The podcasts featured at Stanford University in California, Calhoun Community College in Alabama and Indiana University are currently meant as a supplement to attending traditional lectures, not as a substitute. For example, if students oversleep and miss an early morning class, they will no longer have to scramble to find another student’s notes.  It will also come in handy before finals, allowing students to cram or review information that they just don’t quite grasp. Officials at Calhoun also allow students to log on to the net to view many of the visual aides professors use in class.

Calhoun officials are currently stressing the value of attending the classes in person with some professors offering “attendance incentives,” and likening the service to “a tutor in a pocket.”

But it may be just a matter of time before the tutor is upgraded to a full-time professor. In fact, Even Calhoun is investigating the feasibility of integrating the service for their distance learning students in the future.

So the next time you see someone wearing headphones, don’t assume they are jamming to their favorite tunes. They may be studying.

By David Plowman

 To help you do so, consider the following questions:

• Are you self-motivated? One of the advantages of taking on-line classes is that “classes” don’t meet at set times. While there will certainly be due dates you have to complete your work by, you won’t have set times to meet with the instructor and go over the reading material. While this may be arrangement may be great for a student who is already employed full-time and travels a lot for business, it may not be good for an easily-distracted student who procrastinates. Instead, such students may find they work better in a classroom setting with an instructor applying a thumbnail of pressure on them.
• Are you able to “speak up” when you don’t understand the material? It is a common misconception that on-line classes are for introverts who don’t want to be called on during a class discussion. But in fact, on-line learners will have to take the initiative to contact their professor if they don’t understand something. In a classroom setting,  good professors can tell whether or not their students understand the material by looking at them and seeing if they have looks of understanding or blank stares. But in the on-line environment, it is up to the student to contact the instructor (usually by phone or e-mail) if they have a question.
• Do you learn well from reading and writing? Different students learn things differently. Some read and comprehend dense texts and volumes of material. Others may be overwhelmed and need an instructor to verbally flesh out the most relevant information.

If you answered “yes” to most of the questions above, you will probably thrive in an on-line program.

By David Plowman

Not so, say both teachers who have lead on-line classes and students who have attended them. Rather, both say there are many opportunities for students to interact with the teachers, as well as other students.

Many on-line classes compensate for the lack of live interaction between students by requiring them to post their thoughts on the class on discussion boards set up by the teacher. These requirements actually make it more difficult for students to “hide” than traditional bricks-and-mortar schools where a shy student can sit unnoticed in the back of the classroom.

The course’s instructors disseminate the “lectures” to students in a variety of ways. Some may provide simulcasts of the lecture. Others may offer recorded class seasons available on the web. More commonly, teachers will upload their lecture notes and study aides on the web.

However the student views the lecture on the site, the teacher will always be available for follow-up questions. Often times, the learner can e-mail the instructor, and the teacher replies back with the answer. Others keep regular office hours where they can be reached over the phone to answer questions.

Some programs even feature group projects where students bridge the gaps of geography by using the web or teleconferencing to work collaboratively. This approach enables students in New York, Bismarck, North Dakota and Los Angeles to work together on the same project.

Rather than being isolating, taking an on-line course can connect you to people you wouldn’t meet in a traditional classroom.

By David Plowman

• Volunteer. Find an activity you enjoy and find an organization matches your talent. For example, if you play the piano, see if you can play at your church, perform at nursing home or even score an internship at your city’s symphony. If you are a writer, see if you can intern at a local paper or help with a non-profit organization’s newsletter. Not only will you be starting an early habit of giving back to the community, you will be gaining real-world experience which will look good on a college (or job) application.
• Attend a camp. This doesn’t have to be the “back to nature camp in the woods” you may have experienced when you were just a little kid. Rather, there are a variety of specialized camps catering to teens with a variety of interests including music, sports, artists and, inc case you actually enjoyed the “back to nature” camps when you were a kid, you can always camp in the wilderness again as a teen.. Whatever activity you choose, you’ll have a chance to do something you love and meet others with similar interests.
• Find a job. O.K. you’ve probably heard this enough from your parents, so I’ll keep this section brief. Whether it is a job that requires you to say “would you like any fries with that?” or a job more aligned with your career or academic goals, you’ll be getting extra spending money, and build positive work habits. More importantly, you won’t have to hear your parents nag you to get a job because you’ll be at work!

Enjoy the summer off from school, but don’t let it just pass you by, get involved in something that will serve you well, now and in the future.

By David Plowman
 

Just like traditional colleges, not every education program in cyberspace will suit your needs. To help you evaluate a potential internet-based educator, consider asking your provider the following questions:

• Are you accredited? By which organization? Accreditation can be a very important factor in deciding what college or university to attend, whether you are attending classes on-line or at a traditional campus. For more information on accreditation, click here.
• What is the total cost of taking classes? Some on-line colleges tack on processing fees or other fees. Consider the bottom-line the bottom-line cost, not simply the per class enrollment fee.
• Will I need to buy additional proprietary software or computer equipment to “attend” classes on-line? While many classes will be web-based, some programs may require you to buy specialized programs to effectively participate in the classes. You should also see if the classes require you to run graphics-rich programs, use a high-speed internet connection or other requirements in order to determine if you need to update your computer system.
• What are the teachers’ qualifications? Whether you’re in contact with a teacher through an on-line class, e-mail or via the phone, your teachers should be just as qualified as they would be at a traditional college or university.
• What is the teacher/student ratio? Are teachers available for questions beyond scheduled on-line “lectures”? Just because you are attending a class on-line, doesn’t mean you should have to sacrifice the ability to get personalized attention when you need it.
• Can I work at my own pace, or are their set course lengths and assignment due dates? Some on-line courses may have set class times and assignments schedules, just like many traditional classes, while other may allow you to skip a head or work at your own pace. You should also assess your own studying habits, and evaluate if you can work independently or if you need a set schedule.
• Do many students who take these classes go on to graduate? The more students an on-line college or university retains through graduation, the higher probability that students were satisfied with their experience.
• What degrees are offered? Not every school will offer the same degree programs. Also, some traditional bricks-and-mortar schools may offer certain classes on-line, but may not offer their entire degree program on-line.
• How long has the school been offering classes on-line?  Though there are always exceptions, in general, schools that have an established track record may have an advantage over a start-up.

Taking an on-line class or degree program may be an efficient, positive experience for the right student. But evaluate net-based programs just as rigorously as you would a traditional college or university.

By David Plowman

One tool to evaluate them is to find out whether or not the institution is accredited.

Higher education is traditionally regulated by the states, not the federal government. Since these state regulations may be very different from state to state, independent non-governmental agencies have taken the role of determining whether or not the institutions meet certain quality standards.

There are several accrediting organizations, but generally fall into two main categories, institutional and specialized. Institutional accrediting agencies will accredit (or deny accreditation to) entire colleges or universities, while specialized accreditation agencies may deal with a particular field or curriculum within a particular school, not the entire school itself. (For example, the National Association of Schools of Music’ Commission on Accreditation would accredit a school’s music program, not the entire school.)

Colleges and universities do not need to seek accreditation. In fact, the process is voluntarily, costly and time consuming. It can take between five to ten years for an initial accreditation. However, accreditation may provide great benefits to both you and the school.

First, if you are planning to transfer into another school or university, your credits will have a much greater chance of transferring if you graduated from an accredited school. While coming from an accredited school does not guarantee your credits will transfer, your incoming school still has sole discretion over what credits it will or will not accept, but coming from an accredited school will greatly enhance your chances successfully transferring your credits. Further, employers may not place a lot of weight on a degree if it does not come from an accredited learning institution.

But just as not every college is created equally, not every college accreditation agency use the same standards to approve school. To that end, many of these agencies are themselves accredited by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. To see if an accreditation agency that evaluated your college is itself accredited, visit their website at www.chea.org.

Additionally, in order to be eligible for federal student aid, you must attend a college or university accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of accreditation agencies the USDE recognizes, vist their website at www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html.

Evaluating your college may sound like a lot of work, and it its. But in the end, you may owe it to yourself and your future to determine if attending an accredited college or university is best for you.

David Plowman
 

Whether they are taking courses to get a degree, to enhance their job skills, or just for personal edification, many on-line learners say they appreciate the flexibility of the internet. They appreciate the fact that they don’t have to commute to a specific place to learn, enjoy the flexibility the internet “classes” provide, and like that they can learn at their own pace.

But taking a class on-line may not be for everyone. Some may need the structure an organized class provides. Others may prefer a traditional learning setting because they want to have direct interaction with the professor. Still others want the social camaraderie they receive from the other students in the classroom.

So before enrolling in on-line courses, it might help to examine their advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages:

• No commute costs.
• Flexible schedule may make it easier to enroll in a course and work simultaneously.
• Can “attend” classes from any computer in the world. This may be convenient if you frequently travel for work or leisure.
• You can skip ahead to the next topic quickly if you understand the material well, or you can take longer to understand a subject if you need to.
• You can fit your classes around your busy life, not vice versa.
• Tends to give you more autonomy, you aren’t as dependant as your professor.
• Decreased tuition. Since you aren’t paying for a classroom, you may not have to pay as much for your coursework.

Disadvantages:

• May be easier to procrastinate, you may need the structure of the classroom setting to keep you on time.
• The lack of face-to-face time with a teacher/professor may make it more difficult to ask questions.
• Lack of interaction with other students. While you may be able to e-mail your classmates or even have specific times you log in to attend a “class” on-line and to ask questions via a chat forum, you probably won’t have a social interaction with your fellow students.
• May require technical know-how of how to operate a computer that may not be required in traditional classrooms.

While taking an on-line course may be an effective way to enhance your knowledge, it may not be for everyone. To determine whether it will work for you, take an honest evaluation of how you work best, and weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each type of course.

By David Plowman

Congratulations! Getting a degree is a tremendous accomplishment. You probably have opened yourself up to jobs that may not of have been available had you not earned your degree. And just as important, if not more so, you have learned valuable life lessons about responsibility, independent living and the importance of hard work and self-discipline.

But if you are like most recent grads, there’s one thing you achieved that you aren’t too proud of. You’ve wracked up quite a debt on your student loan. Well, you’re not alone, according to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics, 65 percent of the students who graduated during the 1999-2000 academic year took out a loan to help pay for college.

While you will have to pay the loan back, most lenders will offer several options to make repayment easier:

Level Repayment plans: With this plan, your monthly loan payment with be one fixed amount for the term of your loan, whether you’ve graduated a year ago or five years ago. If you can afford the monthly payments, this plan will ultimately accrue the least amount of interest, and will cost you the least in interest payments and will cost you the least over the long haul.

Graduated Repayment Plans: Here, your monthly repayment balance starts low, but gradually increases over time. At the plan’s outset, you will pay $50 a month or the interest payments on the loan, whichever amount is greater. If you are starting a career where your initial salary is low, but will increase significantly as you advance, this plan may be best for you. However, be aware this plan will ultimately cost you more because the principal (amount you borrowed) will still accrue interest.

Income-Sensitive Plan: Under this plan, your monthly payment is equal to one percent of your monthly income, or the interest due on your loan, whichever is greater. This plan may reduce your monthly payments, however could be the costliest over the course of your loan.  To qualify you will have to submit a verification of your monthly income (such as copies of your paycheck) and you will have to renew annually.

If you are unable to make any payments, or if you are taking additional coursework, you may qualify for deferment or forbearance.

Deciding on what payment plan is best for you may help take some of the sting out of making your payments, and allow you to make the most of your newly-earned degree.

By David Plowman

While you could track down scholarships on your own, there are several search services offered on the internet and elsewhere that offer to do all of the legwork for you. Many of these businesses are legitimate, since they keep huge databases of scholarship offerings, they may be able to uncover an option you may not have found on your own.

But not all scholarship services are legitimate. Some promise to find you thousands of dollars in free school money, but don’t deliver after they take your fee. In fact, families lose millions of dollars to fraudulent scholarship search services every year.

To protect yourself against these disreputable services, the Federal Trade Commission suggests you be wary of services using any of the following catchphrases:

• “The scholarship is guaranteed or your money back.”
• “You can’t get this information anywhere else.”
• “I just need your credit card or bank account number to hold this scholarship.”
• “We’ll do all the work.”
• “The scholarship will cost some money.” 
•  “You’ve been selected” by a “national foundation” to receive a scholarship - or “You’re a finalist” in a contest you never entered.

Reputable services will not guarantee results. While they will try to search out college funding that closely matches your profile, you will have to do some of the work by providing you with the information they need to build the profile.

By following these steps, you can reduce your risk of being duped by an unscrupulous business.

By David Plowman

This annual scholarship program sponsored by Henkel Consumer Adhesives, the company that makes Duck Duct Tape, illustrates that you don’t always have to be valedictorian of your class to score some free college dough.

In fact, there are hundreds of sources for academic funding that aren’t solely based on excellent achievement in academics or sports. Organizations like the 4-H club, Rotary Clubs and Jaycees all have scholarship programs where your attributes, community involvement or participation in extracurricular activities may be weighed more heavily than your GPA.

Some scholarship programs are even more offbeat. Students who are lefties, have a particular last name, or are talent duck callers can all find college funding organizations that offer college greenbacks.

So where do you find these scholarships? Start with your high school counselor, or ask the college you are planning to attend. Research local community organizations. Of course, the internet is also a great source research your college funding sources. Just type “scholarship” into your favorite search engine and click away. Other sites like FinAid.com, Fastweb.com and collegeboard.com are other sources.
 

If you are stuck on the duct tape scholarship, applications are currently being accepted at ducktapeclub.com. You and your date could get $3,000 each in scholarships.
 

By David Plowman