Education - Going Back to School

[AuntieWOW]

After years of work, some of us decide that the smart career move is to return to school. Once upon a time, women frequently left school to have a baby. But, THAT WAS THEN and this is NOW. We're interested in making a serious committment to ourselves and a career. With a few years til retirement, we want to ensure that we're both happy in our work and economically cared for in retirement!

If you're thinking of doing this or in mid stride, do you have any thoughts, experiences, hints for making life easier?

Distance Learning, On Campus Classes. You name it, there's someone who wants to know.

[DrHilieWho]

I've been taking college classes through distance learning (guided self-study classes, and internet correspondence) since my son was born in 1998.

Usually I work on them late at night after everyone else has gone to sleep. I did try courses via public television, but they just didn't work for me. All of the shows were so outdated, I didn't trust they would be offering the best information available.

Here are two sites I have found to be very helpful
http://www.degree.net/ - degrees and classes availabe by correspondence
http://www.freschinfo.com/links/htdocs/index.php3 - Great for people needing financial aid

[QuietWoman]

Woohoooo! Great links, Hilie. I've done some distance learning too, (back in the '80's) and it was great, tho' it can be a kinda isolating experience. Does the net make a difference? Are there ways you can contact other students taking the same course?

[DrHilieWho]

Distance learning is usually pretty isolated. There are some courses that have participation labs in a message board or chat setting, but I've never taken part in them. At least, not yet

[DrHilieWho]

ACCK! I forgot to mention the MOST IMPORTANT part of distance education. You should always make sure that the school you are attending has been accredited by a regional agency.

There are schools that are not accredited that offer quality programs BUT if you intend on furthering your studies somewhere else you almost always need a diploma from an accredited school. Also, employers don't always give diplomas from unaccredited schools the same consideration.

Unfortunately there are schools that make themselves appear more legitimate by lying, or bending the truth in their favor. Some even have names that are extremely similar to established, accredited universities in order to attract more students. There are a lot of scams out there. Be careful! and Good luck!

http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/accred...lagencies.html

[Ayla]

Hi all!

Did someone say distance education???? I am just starting to post here and came across this thread.... very intersting topic. I work for a FULLY ACCREDITED distance learning UNIVERSITY. This is (considering my nationality lol!) a canadian institution. I love it though, internationally we have a top notch reputation. We are getting more and more students from the United States and Europe on a near daily basis.

If interested, check this out:

http://www.athabascau.ca

ps. with the value of the canadian $ so low right now, it costs pennies to attend courses with us (MEGA PLUG) if you reside in the USA. Oh, and to put the Dr. at rest, this University is totally legitimate.

[DrHilieWho]

Hey Ayla I've heard of Athabasca before, but never from anyone who attended classes...or worked there That must be a lot of fun. What do you do?

The reason I made such a big deal about accredation is that some schools charge really high prices just to hand out diplomas, and offer little to no real instruction. Seems like even that is changing though. This is a real ad from the back of Working Mother - August 2001:

PH.D's $199.00, M.A.'S $159.75, BA'S $99.75, (???) ???-???? http://www.????????????.com

(It's at the bottom of page 79, smackdab in the middle if you want to see it for yourself ) Although distance learning is getting easier and less inexpensive, I doubt it will ever be THAT easy or inexpensive LOL

[Terri]

My sister started back to school four years ago and does nothing but distance learning, mostly online internet classes through Howard Community College (Howard County Maryland)and the University of Maryland who were pioneers in distance learning. She is almost finished getting her BS. Last winter semester she earned 30 college credits in 15 weeks doing one of those courses where you document everything you have learned in your life. It was intense but 30 credits in one semester is a great accomplishment and brought her that much closer to her degree. She has not set foot inside a college classroom in years. I on the other hand enjoy and have time for the classroom experience. I think there is something out there for each of us.

[DrHilieWho]

I totally agree Terri. It's an excellent opportunity for people who are comfortable with distance learning. There are some classes I just can not do through self-study. I am beginning to think that English 2 is among them lol I've tried that class twice and still don't have a grade I feel comfortable with. I'm planning on going back to a classroom setting next Fall session. I was going to do it this year but the money situation wasn't allowing it.

Speaking of, I'm starting to get my scholarship apps ready for November. I would be willing to look over anyone else's essays if you'll look over mine I figure the more people's opinions the better ... even if they don't all agree on the grammar LOL

[DrHilieWho]

I totally agree Terri. It's an excellent opportunity for people who are comfortable with distance learning. There are some classes I just can not do through self-study. I am beginning to think that English 2 is among them lol I've tried that class twice and still don't have a grade I feel comfortable with. I'm planning on going back to a classroom setting next Fall session. I was going to do it this year but the money situation wasn't allowing it.

Speaking of, I'm starting to get my scholarship apps ready for November. I would be willing to look over anyone else's essays if you'll look over mine I figure the more people's opinions the better ... even if they don't all agree on the grammar LOL

[Terri]

I learned in my lab yesterday that I have to disect a fetal pig. Ick. I was disappointed with this news as I took this class (Human reproduction and inheritance) thinking that I would be able to circumvent the regular college biology and disections. Seems that a pigs reproductive organs are similar to a humans and we get to see first hand. I should have known better huh?

Hilie, the Eng 1102 should not be that hard, what's the deal? I know that every teacher is different but we essentially had to learn how to read some poems and short stories and write about them in thesis length. In fact I thought it was much easier than the 1101 because that was mostly grammer and sentence structure and lots and lots of writing and I still can't remember when to use lay, lie or lain. LOL. I like the writing so English classes to me were fun. It's the math and science that bum me out. I am also taking Asian Humanities this semester and loving it.

[DrHilieWho]

Yuck is right! Doesn't your college have any biology class that doesn't require that? They should be willing to work with you if they don't. One of my friends took an independent biology study in high school, and while we were cutting up cats she was building a model of the human body. Everything else she did with us. It might be worth asking about. Another option might be talking to your counselor about substituting a different type of science for a biology.

As far as English 2 goes, my problem is pretty simple. It's boring. We read an essay, take notes, read another, take more notes, read another, even more notes, than have a test on how to take notes. We have two papers to write all semester interpreting essays we've read, and the teacher picks them apart fiercely. Case in point: I wrote a paper on "Peeling the Banana", an essay by a Chinese-American on growing up. There were several references to food, and I made the point that food represented her American self because Americans are so centered around it. I was marked down because I didn't mention anything about her using food as a symbol because she was female. ?? See what I mean, but here I'm venting again lol

Good luck on the science problem. I don't know what your school's policy is on books, but if you switch classes and can't return them, half.com is a good place to get rid of them.

[Ayla]

Hilie - I totally see your point and yes, we have similar institutions here that also pretty much just ask you for money so they can hand you a diploma. Trouble is, the more trouble they get into the less likely people who go that route can get a proper job. We also have institutions charging $10,000 plus for training that is so specific it will be of no use to people in 5-10 years. Go figure. Nice thing about Athabasca University is that the courses are challenging and broad, and the price is relatively affordable (considering the cost of education these days).

Personally I like distance learning, both from a student and an employee perspective. I have to admit though, that the student part is what I prefer most of the time. I love that I can have institutional timelines placed on my courses but yet set my own timelines at a much faster pace. I'm used to the traditional classroom time of 4 months for a course so naturally thats what I aim for with my coursework (they give 6 months to complete a 3-credit course). Actually just finished a course not three weeks ago YAY!!!!!! It was an administrative management course (something i'm taking for work purposes). Now thats done and I can start taking my computer courses i'm interested in.

Another nice feature of working for the institution you go to school at is that we get free courses as part of our union agreement. They just up'd the anti from 6 credits to 12 credits free per year..... I would be stupid to not take advantage of that.
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[Terri]

Hi Hilie and all - thought I would give you the fetal pig update. IT WAS FUN. I still have some more disecting to do next week on little Ham (named for Noah's son) but I found myself actually arguing with my lab partner over who would make the next cut. Luckily there were only her and I in our group and we split the duties half and half..it actually is fascinating to see where all the little organs lie in relation to each other (which is similar in a human)and no Hilie I doubt you can find a biology that does not do this sort of thing. I really am glad I had the experience.

Your English class sounds like a HUGE drag Hilie, I would be complaining too. Thank goodness I had two very good English Profs who love their jobs and were able to make the class interesting. I do know that some of them really spin their wheels on that essay reading thing though. Good luck.

[LiamFan!]

Why wouldn't they just let you dissect a human who donated their body to science, instead of a fetal pig that had no choice in the matter? It would give you an even more accurate view of human reproductive organs, no?