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Provide online education as a substitute to classroom education - posted on Oct. 7, 2004
The University of Melbourne may provide online education more widely in near future, but it is because it is necessary, not because students enthusiastically support it. The University of Melbourne's eight suburban and rural campuses could be reduced to four in response to falling enrollments and increasing costs; if this takes place, students in certain areas will receive education via online education. The news sounds a little troubling; online education has great potential and is capable of improving the over all quality of education. Nonetheless, it should not be forced to some students, nor should it be used for an excuse for some college or university to shut down some of its existing programs. We need to make sure that online education does not become yet another political tool.
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Universities around the globe to offer online degree programs - posted on Oct. 6, 2004
Online education was predominantly provided by US colleges and universities several years ago; however, more and more colleges and universities around the globe, including UK, started offing online degree programs in recent years. Coventry(UK)-based global distance learning organization RDI (Resource Development International) has launched a two-year BA business management and a two-year BA business IT degree in partnership with the University of Sunderland. Many working professionals in UK also probably have difficulty in getting advanced degrees in order to further their career because of time constraint and the cost of education; the country has certain characteristics that online education can find its market.
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Provide education to rural areas by utilizing online education - posted on Sep. 30, 2004
Thin clients and Wi-Fi are taking off in rural areas of many countries; one of the main reasons is that infrastructure deployment to deliver information using other methods such as telephone lines and fiber optics are prohibitively expensive. This new infrastructure deployment, combination of thin clients and Wi-Fi, is empowering those in rural areas of developing countries. Villagers in Karnataka, India, now look up to the skies not only for rain but also as a means of empowerment; online education is delivered to the village. Those who live in developed countries can easily find downsides of online education, but it has potential to transform the world in which we live in the coming years by empowering those who never had opportunity to educate themselves.
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World bank to expend its distance learning programs - posted on Sep. 29, 2004
World bank is really big in KM, Knowledge Management and distance learning. Now a World Bank-sponsored distance learning project, being offered through the University of Technology's (UTech) Technology Innovation Centre (TIC), will offer greater access to educational courses through the use of technology. World bank had to find a way to manage various information they collect and make the best use of the information. They also needed to implement a solution that works without any geographical limitation; relatively speaking World bank started developing KM, Knowledge Management and distance learning early on, and they have one of the best KM, Knowledge Management among large organizations including fortune 400 companies. This is one of great examples of how KM, Knowledge Management and distance learning can make a difference, and we will be following up on this.
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Study forensic examination online - posted on Sep. 28, 2004
We see more and more different subjects taught online recently, and we can study forensic examination online today. The American College of Forensic Examiners (ACFEI), an independent, scientific and professional society dedicated to the continued advancement of forensic examination and consultation, and VCampus Corporation, a provider of comprehensive e-Learning publishing and hosting services to corporations, government agencies, associations and higher education organizations announced plans to develop and deliver an online curriculum to support ACFEI's six rapidly growing forensic certifications as well as its Diplomat program. They also plan to offer courses to obtain the following certifications in near future; Certified Forensic Consultant, CFC(SM), Certified in Homeland Security, CHS(SM), Certified Forensic Nurse, CFN(SM) and Certified Medical Investigator(R), CMI.
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University of Kansas to introduce two new online courses - posted on Sep. 7, 2004
Many traditional universities are now offering online courses and online degree programs and the list of universities that offer online programs continues to grow. University of Kansas is joining in the list and introducing two new online courses; since the university offers only two courses, they might be still testing the water though. There is a good chance that many of online courses and degree programs will close down as some universities try to enroll enormous number of students, and if they are successful, all three thousand plus colleges and universities in the US do not need to be offering online courses and online degree programs. However, the list of universities that provide online education continues to grow and this is an indication that the demand is still increasing.
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What's behind traditional universities' launching distance learning programs? - posted on Sep. 6, 2004
Many traditional universities are now offering online courses and online degree programs. Many universities are responding to the demand, but there is also another reason. Distance learning is becoming an integral part of today's education and distance learning programs are developed to add the missing part in many cases. This ZDNet article discusses what tech means in today's higher education and the article also touches on distance learning. MIT is mentioned in the article, and interview with a professor at MIT sounds like that MIT is viewing distance learning as a part of today's education as a whole rather than viewing it as a brand new invention in technology.
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An online education provider veteran - posted on Sep. 5, 2004
Most online education providers have been providing online education for less than 10 years, so we can call those education providers that have been providing online education for more than 10 years veterans. Old Dominion University is one of those veterans; they just celebrated 10th anniversary of their distance education program. While online education is still considered as a new form of education and many claim that it is not a proven method, some universities have been doing it for 10 years or longer. Doesn't this prove that online education has certain value?
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Online education and healthcare industry - posted on Sep. 4, 2004
Online education is often perceived as an extension of higher education; many colleges and universities started offering online degree programs several years ago in fact, and this is what most people know about online education. However, there is another sector that has been adapting online education aggressively, the healthcare industry. Also an interesting fact is that a nurse is recognized as a pioneer of online education recently.
Those who work in the healthcare industry have irregular work schedule; they often work at nights and they also have long shifts(12 hours or longer). Consequently, traditional classroom style education is not the best option to them, if they want to farther their education. However, they have a very viable option now, online education; online education allows them to study wherever they want and whenever they want, which is a great fit to nurses and doctors.
Another great benefit of online education is its ability to work as a knowledge management system, i.e., a system that facilitates sharing of knowledge and skills. Healthcare workers(including nurses and doctors) make number of critical decisions; while they go through extensive training programs, their knowledge and experience can never be sufficient to adapt to every possible situation they face. Having shared knowledge and skills can improve their quality of service dramatically, and online education can facilitate to create such a system. As of right now, there is no universal knowledge management system(which is quite unfortunate) in the healthcare industry, but online education is a step forward to create such a system.
It is unfortunately reality that healthcare systems around the globe face number of problems today, and they are often criticized that systems provide less and less quality service to those who depend on. But online education gives us hope to make us believe that online education is empowering the healthcare industry to enable to provide us more quality service at a lower cost in the coming years. We certainly do not want to be over optimistic; we need to be cautious, but hope is there.
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Online education is just a part of network - posted on Sep. 2, 2004
Online education is often viewed as a new way to provide education; however, there is another way to view it. Online education is just a part of network, and network here means college, university and any other education institution. This might be more correct way to view online education as many colleges and universities are interacting online education as opposed to building a new infrastructure separately. For examples, many colleges and universes provide course materials including live lectures online. Some colleges and universities mix classroom courses and online courses, and students have the option of selecting courses according to their preferences. The paper published on Syllabus Magazine looks at online education as a part of network and tells us what it means in today's and future education.
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