on-line education

Has anyone had any experience with on-line courses ?

I am thinking about enrolling in an on-line course through the University of Phoenix to obtain my BSN.I already have an associate degree in nursing. I have been researching them and it all sounds too easy to be true.
Any input would be helpful.

There are regional and national accrediting agencies which evaluate degree programs. Many on-line courses are not accredited. Check with the local nursing association and ask if they honor a degree from the school you wish to enroll in. A significant element of nursing training is the in-situ supervised experience. You can't get that at home in front of a computer. It must be gotten in a hospital or the equivalent under a trained supervisor. If you apply for a job and the personnel office notes that you got your degree on-line it could prejudice the success of your application.

Chris, as an LPN I'll echo Padre's advice. LPN is a 1 year course here in Missouir, don't know about your state. You might want to think about working your way up the scale of nursing if you aren't already doing that. I mean start with Certified Nurses Aid, then Medication Technician, THEN on to LPN. It will make the last one so much easier as each builds on the skills and knowledge of the previous one. Do check out the acceptance of a distance learning deploma in this field. .

Can't tell you anything about nursing. But... I took a couple of "on line" courses while gettinig my degree from the University here, statistics, a few accounting courses etc. Yes accredited, just an easier way for working folks to take a class. Lots of accredited colleges offer on line courses now.

You need to be VERY diciplined to do the course work. Without having to actually go sit in a class it's easy to think "I'll do it later" and later never comes. The other issue is "how you learn best". If you need to be shown something to learn, then go to the class room. If you learn by reading, doing yourself then on line is great.

Good Luck!

An acquaintance is getting a jump on her college degree (forget in what) by taking some of the simpler required courses online, like English and such. She also said what Jody did ~ you have to be disciplined. She also said it's hard to make the kids/hubby/family understand that they HAVE to flat out leave you alone. She's doing it to save on childcare costs and job-class scheduling problems ~ handy for a single mother who's fifty miles from the university. She can be home with the kids ~ they know NOT to answer the door (she has a "we're home, but please do not disturb" type sign and notepad affixed to the front of it), NOT to go out of the backyard where she can see them from her study window and to only bother her if there's blood spilled. LOL! Took them a while to understand she meant all that. *Grin* She said even though this works well, she'll be leaving them with her mother and attending in person for the more intense classes in the years to come.

i have been working in the intensive care as an RN for 20 years and just need the initials to keep them happy.I have researched them and it says they are accrredited. I am still thinking though.

thanks everyone

I would imagine that courses such as (or similar to) chemistry and biology could be very challenging to learn on one's own with only a text and a web site. At least, this is reflective of my own learning style.

I seem to need the classroom environment to help me absorb certain types of material, feeding off of the multiplication effect of having others in the room focused on the same task.

So, I imagine that, in addition to the accredation of the courses (as mentioned above), the degree of discipline you are able to bring to the program and your personal learning style could be important factors.

I've only met one person in my life who is the sort to read about the conformation of biological macromolecules at home of an evening and laugh at the jokes. If you're one of those, you'll do very well with this sort of study.

No matter which way you choose to proceed, good luck in your studies!

Adam.

This message was edited Friday, Mar 14th 10:27 AM

I'm currently doing a home study program through Cornell University on ornithology (birds). It isn't online but I study the chapters at home then take a test and mail to the professor who is an expert in that field. The professors are all over the country depending on their specialty. I am finding it quite hard to force myself to sit down with the 4 inch binder (1 of 2) and study bird bones, learn their names and why they are the way they are. I'm tempted to skip and go to the chapters that I'm more interested in like migration but they don't recommend it. I think I would do so much better in a classroom. One of the features is that I am on my own and can take as long as I like to send in the tests. This is bad because I don't have the pressure to persevere. An online course might be better because you do have deadlines.

The psychology of learning is a rather well developed field. Carl Rodgers was one of the first to point out that a teacher doesn't teach, he/she only facilitates the learning experience. The learner may be self motivating with a strong internal locus of control or may need a structured learning environment with an external locus of control. Learners fall anywhere along this spectrum. The challenge is to find the best fit. My own research has demonstrated the the simplest criterion is the student's own sense of which would work best for them. The college's role is to offer the content of the degree curriculum in digestible bits (courses) and discern the level of student mastery of the material. The mechanics of content delivery and measures of mastery of the material by the student are continuously changing. The problem for the college is to assure that the instruments of assesment (essays, written tests done at home, etc) are the work of the person seeking certification. As a consequence of fraudlent abuse of remote learning programs such programs have not yet achieved the legitimacy comprable to classroom supervised learning. For the student who learns well on their own the best situation is to pursue a program of remote learning with 'on site' measurement of achievement. Such assesments are also given to certify 'life learning', i.e. field experience gathered before entering a formal learning program. Some colleges will offer such assesments and credit your knowledge even though you never took a course with them. Thousands of colleges offer a variety of remote learning opportunities. Certification of student learning is the greatest challenge for most such programs. I wish you well in your pursuit of knowledge. You have an abundance of the single most essential element of success - motivation.

I know that Penn State University teamed up with Ohio State and you can earn your degree through them. Penn State does your first 2 years, and Ohio does the final two years. Ohio implemented this for those that just didn't have time to continue their education in a classroom because of real life schedules, so maybe there would be the place to look. I've hear many postitive comments about the program, but don't have first hand experience.

Good luck with obtaining your degree!

I have heard that University of Phoenix has an excellent online program for various degrees. I hope it works out for you. Good Luck!