Best Online Degree Tips You Can Use Today by Helen Hecker

Many people are earning a bachelor, master's or doctorate degree online in their field whether it's an online nursing degree, online education degree, psychology degree, or even an online criminal justice degree without conforming to the traditional, time consuming schedule. Others include a business degree online, online accounting degree, and online teaching degree. The term 'online degrees' refers to college degrees (sometimes including high school diplomas and non-degree certificate programs) that can be earned primarily or entirely by the use of a computer connected to the Internet, rather than by attending a college in a traditional campus setting. It's been reported that employers feel that an employee receiving an online education degree compares favorably, in terms of knowledge learned, to someone with a resident degree.

According to one report, about two-thirds of the largest institutions now have fully online degree programs. Working on your online degree at home enables you to learn in your own way, at your own speed and will allow you to decide how soon you want to earn your degree. You will want to make sure your online school choice has accreditation, which means that the institution has passed a particular set level of standards through a recognized organization for upholding quality education.

Today there are even consortiums formed of universities, such as in Canada, the Canadian Virtual University, which offers no courses or degrees, but simply acts as a portal for courses from 14 universities across Canada. While most major online colleges are regionally accredited, the public perception of their quality has been in dispute but is gradually changing. In 1996, the University of Colorado at Denver in the United States expanded its campus with the formation of CU Online, creating one of the first fully accredited online education programs offering online university degrees.

Types of online degrees available today include: interior design degree online, online law degree, education online, engineering degree online, online paralegal degree, online computer science degree and online history degree. When seeking financial aid or an education loan for an online degree, it's important to know they are now readily available, which was not true a few years ago. Graduates of any online degree program will be a good source for recommendations and make sure to ask about anything they think you should look out for.

Make sure that all the online credits you earn are transferable; ask at the institution directly, if possible, because most schools vary from course to course and with the individual school policy. Try to find online forums or chat rooms with actual students who are attending the school or who have attended the school you have in mind. Make sure to find out if you have to go to a campus to take some of the exams or complete some of your online coursework; if so, would you have difficulty getting to the campus if during the evenings and on weekends if necessary?

If you're not sure about where you'll be working when you earn your degree you might ask the counselors or representatives handling the accredited online degree program or bachelor degree online program what the job prospects might be. There are many online schools that are complete, stand-alone online universities with no campuses, football teams, sororities or fraternities.

Students seeking online degrees should get proof of accreditation from a regional or national accrediting body in the US if they have any doubt. Whether you want to earn an associate degree online, a bachelor's degree online or even a master's or doctorate degree online, rest assured that most online programs are fully accredited, but make sure to check this out before you commit; the value of the degree often rests on whether or not an institution is accredited.

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Online Study Tips - 6 To-Do Tasks in First Week of Study by Julie Harvard

After you have enrolled into an online education program, the next thing to do is preparing yourself to attend online classes. Your first week in an online class can be a little disorienting as you may not familiar with the online learning system used by the school. You need to learn how to navigate a virtual "classroom", interact with peers and professors through online system and familiar yourself with the online learning environment. Here are 6 online study tips that you can do in the first week of your online learning:

1. Review the course requirement

Once you received the course requirements for every subject, go through the requirements carefully to ensure you can really handle the workload. Many online students tend to dropout half-way of the course after they find out that can't cope for the course. Don't let this happen to you, if you find out the course is not suitable for you after reviewing the course requirements, and you decide to dropout the course, do it before the school's withdrawal deadline so that you can get a full or partial refund of your payment.

2. Buy text books and other materials

Buy all the textbooks and other course materials early so that you won't fall behind on your online study. Many schools have their own online bookstore or a recommended list of bookstore where you can purchase the course textbooks and other materials.

3. Upgrade computer hardware and install required software

Is your computer meeting the online system requirements? Most online learning system can be accessed directly from general internet browser such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, but those online learning system may only run well in certain minimum version of internet browser such as IE 6.0 or Firefox 2.0, then you need to upgrade it if yours is an earlier version. The school may requires you to install their software on to your computer, make sure you read the software requirements and upgrade your computer if necessary before you install the software.

4. Get to known each other with your teachers and peers

Your online teachers may never get to know you if you are in an online course with a lot of students. Take an initiative to briefly introduce yourself by using online course message board to let your teachers aware about you. A teacher who knows a little bit about you will be more likely to help you through the course. Establish yourself as an active member in the online class, take the initiative to get to know your peers and trade your email or other online communication accounts with them. You will your life in online study much easier if you have made up your network between teachers and peers.

5. Plan your learning schedule

You should always balance your family, career (if any) and your online study life. The life balances can only be achieved with a proper time management. Establish a regular study schedule and stick to it with your best efforts. Let your friends know that you are unavailable during these times and plan your family time to fit your study schedule so that it won't crash with each other.

6. Marks the tests and assignment schedule on your calendar

One of the key factors for success online students is "self-motivation", nobody will look at your back and remind you on your assignment due date, and the tests schedule. You should be self-motivate enough to record all of the assignments, test, essays and project on your personal calendar once you receive a syllabus, which normally will be given out at the beginning of the online course.

Summary

Get yourself prepared for the classes at the beginning of the online course will help you to go through your learning journey smoothly. Use the above 6 online study tips to get started.

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