the challenges of expanding delivery of web-based services, including securing applications, and managing servers to eliminate slow or lost connections.
TheHollandChristianSchoolsystem educates over 2,000 students each school year. Today, 15 online services are offered via a secure log-in, including Wikis, Blogs, school schedules, grades and other services. “KEMP’s LoadMasters have allowed us to secure all services running on our website for students, faculty and parents,” said Jim Peterson, Technology Coordinator of Holland Christian Schools. “We’ve been able to offer our students new online services as they start the school year due to our KEMP load balancers. The KEMP load balancers simplify any concerns about secure SSL, and make our website load balancing much easier and quicker to manage.”
KEMP’s LoadMaster products help eliminate traffic surges, server bottlenecks, connectivity disconnects and site downtime. This helps schools align their server infrastructure and application operations with continuity requirements to ensure applications are always available. KEMP’s LoadMaster enables them to maintain operations and services even in the face of a disruptive event.
Northcentral University offers 100% distance learning to students, which creates challenges in managing their web infrastructure. “We have been using the KEMP LoadMaster’s for load balancing all the University’s web traffic, as well as assisting with performing other administration and testing procedures on our servers,” said Jerry McArthur, Systems Manager of Northcentral University. “Since the first day we installed the devices, KEMP’s products have proven to be a very reliable workhorse for us. We have a lot of web traffic and almost 10,000 users to satisfy. It’s critical for us to have an application delivery controller in place that we know is reliable and doing everything we require without any issues.”
“We are seeing continued growth in this market for both K-12 and higher education to provide web-based solutions that ease access, and facilitate student and faculty administrative tasks,” said Kevin Mahon, CEO of KEMP Technologies. “This follows our recent announcement of Infinite Campus choosing KEMP’s load balancers as part of its hosted education management system for K-12 educators.”
More : marketwatch.com