Distance Learning Credible?
March 19th, 2010
The work and learn culture is responsible for the sudden rise in distant education institutes thus enabling the provision of learn and earn degrees/diplomas of their choices without disturbing their present job. Distant Learning enables a person to acquire a degree from world’s renowned university without changing the current location. Degree for a course which is not available in your country can easily be obtained in through distant learning at a minimal cost.
The technologies used to transfer the data (knowledge) to the students are vaguely classified as synchronous and asynchronous technologies. Synchronous technologies include Web-based VoIP, Telephone, Videoconferencing, Web conferencing, Direct-broadcast satellite, Internet radio, Live streaming while Asynchronous technologies include Audiocassette, E-mail, Message board forums, Print materials, Voice Mail/fax, Videocassette/DVD. In short synchronous technologies require all members’ presence during the transfer while asynchronous technologies can be collected by the members at their own convenience.
People mostly find traditional format education more reliable than distant learning education but studies have found out that if proper methods provided like student teacher-interactions is made possible or provision for timely feed back by the teachers/experts is available distant learning is no less effective than traditional education format.
A diploma mill on the other hand is an organization offering its customers degrees or diplomas without any academic knowledge. It is not recognized by any official education accreditation bodies, thus lacking in authenticity. Degree Mills and its consumers are both equally harmful to the society, one for selling the degree to a non knowledgeable person and other purchasing it in order to practice a profession.
Diploma mills are harming students, faculty, employers, those with real degrees or we can say the society on a whole. International students are targeted as lack of command over English and U.S system of higher education a diploma mill easily earn lucrative money while the students are assuming they are attending an online course. The names of the expert faculty and their credentials are remarkably used while the faculty itself is often unaware of their names actually been blotted to promote a bogus institute. Employers are easily fooled with these bogus degrees as very few employers take the pain of finding out if the institute/university through which the candidate has completed his degree is real or fake. On the other hand it is unfair to those who have worked hard to obtain a degree. There have been several cases where such bogus doctors, professors, engineers, etc have harmed the society through their inefficient work. However a new threat emerged to the society when terrorists used degree mills as a weapon to terrorism. CNN network exposed ‘The Rochville University’ for providing a fake master’s degree in chemistry to Abu Salsabil Hassan Omar, a terrorist of Al Qaeda group. The degree helped him easily infiltrate into U.S.
Distance Learning convenience is mistaken as its forgery by many people due to the existence of degree mills. Distance learning schools have started to lose their credibility and the deserving students are unable to acquire their degrees. Thus you can differentiate a distance learning schools from a degree mills on the following basis—-
• Is the school accredited by Universal Council of Online Education Accreditation? If yes then it’s a distant learning school
• The time required to complete the degree is less than the normal one. If yes than it’s a degree mill.
• Does the university have the evidence for whatever claims they have made? If yes than it’s a distant learning school.
• Is the name of the institute similar to the renowned institute? (e.g. Woxford or Ambridge) if yes then it is a degree mill.
Thus Degree mills can be wisely differentiated form a credible distance learning school enabling students the leisure of work and learn to achive the carrier goals of your choice.