Online Degree Programmes: A Genuine Solution To Your Learning Experience

The most genuine dilemma of the students is whether to skip college and lag behind in their career, or attend college and then graduate with crippling debt outstanding at the beginning of their career. But have anybody thought of the third option: online degree education.

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The Increasing Student-Loan Debt:

Currently, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York estimated the outstanding student-loan debt of around $1.13 trillion, which is quintuple of what it was in 2004. The Institute for College Access and Success estimated around 69 % of 2014 college graduates have an outstanding student-loan debt of $28,400, on an average.

What Did The Government Decide?

 

When there is a worldwide crisis among the students whether to chase for higher education, or take up a job not worth their degree, Obama announces the first two years of community college to be made “free”, to encourage more of students into the higher degree.

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It goes without saying that higher education mean better jobs, higher salaries, luxuries live and more satisfied employees. Meanwhile this idea of free community college has certainly become very popular. International Democrats like Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley have supported this proposal and are ready to go an extra mile to make this proposal a reality. But the most important question that arises in front of the beaurocrates, how much will this be in reality?

The Power Of Online Education

According to a Babson Survey Research Group report, the percentage of students taking up online degree programmes is 33.5 % of the total collegians. This is an all-time record number of students taking up online education, i.e. one of every candidate going for higher education.

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Powered by the latest gadgets and tools that technology has to offer, online education has a huge potential in the upcoming days. Online education has the prospect of accomplishing the solution of the educational debt problem thereby, providing affordable, quality education that meets the needs of today’s student and tomorrow’s employee or entrepreneur.

It is a truth that what campus educational programmes offer, online courses can’t, but there is some extra advantage for which you cannot ignore distance learning. The idea of providing the students with world class quality education on a computer screen at their homes was the basic motto of online learning, and there is no doubt, the online learning programmes have been successful in doing that.

Advantage Of Online Tuition Cost:

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The greatest advantage of taking up online courses is to reduce the burden of course fees. The cost of a degree programme by studying online is almost negligible in front of a campus degree.

For example, Western Governors University, an online university in US charges about $6,000 a year for tuition, which is nearly 1/3rd less than the average tuition cost of a four-year public school.

If you dig in deep you will find, no hike had been made by the WGU, in terms of tuition cost since 2008. This means it supports an inferior educational support compared to the brick-and-mortar schools?

To answer this question let be site another example.

In 2014, U.S. News and World Report ranked WGU 1st against all other schools — online and traditional — for its teacher-preparation program, beating out schools such as the College of William & Mary (fourth, tuition: $21,000 out-of-state), Furman University (fifth, tuition: $44,000 out-of-state) and the University of California at Irvine (eighth, tuition: $37,000 out-of-state).

The Digital Era:

The advancement of digital communication tools doesn’t make attending lectures and collecting notes mandatory for the students. Lectures can be attended online sitting at your own comfort space or downloaded and watched later. Professors even offer one-on-one sessions with students via video chat. Social learning forums are also established for the students to interact and discuss their study courses. Digital libraries, chat sessions and other digital enhancements make online universities the favourite destinations for the students.

Earn Your Own Education Fees:

Since online degree courses offer flexible timings to your study, one can easily avail a part-time job for himself and utilise that salary to pay off the tuition cost. In this way, one can save a lot of his/her money when he/she actually takes up a job after the graduation.

The Verdict:

When it comes to accounting the demerit of online college, it definitely lags behind in providing a campus experience to their students. Every student from their high schools fascinate about their college campus life. To somehow lessen this effect, colleges have established social learning forums, so that students can interact with their peers.

Suggest some ways to enhance our online learning experience. Your thoughts are valuable to us.

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A New Age With Digital Economy

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The world as we see it around us has already started to digitise itself and thus it paves the way towards the formation of the digital age. We cannot stop its rapid progress as it has become unstoppable with the continuous implementation of scientific methods more and more on the daily aspects of our lives. Perhaps, in the future, we have to use more digital methods than physical efforts in order to do something.

How this all-devouring digitisation is changing us? Well, it is doing so by the successful application of science on almost all the aspects of the society. Its impact is welcomed though by the humans. It has changed a lot of things in the society and its present target is changing the economy, as we know it, into ‘digital economy.’ Let us have a look on how the point of finance is being changed by technology.

Digital transaction

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An amazing but already possible fact. Money can be transferred not only from one’s hand to another but from one machine to another. Yes, transaction of money is done nowadays with the help of digital implementation in it. Now payment has been converted to mobile payment where you need not handle money physically.

Replacement of paper

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Paper has been replaced with the help of software. Now, the financial documents and the relevant paperworks regarding monetary matters can be done digitally. In this way the risk of the information being printed on paper - an easily perishable object - can be avoided.

Fascinating e-books

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It is another aspect of digital economy. You need to go to a book store or a magazine outlet to read. Easy and digital transaction of money will allow to purchase, buy and read books in your home using a device such as a smartphone, a tab or a computer. It becomes affordable also.

Music and Videos

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Music and Videos are easily available in the internet. The digital transaction will allow you to purchase an album of songs or a movie to watch whenever and wherever you want to in an affordable way.

Easy access to various other things

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Various other aspects are there in which we use the digital economy such as booking a room in a hotel or a seat in a movie hall. Digital transaction allows you to have the benefits of the banking facilities anytime or anywhere. You need to recharge your mobile phone’s account. Digital economy gives you the opportunity to do that instantly and in an affordable cost.

Personalised consumer support with digital economy

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It is a prominent matter that the consumers are highly benefitted by the digital economy. The aspects of digital economy have not only made financial transaction easier and cost-effective but also have provided ample advantages for the customers. The business sector is benefited by it in a huge extent as it aims to operate through the effective combination of commerce and technology. The digital economy has affected the horizontal and vertical markets in an optimistic way. We have already been elevated in an innovative status with digital economy and increasing its implements will be considered as a healthy decision for both of humankind and the digital economical system.

Uk announces next generation "Digital Economy".

Budget announces 6 'Next Generation Digital Economy Centres' to get £23m to support innovation, including in creative industries
Posted by Ukie on Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Share your views with us.

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Hyundai Motors Initiate Campaigns to Help the Under Privileged Children of Nigeria

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Recently an initiative to help the under previleged childrenof Africa was undertaken by the Hyundai Motors Nigeria .Titled as ‘Supporting Education for Brighter Tomorrow’, the campaign was organised periodically across the nation. The areas covered under the campaign was Southwest states of Lagos and Ibadan and afterwards schools of Warri, Port-Harcourt and Calabar in South-South geo-political zone. The campaign aimed in delivering basic school amenities like school bags, exercise books, water bottles, pens, pencils and gemometry sets to name a few, required for the primary education level.

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Supporting The Education

Keeping in track with the moto ‘Moving the world together', the journey to help the less privileged people of the society started back in 2010, with the health campaigns and medical support for the old homes and orphanages.

Nadkarni , Head of Sales and Marketing Hyundai Motors Nigeria said: “It has become imperative to bridge the gap between children of the rich and poor particularly those in basic schools while stimulating the less privileged children to learn without fear of discrimination.”

Quoting a recent UNICEF report, he said , "With children under 15 years of age accounting for 45% of the country’s population, the burden on education and other sectors has become overwhelming.”

According to the recent survey by Unicef about 4.7 millions children of primary school age are not in school inspite of the increasing rate of enrollment to the schools . Nadkarni believes that their campaign for distributing the basic education materials among the children would really give an extra hand in bringing the children to the school regularly. The Corporate also would establish campaigns to educate the families about the benefits of eduation which in term would increase more enrollments in the schools. The campaign aimed to increase participation of the children more and moe into education, so that they may have a brighter more.

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The Verdict

To continue been Society Responsible Corporate, Hyundai Motors has decided to dedicated a certain value of her profit in uplifting of the backward sections of youth and sports development along with education and healthcare.

The authorities of the beneficiary schools were contend with this effort by Hyundai Motors. They applauded for the sincere efforts of Hyundai and are looking forward for more of these developmental campaigns in future.

Every drop makes an Ocean, similarly such social upliftment efforts will definitely remove the bad traits of the society and the world a better place to live in. 

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The Next generation Education goes Online

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According to the National Centre for Education Statistics, more than 5 million students or 25% of all college and university students have registered themselves in online education courses.  11% of the students are enrolled solely in online education courses while 14% are registered in some traditional and some online education courses. Since online learning offer students greater flexibility as to time and place and adding to it, the lower cost than traditional teaching. So, online learning which is highly demanding now is a very good alternative to regular on-campus classes. Previously the college authorities were skeptical about the future of online study. But given the recent data reports, the educational experts are incorporating online study provisions to their portfolio of offerings to expand their revenue streams.

Online learning has taken many various forms. Like- video-based, activity-based, self-paced, scheduled, learner-centred, instructor-based, modularized, unchunk or synchronous or asynchronous and this is how online learning programs are becoming profit-centres.

Online learning provides easy accessibility to their students to new majors as well as well as earn a foreign degree irrespective of visiting the country. Keeping in mind the requirements of modern generation students various online diploma courses U.K are available to provide greater access to education. On-line courses will continue to expand access to education to those who doesn't have any time nor money to attend a traditional on-the-ground class as well as well as to those who prefer this new tradition and even to areas where traditional education is hard to attend. Thus, online learning provides a traditional brick and also mortar institutions with the ability to broaden their curriculum. 

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An innovative, social approach

To fight against the loneliness of distance education, online courses gives a lot of emphasis on both virtual interaction and unlimited participatory learning. An exciting and innovative social approach involves challenge learning. A student interacts individually with instructional software, be it with practice problems or learning exercises or instructional activities. Forms of interaction includes- chat rooms, webinars, peer monitoring and whiteboard sessions and collaboration of joint projects.

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Discovery Learning

In this type of online learning, an instructor is not only an instructional designer but also a coach and a mentor. Here, the courses can be completed on the student's own schedule, i.e., the students themselves can undertake the learning journey independently where online courses do not need to accommodate to a single start date. Here, they can self-regulate and set their own goals.

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MOOCs 

Around 10% of higher education institutions concerned with the practice of best online studying and teaching known as MOOCs (massive open online courses), like-edX, Udacity and Coursera provide access to many online courses from some of the best faculty and institutions in the world. Many current MOOCs feature a “transmission” and standardized “one-size-fits-all” model of pedagogy, in which information flows one way from an instructor to a student. It empowers faculty to experiment and innovate. Most of the MOOCs are about content transfer instead of reflexive learning and a student’s creation of knowledge. But, many number of present MOOCs emphasize active learning, through interactive laboratories, serious gaming, and virtual reality environments, and embrace connectivity and constructive pedagogic that make students active participants in the learning process.Only 8% of higher education institutions currently offer MOOCs.

All will agree that the experience of taking a course on-line versus a classroom lesson is different and both types should continue to be offered. The day will soon come when we will not distinguish courses by their teaching modules and employers and others will not ask whether the program was on-line or in person.
Feel free to leave your comments below . Would love to know what you think about this topic.

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Budget 2015: Education Is Set To Improve With Additional $687 million Allocation

                             

With an additional $687 million invested in learning, special education as well as Early Childhood Education has received a significant rise in funding. It has also been revealed by New Zealand Budget 2015 that the boost offered by David Seymour, Act Party leader, for more partnership or charter schools has proved successful as 2 new schools are set to open.

Education Budget 2015 :

Novopay, the challenging school pay-roll system, is set to be allocated millions of dollars in funding. The new Budget has allotted an extra $63 million to help and support young learners with special needs over the coming 4 years. This will keep continuing to support in-class teacher aide for more than 1500 children with special needs. The programme had started back in February.

The funding will also help to advance the ORS (Ongoing Resource Scheme) to an additional 500 students and will fund specialists like occupational therapists and speech-language therapists. Hekia Parata, Minister of Education in New Zealand, said “In the case of students with special needs, a strong education increases the chance of them becoming more independent and better able to participate in and contribute to the community.”

Almost $53.3 million in extra spending in 4 four years is being invested on the Novopay, the school pay-roll system. The federal government was compelled to take charge and management of the pay-roll system from Talent2, an Australian company. Peter Hughes, Secretary of Education, predicted that making the system better resulted in spending an extra $45 million till now. Parata claimed that the additional funding for Novopay aimed to “complete the process of delivering an efficient and cost effective payroll system,” and to continually improve payroll performance.

New & Early Childhood Schools :

A $75 million rise has been assigned to early childhood education for the coming 4 years and it would encourage more learners to attend for increasing hours from an early age, said Parata. The federal government is striving to achieve an objective to encourage more than 98 per cent of all young kids who will start school in the next year and have already taken part in recognized early childhood education. Furthermore, operational grants of schools will also boost by 1 per cent at $42.3 million.

The 2015 Budget also incorporates new capital expenses of around $244 million to construct 7 new schools and Kura Kaupapa, expand 4 existing schools and construct additional 241 classrooms at current schools. The new education investment of $687 million is partially provided by savings of $65 million in the Ministry of Education.

Tertiary Education :

Moreover, in accordance with the child hardship Budget initiative of the government, the student allowance rate for post-secondary students with children will boost by $25 per week. It is expected that this will benefit around 9000 families. For families with low-income, childcare assistance will rise from $4 per hour to $5 per hour, which will impact around 40,000 families.

             

What do you think about the 2015 Budget and how will it affect education? Feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and views with us by commenting below. We would love to hear from you.

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Need For Setting Goals To Improve Higher Education System In Africa

The education scenario in Africa has been facing several challenges since the past few years. The governments have taken several steps to create an enhanced learning environment, but with growing number of out-of-school kids due to poverty, terrorist attacks and political issues, the situation seems to remain same. However, recently a continental summit was held where academics, entrepreneurs, international development partners and even governments got together to create a common vision for improving the higher education system in Africa.

The Higher Education Summit

From March 10th to 12th, ministers of education, heads of state, academics, international development partners and entrepreneurs took part in the 3-day event held in Dakar, Senegal to talk about the challenges and priorities for the higher education systems in Africa in the coming 50 years. The summit was organised by Trust Africa and provided a platform for getting all stakeholders together from different parts of the continent. The goal was to develop a meaningful and common vision that will significantly help in improving the education sector so that it can cater to the nation's requirements in the 21st century.

President of Senegal, Macky Sall, and Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, inaugurated the continental summit and challenged all the members to work out a declaration of common goals for Africa's higher education system. President Sall said “The rate of access to higher education in Africa is trailing at 7%, compared to 76% in the West. There is an urgent need to facilitate access and build capacity in African universities.”

Dr. Dlamini-Zuma believes the main focus was on the ability of the continent to adapt its teaching methods, curriculum and research to the demands and needs of the changing world. He said “We produce too few PhDs, medical doctors, engineers, scientists, project managers, and mathematicians. Our youthful population is confronted with an aging academic and research community which limits opportunities for innovation and expansion.”

Need For Firm Commitments

The fact is strong commitments are required from the governments to restructure higher education in Africa. Moreover, a long-term vision coupled with broader partnerships and substantial sustainable investment is also needed. The platform created for stakeholders by the summit aimed to achieve this goal, focusing on questions of gender, partnerships, funding, employability, access and equity.

Regarding the impact of strong partnerships, Kofi Annan, Chair of Africa Progress Panel and former Secretary-General of the United Nations, said “Partnerships with the private sector can overcome the mismatch between the needs of African employers and the skills of its young graduates. Otherwise, university degrees will not secure the jobs graduates expect, and that is a recipe for social and political, as well as economic trouble.”

Developing strategic partnerships between international donors and African universities is also essential. Regarding investment in higher education in Africa, Claudia Costin, Senior Director for Education at the World Bank Group, said at present “the World Bank invests 20% of its education budget for Sub-Saharan Africa in higher education, representing approximately $600 million.”

The Bottom Line

Currently, there is great optimism for students, educators and universities across the continent. The fact remains that Africa can reach it's full economic and social potential in future only with the help of a high performing education system.

Why Nigerian students are investing £300 Million On UK universities Annually

Higher education is surely one of the most practical solutions for most Nigerian youths that can help them not only build their career, but also to rise beyond poverty and help their communities prosper. However, due to lack of sufficient world-class education opportunities in Nigeria, more and more students are now going abroad, especially the UK, to earn accredited degrees. Although UK education might prove beneficial for the students, the fact remains they are investing huge amounts of money on expensive degrees abroad, instead of investing it in Nigeria. Let’s have a look.....

Are Nigerian Students Ignoring Nigeria’s Development?

According to Ben TV International and the African-British Returnees International, Nigerians who reside in the UK spend around “£300 million annually on British education.” The experts believe that if the money is invested in education in Nigeria, then it could make a huge difference to their home country. Moreover, they also pointed out that currently over 2.5 million Nigerians are residing in the United Kingdom, who could have made substantial contributions to the socio-economic development of the nation only if these Nigerians lived back at home and used their professional expertise for improving their communities.

Tunde Alabi, Head at BEN TV News UK, apart from the spending around £300 million yearly on UK education, Nigerians in the UK are annually investing large amounts in pound sterling on rents and properties, stating that these individuals contribute greatly to the British economy. He commented that there “are a good number of Nigerians living in the UK. They are doing well in their callings, especially in healthcare, education and banking among others. In the British universities, there are Nigerians, who are heads of departments, deans of faculties and professors. They are doing well.”

But the question I want to ask here is why are these Nigerian students and professionals moving out of their homes and going abroad? The answer is simple...Nigeria is unable to provide world-class education and sufficient employment opportunities to its youth.

Is Nigeria Forcing Students To Study Abroad?

Numerous educators and academic leaders believe that the growing preference of Nigerian students for foreign institutes is mainly due to insufficient access, poor quality and unsteadiness in the education system. Ambassador Bello Shehu Ringim,High Commissioner of Nigeria in Malaysia, believes more and more Nigerian students are now opting to study at universities abroad due the various challenges in the education system at home. He said that most of the more than 1000 Nigerians living in Malaysia are students who are looking for better learning opportunities. He said “On the influx of Nigerian students here, our challenges at home led us to this problem. There are many good schools here and Nigerians always excel.”

He further said that currently over 200 Nigerian lecturers are employed in this Southeast Asian country. Ringim added “There are about 200 Nigerian lecturers in Malaysia. It’s a good thing that we’re leveraging on learning and teaching.” But he believes that the Nigerian government is taking steps to offer better educational opportunities back at home and to prevent the emigration of students. He said, “The present government is trying to restore the glory of education. Things are being streamlined while better funding and other positive steps are being taken. We’ve lost a lot of ground but government is determined to reverse the trend.”

Does This Mean There Is Hope For Nigeria?

Being an educationist, I admit that UK education is certainly among the best in the world and a degree from a UK university can certainly make you eligible for the best employment opportunities around the world. But is it necessary for Nigerians to invest such huge amounts of money in the United Kingdom and add to the British economy?

For me the answer is a hard no. There is no denying that the Nigerian education system is severely flawed at present and it might take several years for the government to offer top-notch learning facilities to the students. But there are still many ways through which you can earn an accredited UK degree without leaving Nigeria or investing heavily in the UK. I think one of the best ways to do this is through online study UK.

A Better Solution

Let’s face it...online education has taken the education world by storm and numerous students from across the globe are now studying online degrees and diplomas. You can find a wide array of online programmes offered by reputed colleges and universities in the UK. As these programmes are targeted at a wider student base, they are generally highly affordable and cost much less than traditional college courses. But if you are concerned about the quality of online education, then you will be glad to know that most universities offer the same curriculum online that are followed in on-campus programmes. Moreover the online study materials and lectures are developed and conducted by in-house and other renowned professors.

But I think the biggest advantage of pursuing online university degrees UK is that you can study at any time directly from your home or office. There is no need for you to leave your home country and visit the campus or travel extensively to attend classes. You can simply log in to your computer and easily access the online study materials to earn a recognised online UK diploma.

A Final Word

If you ask me, I think that online education can offer the right solution to Nigerian youths as it allows them to access world-class education from leading UK colleges and earn accredited degrees affordably without migrating to a foreign country. Hence Nigerian students can now learn what they need to and work to make their communities better and help the national economy develop.