Online MBA Degree Alternative - Is Online MBA Degree right for you?

It is always good to see people interested in furthering their education. It does not matter what career you have chosen, ongoing education is important. Regardless of whether you want to simply expand your knowledge, or drive up your income potential, an online MBA degree can pay dividends long term. In this economic environment, you can bet that employers look closely at employees who work to better themselves. When hiring or moving someone up in pay and level of responsibility, continuing education can play heavily in your favor.

The majority of those who want to get their MBA degree online are motivated by money. The income potential is well documented. The downside is the expense, the time and the commitment. When considering an online MBA, you want to be sure that the risk is worth the reward. When completed, what is the payoff? What can you honestly expect from getting your degree? It would be a good idea to discuss this with the appropriate individuals within your organization before making the choice to move forward. If you decide not to move forward, do not despair. There are alternatives. You just need to think outside the box and zero in on what you really want to achieve.

If your aim is solely to increase your income, consider a forward thinking alternative to an MBA degree. Forget online professors. What if you had the opportunity to be mentored by top Fortune 500 business leaders who have proven themselves year after year? And what if these same world class business leaders taught you on a daily basis how to implement and execute a strategy for exploding your income? What if one of these top leaders happened to be the top tax adviser in the United States who was willing to show you how to save $5,000- $50,000 per year in taxes?

Obviously the same business leaders would have a lot on the ball as it pertains to personal development and business skills. What if they also held classes for you that taught you every technique they have used over the years to ensure their success? It is an interesting comparison, don't you think? An online classroom with you in front of a computer toiling away essentially alone in pursuit of an MBA degree, or you in front of that same computer learning from the world's top business minds how to become a success in every aspect of your business life.

This scenario is not to demean those who offer online MBA degree programs, or those who are adamant about pursuing their degree. It is simply to help you to realize that in this day and age, there are alternatives if you just look a little closer, expand your mind and consider viable alternatives. Regardless of the path that you take; whether it is a traditional approach or a progressive one, the fact that you are continuing your educational journey is something to be celebrated.

If you would like to implement a strategy for continuing your education and building your income without the expense and long term commitment of an MBA degree, visit our website today @ http://www.iLearningGlobalVideo.com. The world's top business leaders are waiting there to show you a new and powerful approach to ensuring your financial freedom.

Article Source: Ezine Articles

5 Benefits of Online Degrees/Online Learning

By: Kris De Leon

If you are pondering whether to take online degrees courses, consider the following benefits:

1. Flexibility and Convenience:- we live in a fast pace world, and can find it quite difficult to integrate education and continued learning into our busy schedule. With online learning, you can take these classes during your lunch break, or when your kids are watching television. You have 24-access to course materials, and can easily focus more time on areas that are difficult, and less time on the areas that you can grasp rather quickly.
2. Location:- online learning allows you to complete your coursework from the comfort of your home, your office, at a coffee shop, or anywhere where you have access to the Internet. You have the convenience to take the course work anywhere you want.
3. Lower Costs:- since you can study at the comfort of your own home, you don't need to spend the extra costs on meals, transportation costs, or hiring a babysitter if you have kids. Companies and institutions who provide the online learning program have lower operating costs, which allows them to pass on lower program fees to their students.
4. Increased Technical Literacy:- since you have to navigate around an Internet environment, you can master the technical competencies needed to work online. You can become more technical savvy and can apply new skills to both your personal and professional life.
5. Increased Interaction with Classmates and Instructor:- many students are uncomfortable asking questions out of fear of sounding uneducated. The Internet alleviates this fear and lets you ask questions directly to your instructor by submitting e-mail queries at anytime, without having other students know that you have asked this questions. Online learning can also encourage you to interact among other classmates by offering them online spaces to work together.

Kris de Leon is a Global Executive Recruiter with a passion for online learning and digital media. You can check out his articles in his blog http://www.onlinelearningarena.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Clever Cat Earns ‘High School Diploma Online’

Business Bureau used feline as experiment to expose Internet diploma mills Helen A.S. Popkin - (msnbc.com) updated 4:02 p.m. ET Aug. 14, 2009 Cats get a bad rap on the Internet, frequently stereotyped as LOL ignoramuses, forever shredding grammar like a half-dead mouse in what the World Wide Web would have us believe is their endless quest for "cheezburgers." Despite the pigeon-holing, cats play piano on YouTube and have their own Facebook profiles, and kitties who tweet exhibit a working knowledge of sentence construction that challenges those of their human Twitter compatriots. So it was only a matter of time before a feline got around to earning an online high school equivalency diploma. Rescued from a ditch when she was no more than a teeny, tiny ball of fluff, Oreo C. Collins, a 2-year-old tuxedo cat from Macon, Ga., may be the very first in her family to obtain a 'high school diploma' — online or off. (Of course, we may never know for sure because, as she wrote in her "life experience essay" portion of the test, she's adopted.) Kelvin Collins, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Central Georgia and Oreo's rescuer, encouraged Oreo to seek her "education," by taking part in the BBB's ongoing investigation of online diploma mills. "Oreo's a really smart cat," Collins said in a telephone interview with msnbc.com. So smart that Oreo garnered mostly As in the online test, with some of her credits earned from her aforementioned life experience essay about her adoption into the Collins family. No doubt that’s why Collins solicited Oreo’s help in the Better Business Bureau’s experiment to expose Internet diploma mills. Kelvin Collins Rescued from a ditch when she was no more than a teeny, tiny ball of fluff, Oreo C. Collins, a 2-year-old tuxedo cat from Macon, Ga., may be the very first in her family to obtain a high school diploma. Noting her humble beginnings by the side of the road where Collins found her during his son Brennan's football practice, Oreo's benefactor said he "is tickled pink to give her an opportunity to get an education." Following a test and a $200 fee Collins paid for out of his own pocket, the young cat received her diploma from Jefferson High School Online. In the spirit of full disclosure, it should be noted that Collins did help Oreo with both the answers and the essay. But to be fair, Oreo stayed in his lap throughout the test, and Collins got a little help, too. "If you miss a question, the test gives you a hint that tells you the answer is," Collins said. Of course, there are naysayers to Oreo’s awesome accomplishment. As the Better Business Bureau wants people to know, Oreo's so-called "high school diploma" is not the same as a General Educational Development (GED) diploma. "The GED Tests cannot be taken online," GED Testing spokesperson Cassandra M. Brown told msnbc.com. "They are only available for in-person testing at an Official GED Testing Center." Brown said via e-mail that the GED Testing Service, a Program of the American Council on Education, has issued warnings about programs like Jefferson High School Online. Collins said that while he knows Oreo was in it for the education, he concedes that the cat's "degree" serves as a cautionary tale to those who might be lured into spending well-earned cash on useless diplomas. "We (the BBB) do a lot of stories on these diploma mills, but a lot of times consumers really don’t get it until you show them an example of how they (the diplomas) aren't worth much." It's a bitter lesson too for Oreo's human brothers Brennan, 12, and Brad, 15. "I told them I'm going to ahead and make them earn their high school diplomas the old-fashioned way," said their dad, Kelvin. "They're really jealous, especially considering school started yesterday." Oreo may be a little jealous, too. "She would have loved going to high school," said Collins. "She's very social and very nosy." Unfortunately, Oreo can forget about college, too. "I chose Jefferson High School Online because it was one of the cheaper diploma mills," he admitted. "If you want to get a 'college degree,' that's $800 to $1,200." Instead, she's been rewarded for her academic achievements with extra treats and a fancy new automatic kitty litter box (which, given her intelligence, she figured out right away). The point is, cats (and their humans) looking to follow in Oreo’s groundbreaking paw steps should either consider staying in school, or make sure they have the facts. That goes for employers, too, added Collins, since diploma mills such as Jefferson High School Online offer diploma verification services "graduates" may utilize when applying for jobs. Meanwhile, Oreo remains unemployed, having yet to test the usefulness of her new diploma, which may be all the more worthless given the fact that Collins admittedly lied about Oreo’s age on the test. No need to worry about her future, Collins assures. "Like Oreo wrote in her test essay, she always lands on her feet." Courtesy: © 2009 msnbc.com

Distance Learning Can Really Be Rewarding As a Regular Course

By: Richard J.S. Johnson

The concept of correspondence education was prevalent in the late 19th century. Education took place by sending and receiving paper through regular mail due to the development of postal service. There was literally no other channel of communication. After the Second World War, the lifestyles of the common people changed drastically. Off-campus courses came into existence in the U.S.A in the early 50's. Today, with the advent of the internet, the world of education has changed dramatically. Two-way interaction became possible with the help of internet. Lectures are now being delivered in the form of video on the net.

Distance learning is a mode of education which is more popular than ever today, reason: convenience and flexibility. In Distance learning, the student does not have to travel to the campus to attend classes on a daily basis. It is specially aimed at those people who are unable to attend campus for the classes. It increases the accessibility and broadens the area of study. The learning material can be exchanged between the learner and the teacher through regular correspondence and/or via net.

Hundreds of colleges, universities and institutions all over the world are offering countless Online Degree courses these days. Degree courses as well as vocational courses and professional courses are all available to students. These courses are especially popular among youngsters who can continue to study while working full-time to earn. This type of learning helps them to fulfill their career objectives at the same time gaining experience. With this mode, students get to study at their own pace, saving a lot of time that could have otherwise gone into waste for traveling to the campus and a lot of money that could have otherwise gone into waste for miscellaneous expenses to stay in the campus. Sometimes students of this particular mode of study do better than regular students who attend classes at the campus everyday.

The United Kingdom has developed and expanded their education system, offering innumerable courses to cater to different sections of students. Even professional courses like business, media, engineering, law etc. are being taught through UK distance learning. If you want to study in this mode, you have to develop yourself into a self-organized student. This mode has proven to be a blessing for thousands of students worldwide who could not have otherwise came to the UK for studying their much sought after British degrees. These are prestigious credentials that the students from all over the world want to achieve. Many courses offer an extensive range of materials including videos, computer disks, audio tapes and annotated texts while some colleges have opened up internet-based classes. But there is one criterion that is just indispensable if you want to achieve your desired degree through this mode of learning, which is self-discipline. Since, the onus of completing the course and getting the degree to advance your qualification or job mobility, you need to be self-disciplined to the core.

Before you get yourself enrolled in a college/institute/university that offers these kind of study programs, check a few things like whether or not the degree is recognized by a government body, the course content and structure, the assessment process, and most importantly, financial assistance. Once you get all these things clear, you can start with your dream lessons.

I am an educationist and self published author. I believes that distance learning courses are no way different than traditional courses. For more information on distance learning, UK distance learning, online education, and online university I recommends you to visit: http://www.RDI.co.uk

Article Source: http://www.EzineArticles.com/

What is Accreditation?

By: James Perlick

Accreditation is a set of guidelines and rules in which colleges operate. This set of rules insures students that generally everything within that college will be uniformly kept. This also protects students from unfair practices within a college. These rules make sure that the students are getting treated fairly, classes are taught professionally, and the students are not unduly harmed by the college.

Types of Accreditation

There are two types of accreditation for colleges:

1. National Accreditation: This is more of a vocational or trade school accreditation and is used mostly for colleges that teach subjects such as culinary, cosmetology, auto mechanics and other trades. There are over fifty accrediting agencies in the United States that make up the national accreditation.
2. Regional Accreditation: This is the best type of accreditation a school can attain. Regional accreditation is more of an academic accreditation and includes most of the top colleges like state colleges, community colleges, and some of the top private colleges. There are six accreditation bodies that comprise the regional accreditation system.

Transfer Credits

Transfer credits are credits that transfer from one college to another college. Being regionally accredited is the best for transfer credits. For instance, if you take classes at a community college which is regionally accredited most likely these credits will transfer to a state college that is regionally accredited. Most of the time regionally accredited colleges will not accept nationally accredited transcripts for transfer credits. If you have a bachelor's degree from a nationally accredited college the likelihood of attaining a master's degree from a regional college is very slim. They will not recognize your bachelor's as a transferable degree. Transfer credits also vary from one college to the next, so check with the colleges.

Evaluating Colleges

If you are evaluating colleges make sure that the accreditation is the highest of the colleges. For instance if you are comparing two colleges for business degrees and one college is nationally accredited and the other is regionally accredited choose the regional accreditation.

Now, on the other hand if you were choosing a college for a trade such as art, this can be found at a community college or a nationally accredited college. Usually the nationally accredited college has less general education and more hands-on classes. This might be more beneficial for the student.

So compare wisely and know your accreditation.

James Perlick is a consultant for:
http://www.FindOnlineColleges.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Perlick

Are Online Degrees Valid to Prospective Employers?

By: Rose M

Online distance learning has gained rapid popularity with the advent of the internet, which has proven to offer great supporting facilities and convenience for online education. However, just like everything else with pros and cons, the internet has also opened doors for the widespread sale of bogus online degrees. According a report by USA Today, there were already 400 diploma mills in the year 2003 and the numbers are rising. In fact, many of these unscrupulous operations are run by organizations in an industry that is worth $500 million a year.

However, amidst the negative hype about online education, there are actually many distance learning colleges offering valid degrees and diplomas. These institutions do not sell bogus certificates, but actually aim to provide quality education as alternatives for on-campus higher education. Valid online courses with online video lectures as well as online library facilities and test examinations conducted are often deployed to ensure that students truly qualify in their areas of study and graduate legitimately. Sadly though, many employers only see the negative side of things, and easily brush off online education degrees as equivalent to bogus degrees.

In view of the confusion, the National Education Board of the U.S. government has authorized 6 accreditation agencies to provide institutional accreditation to education institutions, as a measure to differentiate legitimate universities from the crooks. This means that students choosing their universities will be assured that these universities would have met minimum criteria set forth by these agencies for learning institutions. Additionally, there is also The Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) which provides accreditation specifically for distance learning institutions. The DETC is an accreditation agency that is recognized by the US Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Furthermore, there is also specialized accreditation for specific programs of different areas of specialization. These programs which are found to have attained excellence will be awarded accreditation by various professional accrediting agencies depending on the area of specialization. For instance, the International Association for Management Education (AACSB) gives accreditation to accounting related programs while health programs are accredited by the American Health Information Management Association. It is also important to know that only accreditation agencies recognized by the Department of Education or CHEA are considered accreditation agencies which are acknowledged.

What does accreditation mean to a student? An institutional accreditation agency evaluates the various aspects of universities or colleges against minimum standard criteria to determine if the particular institution meets their list of basic requirements and quality of education. College accreditation is necessary to ensure that the education, facilities and support provided by a college or university adheres to basic levels. On the other hand, specialized accreditation evaluates excellence in individual program regardless of which institution the program is being delivered within. In this type of accreditation, course content and program curricula is evaluated against pre-set standards of the institution.

All accreditation does is to assure employers, students and parents that the graduates who are awarded degrees from accredited colleges have undergone quality and adequate training in their respective areas of specialization. This also means that colleges that are not accredited by the proper accreditation body would not have met the standards imposed by the agencies. However, courses taken by prospective employees that are accredited by the respective agencies would have met standards imposed on the respective specialized areas.

It is totally up to the judgment and decision of the employers on evaluating the validity of an online or on-campus degree. With the recent hike in bogus degrees, employers can't help but be stringent in their applicant screenings and consider those with degrees that have been accredited. This may prove tedious and sometimes employers may get confused. Therefore, if your accreditation is provided by an agency recognized by the US Department of Education, then you will need to explain to your prospective employers on the background of the accrediting bodies. This way, you can avoid employers from sidelining your application based on something that they may be unclear about and increase your chances of being short listed for a job interview.

About the Author:

Rose Musyoka is the editor of http://www.distance-learning-college-guide.com where you find answers, information and advice on distance learning colleges, accredited online degrees and online courses. See more related information on distance learning colleges and why college accreditation is important.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rose_M

Online Degrees A Smart Way To Educate Yourself

It has been quite a few years now that people have experienced a revolutionary change in the education industry. It is the online mode of education. Unlike the earlier days where you needed to go to colleges in order to pursue a degree, nowadays, an alternative has come out, especially for the working professionals who do not have enough time to attend regular classes. Here come the online degrees. Online degrees are the college degrees including high school diplomas and non-degree certificate programs that can be earned through internet, from the comfort of your home, and without attending regular classes. Online degrees are tailor-made for those who are currently working somewhere or have some other engagements, but want to pursue higher education without hampering their present work. It has become an increasing trend to enroll for online degrees, as thousands of students throughout the world are going for these. To meet this high demand, a number of colleges and universities all over the world have also come up with a wide range of online degree courses.

There are several reasons why you should go for online degrees. First and foremost is its flexibility. You can control your own pace while pursuing degrees online. You do not have to attend regular classes, which means, you can continue with your current work while pursuing your course.

Online degrees help to increase your educational qualification, which in turn, brightens your career prospect and increases the probability of getting a better job. You can pursue more than one degree concurrently from different university, which means, you can increase your educational qualifications in a faster way.

Online degrees are more often less-costly than the regular ones. In that way, it saves money also.

Online degrees can eliminate distance between you and your university. You can enroll for an online degree from the university of your choice, no matter where you reside at.

Finally, online degrees could also be pretty good for the students for the fact that, getting admitted to an online degree course is much easier than the regular one.

In order to get proper value and recognition from the degree, one should always go for online degrees that have proper accreditation. There are educational accreditation boards in every country that regulates the education system of the respective country with a goal to ensure acceptable levels of quality of educational programs provided by various institutions. In United States, there are six regional accreditation boards, which include Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and Western Association of Schools and Colleges. There are also Department of Education, Council of Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), and Distance Education and Training Council (DETC), which deal with accreditation for distance learning institutions and online degrees.

There can be several levels of online degrees offered by various universities, which include Associate’s degrees, Bachelor’s degrees, Master’s degrees, Doctorate degrees, and also some certificate programs, and high school diplomas as well. In most of these degree programs, students can choose a wide range of subjects that may include Arts & Design, Business, Education, Engineering, Healthcare, Humanities & Social Sciences, IT & Computer Science, Law & Criminal Justice, Science etc.

There is no dearth of universities that offer online degree programs. You have a huge list of universities to choose from while selecting one. Kaplan University, Baker College Online, Bellevue University, Ashford University, Ashworth University, California Southern University, Capella University, AIU Online, DeVry University, Ellis University, Edinburgh Business School, Columbia Southern University etc. are a few to name.

So rip the benefits of new age education and go for an online degree in order to enhance your educational qualification. It helps your career in a great way.

About the Author:

Gaurav Kasera is an experienced education consultant who has been in the industry for quite a few years. Working as a consultant, he also has written a number of articles on education. For more Details about Online Degrees and online Degrees Universities and Colleges please log on to Online Zoology Degree