Online Education
I have recently been looking into furthering my education and obtaining a third degree, either another Master’s degree or a Doctorate of some form. My opportunities due to circumstance are limited: I have a full time job, family, and four children. This does not leave very much spare time left for studying for a university degree!
Nonetheless, I’m determined and have my wife’s blessing to pursue this undertaking, so the time has come to begin to look into prospective programs. My in-state opportunities are also limited: there are only two “universities,” in the traditional sense, in the state, and one of them does not offer anything that would benefit me at all. The nearby university does offer a Doctor of Education in Curriculum, Technology, and Higher Education which interests me greatly, and the idea of actually attending class and sitting in a lecture with fellow students is really quite appealing to me. This is a possibility.
The other possibility is to engage an online institution for an advanced degree. There are numerous available; some are extensions of traditional brick-and-mortar schools (like Boston University Online), while others are private for-profit entities (like the University of Phoenix). Several of these institutions offer Doctoral level programs in areas that are slightly more in my professional field than Education, which definitely interests me. However, it begins to beg the question, is an online degree legit?
None of the online institutions I have looked at are “degree mills” in the strictest sense (which those being the University of Phoenix, Argosa University, and Walden University) but I’m still concerned. My major questions are thus:
- What is the quality of education I can expect to receive?
- What is the interaction with the professors?
- What are the qualifications of the professors?
- Is the degree and institution accredited?
- Is the degree and institution recognised?
- Is the degree from a “degree mill”?
Of those questions, accreditation appears to be the easiest to answer: either a school is accredited by a legit organisation that is recognised by the Higher Learning Commission or it is not. If it is not, beware.
Recognition of a degree is a highly debated topic, and finding legit information on the Internet (not surprisingly) appears to be a difficult thing to do. From what I can gather, most traditional “brick-and-mortar” universities do not necessarily look favourably upon an online-degree; nonetheless, many of these traditional schools are beginning to offer online-only degrees (such as Boston University Online) which include both undergraduate and graduate level degrees.
I do wonder if the slow level of acceptance of an online degree from a non-online school is due to “The Old Boys Club” mentality and traditionalism. As an independent person not (yet) affiliated with any institution, online or offline, perhaps I should perform some research of my own. Most online articles I have read appear to be from organisations that are slanted to one side or the other immediately (for example, can one really trust an article stating that online degrees are just as good as a traditional degree from a website with the name “onlinedegrees.com”?). The best summary I have read to date is from collegeconfidential.com at http://www.collegeconfidential.com/distance/online-trad.htm which, perhaps in a common sense manner, indicates that an online degree in an IT field is typically more accepted that an online degree in other fields.
“Degree mill” questions certainly abound. In its most strict sense, a degree mill is an institution that sells degrees with minimal study, or based on “life experiences.” Arguably, however, a degree mill can take a less strict sense of the definition and can award degrees based on bogus study or minimal study. Indeed, I’ve read arguments (again, online arguments) that schools such as the University of Phoenix, Argosy, and Walden are degree mills in the sense that although they offer a curriculum with classes that must be passed, that curriculum is not challenging enough to warrant an actual degree. Now, how does one measure that?
In my mind, the remaining questions as to the legitimacy of the degree and institution boils down to the quality of education received in classes, and the quality of direction received in writing a thesis or dissertation. Online schools seem to face two major hurdles to overcome to achieve “legitimacy” in the traditional sense:
- Quality of education provided
- Perceived quality of education provided
I don’t know the answer to number 1 other than that it is highly contested, but I do know that the answer to number 2 depends on which side of the fence you sit: traditional schools are hesitant to believe a quality education can be provided entirely online, while online schools insist that it is possible. In my mind it is possible to provide a quality education in some fields, such as IT, in an online methodology.
- What are the qualifications of the professors?
- Are they research based scholars, or are they practioners?
- Where are their degrees from?
- Are they full time or part time? Why?
- Are they considered experts in their fields, or is their “expertise” due to work experience only, with little research? Both? How much work experience?
The more I debate this internally the more I see issues surrounding the “anonymity” of the instructors. Is the statement “In cyberspace no one knows you’re a monkey” true? Maybe these are questions I need to bring to my local brick-and-mortar school on the pretense of studying in a dissertation.