Altilab2005 - Distance Education Blog

By Savia Rajagopal-Shah 

Are distance education programmes really adding to your resume? Or should you reconsider the benefits of a full-time programme? Here’s weighing the options... 

Short on time

With time at a premium, and a multitude of tasks to accomplish, do you find yourself wondering if you’ll ever head back to school again? Your answer could be a programme offered through distance education. Many believe it’s a heaven-sent – and why not? You can work and earn a degree at the same time! 

First person

Why do correspondence programmes find so many takers? Shanta Nair, a banking and finance professional, fills us in, “I wanted to work immediately, but it was also important that I pursue higher education. Correspondence education was the answer! A mere graduate degree gets you nowhere nowadays.”    

On the right track

Though much maligned for adding no real value to your resume, Deepak Deshpande, Head, Human Resources, Lionbridge Technologies Pvt Ltd, India, debunks that theory about distance education. “Having a distance education degree sends out a strong message to the interviewers (about the interviewee), showing a eagerness to learn, quick learning skills, a desire to grow and the willingness to walk that extra mile,” he confides.  

The pros

So you are working and think you can gain more from these programmes? You’re RIGHT! Many experts feel that working professionals are more equipped to apply classroom theory to real-life situations.  Pick correspondence courses if:

·      You are looking to upgrade your existing skill set

·      You want a professional qualification that boosts your market value

·      You want to make a serious career switch and need validation in the form of a degree. 

The cons

Like it or not, in the case of freshers, employers still prefer full-time students, picked straight off the campus. When it comes to the moolah, the pay packages you receive as a ‘correspondence’ student might be lower than that for those with conventional qualifications.  Those considering full-time studies have added benefits at hand such as:

·      Building teamwork, honing communication skills

·      Inculcating other key skills such as leadership, interpersonal skills, etc

·      Building a network with industry people and other peers. 

How far will it get you?

Although distance education programmes find many takers, do they really add value to your resume? YES! Deshpande affirms that there has been a shift in popular thinking, adding, “Academic qualifications through distance education mode are now widely accepted.” But, he cautions, “When hiring laterally, distance education qualifications are accepted, though the first choice would still be conventional full-time degrees unless the candidate with a background in distance education scores on other parameters.”  

Before choosing a distance education programme, know that…

·      Vocational/ professional courses are preferred, for example, BEd, MBA, PhD, MCA, BTech, MSc and a host of certificate and diploma courses.

·   The institute has accreditation that is valid and certified by the regulating educational authority. 

The final word

In today’s world, we’re lucky because distance education is no longer viewed as a drawback. Consider it a blessing and go ahead, take the distant route! 

(Opinions quoted in the above article are those of individuals alone and not of the organisations they may be associated with) 

I just found this blog today while doing a search for a Star Wars Unit Study for our local home school co-op. I've started reading it and I love it!  I don't know why it came up as in my Google search, but I'm glad it did!

Enjoy!

P.S.  Edited to include hyperlink....duh!!!  HERE YOU GO!!

I am being quiz-master of the flash card. Both sides have a unique approach to scoring. One will award themselves a point if they repeat the word quickly after the other has read it and the other will bump up their tally when they think no one is looking. Whatever the scoring method chosen, it has to result in a draw.

Been thinking and reading so much lately. I've been keeping a list of advantages and disadvantages of home schooling as I go along and here it is. It's a list for me, and not necessarily how others will see it, or how their experiences may be. They are in no particular order. I may add to or edit this as we go along.

Home Schooling Pros and Cons

PRO'S
· We determine curriculum
· Easier to fulfil biblical requirements e.g. Deuteronomy 6:6-7, 11:19
· Less daily travel
· Tailor teaching style to child's learning style
· Develop close relationship with the children
· Character Emphasis
· Instil a life long love for learning
· No school fees
· More time for child to pursue interests/talents
· Freedom to travel anytime
· Can do things during school hours
· Can protect children from bullying or other negative influences
· Less peer pressure related to academic performance
· More efficient use of time (e.g. not waiting for 30 children to be quiet, 1 hour lunch breaks etc)
· We are with our kids 24/7
· Children can learn life skills e.g. house, baby, car, home maintenance, money,
· Impartation of our values

CON'S
· Less child free time for me.
· Loss of potential income
· Fewer same age peers
· Messy home
· Home schooling expenses
· Less concrete feedback on progress
· No school photos
· Harder to run errands
· Extra stuff in our house - e.g books, material
· With my children 24/7
· Having to justify our decision to others
· Requires my full commitment to encourage, motivate, instruct etc.

At risk of repeating myself, another post about reading.

"The biggest secret to homeschooling, I believe, is to teach your child to read. Ignite the fire of learning underneath the seats of their little pants when they are just toddlers - and continue to expect them to read throughout their lives…and you won’t have to worry about their achievement tests in high school. This is true for any method of educating your child - not just homeschoolers. (Although as homeschoolers, you have the potential to know just how much and what they are reading every day. Sometimes you have to force them to stop reading…)" From Seeking Faithfulness.

Tonight I read The Little Yellow Digger to B about 7 times in a row. He didn't appear to be listening to me as he was busy with a puzzle at the same time, but each time I finished he said "Again, again!" By about the 5th time I would leave a word out and prompt him to finish the sentence. Once he got what I was trying to get him to do , he managed to remember this from the first page: "poured and poured with rain". Which sounded more like "Pile and pile to rain!"

When his Daddy walked in through the door he shouted "Daddy, we reading DIGGER!!!!"

I came across this post called Making Edisons and thought to post it here to remind myself to stop having entirely unrealistic expectations about the messes my children make. It's a beautifully written piece about 'giftedness' by a home schooling father of 5. If I am going to survive home schooling then there's a lesson I need to learn here. The author points out that stifling our children's creativity is like keeping their 'gifts' wrapped.

I find that I get quite fanatical about keeping control of the mess when they play, and I think it just comes from a fear of not being able to cope. Orderliness helps me cope with the busyness of family life and while our home is far from organised, I still feel like I'd rather keep it as it is than mess it up entirely.

Mess for the sake of it is not good, but I need to lighten up when the kids are busy cutting up magazines for a collage (as they did today leaving tiny bits of paper all over the floor after I just vacuumed), or outside playing with the hose and getting wet to their socks. I find myself letting it go so far and then being the kill-joy by telling them "that's enough" and "tidy up all this mess".

The way I see it, there's something to be said for everything having a place and putting things away when finished with, and it's important for the kids to learn to be tidy and organised. If they know how to tidy up afterwards, then mess in the course of play and fun and learning is a good thing.

Letting go a bit is going to be a stretch for me because as much as I hate to admit it, I'm a bit of a control freak. I really don't think this all means we just let it all go and live in dirty, disorganised homes. In fact, I think that a clean and organised home is the way to nurture creative children. However, kids are messy by their very nature and I certainly don't want them growing up under my constant disapproval of their play. I'm sure there's a middle ground to be reached here.

Much of my 'fear of not coping' comes from a general lack of discipline. I don't mean that my kids run riot and get away with anything, but I have been guilty of almost always picking up after them because I've been too lazy/tired/foolish to require them to do it themselves. I can see that many of these parenting issues when corrected will facilitate a happier house, more relaxed mother, more responsible children, and these things will support the home schooling lifestyle I hope for.

Everything I have read regarding home schooling young children always emphasises reading aloud to them. A lot. Mindful of this we've been making regular trips to the library and coming home with a pile of picture books and a few non-fiction. E has enjoyed books about birds, plants, human body - senses, and most recently Common and Garden Birds of New Zealand. I have found it interesting to note her interest in biology.

However, I've been finding she's less interested in the shorter picture books, and rather chooses longer stories from her bookshelf, which have been read so many times and getting a bit boring for me, and aren't really very stretching for her either.

So, on a whim the other day I grabbed C S Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia off my bookshelf while the kids were having lunch and started to read. Her attention was captured from the opening line of the first book The Magician's Nephew: "This is a story about something that happened a long time ago when your grandfather was a boy." Since then we have read everyday and while I think some of the language is difficult for her to understand we've been making steady progress. I think we are up to chapter 9. Most days when I tell her we have to stop, she says "Oh please....a bit more, I want to know what happens next." She's so enjoying the adventure and the rich fantasy. I'm also enjoying reading it. I'm so excited that she's growing up and I look forward to other books we can enjoy together.

I think I had underestimated how much she enjoys being read to, as well as her understanding. I'm so glad I took the plunge to attempt these books.

Amazing! Not a single "opposing" view of homeschooling in the article.

Giving Proper Credit To Home-Schooled - washingtonpost.com

Admissions officers accustomed to evaluating class rankings, transcripts and recommendations from professional teachers have long faced challenges in evaluating home-schooled applicants. How much weight should be given to student performance in a class of one or two? Or credits assigned for horseback riding or hiking the Appalachian Trail? Or glowing recommendations from Mom?

It's all kicking off in cyber-space as Jay Cross responded angrily yesterday to what he claimed was a mis-representative posting from Steven Downes on Personal Learning Environments and the role of corporate learning consultants.

Jay is clearly angry, stating:

I resent the implication that I tell employers what they want to hear instead of what I believe in my heart. Stephen’s flippant suggestion that I lack integrity insults me.

So what's the argument about and what's at stake?

Read the rest of this entry »

Where is all the evidence for homeschoolers stacking teams?

TSO - homeschool policy

It is presumed that a home school team will be composed of children who have a pre-existing relationship of working together on a regular basis. We will require a statement from the coach as to the nature of that relationship. An "all star" team assembled by student abilities rather than by their pre-existing regular study relationship would not be allowed. Since this is a new aspect of the Texas Science Olympiad, we may establish additional criteria as the home school activity materializes and unforeseen problems become known. Our desire is to provide this opportunity to as many children as possible while, at the same time, keeping the playing field level.

How many of these teams come from magnet schools--you know schools that draw kids from all over a school district, maybe even outside the district, but certainly not from the same assigned school?

Do these kids all attend the exact same science, English, history, classes at school? Is it possible that many of the public school teams have kids that share an advanced science class but no others?

What's sad is that I'm sure many of these public school teams do consist of kids who all attend the exact same honors or advance classes. These teams are undoubtedly "assembled by student abilities." I bet in some of the more competitive magnet schools, there are even "try-outs." They in no way represent the greater student population of the school. And these teams are more "fair" than a homeschool team formed of kids who just want to share their passion for a particular subject--whether they're good at it or not?

Technorati Tags: Texas Science Olympiad, Home School Policy, Homeschoolers, stacking home school teams