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Students walk along the Casper College campus in Casper. In August, the college announced a new online degree program in office management.

Students walk along the Casper College campus in Casper. In August, the college announced a new online degree program in office management.

Casper College announced recently a new online program in office management, available as both an associate degree and a certificate.

Prior to this semester, the degree was offered only on-campus.

Interim School of Business Dean Roberta Marvel hopes that working people can find time for the program now that its available online.

The academic program includes a mix of software, human resources and business courses. Graduates will be able to enhance their abilities at their current job or find a new career with the skills taught in the programs. According to the colleges website, graduates are prepared for jobs as office or executive assistants.

Successful graduates are suited for a wide variety of positions depending on the industry they choose for employment, Marvel said in a news release. Graduates will have the technical, industry, and business skills for a professional position in a variety of industries.

College spokesman Chris Lorenzen views online degrees as an avenue for people who cant be on campus, and one that allows for growth in statewide enrollment rates.

The program is available to both full- and part-time students.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, more than 2.8 million students across the country were exclusively enrolled in online classes in 2014, or about 14 percent of the total college enrollment at the time.

Follow crime and courts reporter Elise Schmelzer on Twitter @eliseschmelzer

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Casper College offers new online programs in office management - Casper Star-Tribune Online

China Online Education Group (NYSE: COE) and ITT Educational Services (NYSE:ESI) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares China Online Education Group and ITT Educational Services revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

ITT Educational Services has higher revenue, but lower earnings than China Online Education Group. China Online Education Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ITT Educational Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for China Online Education Group and ITT Educational Services, as provided by MarketBeat.

Profitability

This table compares China Online Education Group and ITT Educational Services net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

24.0% of China Online Education Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.7% of ITT Educational Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.8% of ITT Educational Services shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

China Online Education Group has a beta of -0.67, suggesting that its stock price is 167% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ITT Educational Services has a beta of 1.96, suggesting that its stock price is 96% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

ITT Educational Services beats China Online Education Group on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About China Online Education Group

China Online Education Group is engaged in providing online English language education services to students in the Peoples Republic of China (the PRC). The Company operates an online education platform that provides online tutoring programs to students through the Internet. Its platform analyzes teachers teaching aptitudes, feedback and rating from students, as well as background, and recommends suitable teachers to students according to their respective characteristics and learning objectives. The Company develops and tailors its curriculum to its interactive lesson format. The Company offers various courses, which include Classic English and Classic English Junior that are focused on the development of English communication skills. The Company also offers various specialty courses that are focused at situation-based English education and test preparation needs, such as Business English and International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Speaking.

About ITT Educational Services

ITT Educational Services, Inc. is a provider of postsecondary degree programs in the United States. The Company offers master, bachelor and associate degree programs to over 45,000 students, and short-term information technology and business learning solutions for career advancers and other professionals. It has approximately 138 campus locations in over 40 states. It offers online programs to students in all over 50 states. It designs its education programs, after consultation with employers and other constituents, to allow graduates prepare for careers in different fields involving their areas of study. It provides career-oriented education programs under the ITT Technical Institute name and the Daniel Webster College (DWC) name. The ITT Technical Institutes offers over 50 education programs in various fields of study across business, drafting and design, electronics technology, criminal justice, information technology (IT), and Breckinridge School of nursing and health sciences.

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Reviewing China Online Education Group (COE) & ITT Educational Services (ESI) - The Ledger Gazette

Punjab News Express/Balbir SinghLONDON :The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced the launch of a new junior education programme called ITF Knowledge, designed to better prepare young players for a career in the professional game.The online programme, which consists of videos, apps, leaflets, PDF information and question and answer session, has initially launched with two available modules - anti-doping and integrity - with further topics set to follow, says ITF statement.ITF Knowledge has been created in line with the strategic priorities laid out in ITF2024, which features a significant emphasis on integrity.The anti-doping module is designed to supplement the detection and deterrence elements of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP), with the aim of contributing to the overall effectiveness of the TADP.The module comprises documents, video and a quiz to provide a more effective combination of education tools for players around the subject of anti-doping. As an additional benefit, those who complete the module are given access to additional online education materials.The integrity module provides an introduction to the Tennis Integrity Unit, the anti-corruption body which covers all professional tennis around the world.The aim of the module is to inform and educate players about integrity in tennis and to protect them on their journey as a tennis player. Through a range of interactive activities including video, quiz questions and real life case studies, players will develop a better understanding of their responsibilities under the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP) and know when to take action to protect themselves.ITF Knowledge is aimed primarily at players who register through their IPIN, but is also accessible to coaches, parents and any others who wish to sign-up, and is available in three different languages English, French and Spanish.

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ITF launches online junior education 'ITF Knowledge' - Punjab News Express

Bachelor of Science in Education/Early Childhood Education

The Bachelor of Arts in Education (BSED) with a specialization in Early Childhood Education is an undergraduate degree program preparing candidates for teacher licensure in the field of early childhood (birth to age eight/grade 3). The curriculum is aligned with the Interstate Teaching Assessment and Support Consortium's (InTASC) model core teaching standards and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) standards. The curriculum includes common core standards, child development and learning, building family and community relations, cultural diversity, assessment to support young children and families, strong content knowledge to build developmentally appropriate and meaningful curriculum and experiences, and professionalism and ethics of educators. Throughout the program, students are required to complete verified field experiences and student teaching.

The Bachelor of Science in Education/Early Childhood is an undergraduate degree program intended to prepare students with no prior teaching experience for initial teacher licensure. The program is designed for students who want to work with children from pre-K through grade 3 or age 8 as a licensed early childhood educator. The program includes a clinical component requiring field experiences and student teaching above and beyond program coursework. As licensure requirements may vary by state, it is the students responsibility to ascertain and meet licensure requirements in any state in which the student desires to practice and to contact the applicable state educator licensure agency to verify current requirements to become a licensed teacher. There may be additional qualifications and/or disqualifications applicable in order to work as a teacher with any local, state or federal entity.

The mission of the Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration program is to prepare education professionals who can address the multiple challenges facing higher education in a dynamic global community. The program prepares students to lead innovative, institutional policy changes and improvements within complex educational environments involving multiple stakeholders. The program addresses the diversity of higher education entities including public and private colleges and universities, governmental entities, accrediting and regulatory bodies, and higher education professional associations. The program emphasizes the discovery, integration and application of knowledge about higher education and leadership, promotes a commitment to professional integrity and development, the value of human diversity, innovative practice, and collaboration.

The Master of Arts in Education/Administration and Supervision program prepares candidates for principal licensure. The standards-based program is designed to provide principal candidates with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to be successful school leaders who can apply theory to practice. The program encompasses instructional leadership, organizational management, technology management, and data-driven decision-making. An administrative internship is an integral component of the program, providing candidates with a field-based experience in the various aspects of school administration and supervision.

The Master of Arts in Education/Administration and Supervision is a graduate program intended to prepare candidates for K12 school principal licensure. Candidates for this program have already earned a bachelors degree. The program includes a clinical component requiring field experiences and an administrative internship above and beyond program coursework. As licensure requirements may vary by state, it is the students responsibility to ascertain and meet licensure requirements in any state in which the student desires to practice and to contact the applicable state educator licensure agency to verify current requirements to become a licensed school principal. There may be additional qualifications and/or disqualifications applicable in order to work as a principal with any local, state or federal entity.

The Master of Arts/Adult Education and Training (MAED/AET) program is designed for individuals interested in working with adult learners in areas such as corporate training, non-profit and community-based organizations, government, postsecondary education, and human services agencies. Learners develop competencies and expertise necessary to align education and training with strategic objectives and human services foundations across an enterprise with culturally diverse populations. Learners expand their knowledge in andragogical theory, instructional design and strategies, assessment of learning, delivering online learning, management and marketing, and technology integration. In addition, learners engage in practice through collaborative learning, social media, and community-based learning. Graduates will be able to serve adult students, colleagues, industries, and communities as expert educators and trainers.

The Master of Arts in Education/Adult Education and Training is a graduate degree program intended for students interested in working with adult learners in an educational or training environment. The MAED/AET does not prepare students for any type of professional certification or state licensure as a teacher. The program is only intended as an advanced degree.

The Master of Arts in Education program with a specialization in Curriculum and Instruction is intended to afford P-12 educators the opportunity to enhance their curriculum, instruction, and leadership repertoire by expanding their knowledge of assessment, instructional strategies, integration of technology, professional development, data-driven decision making, and mentoring and coaching. Educators will develop teacher leadership skills by exploring the latest research, trends, and strategies. Graduates will be able to effectively collaborate with all stakeholders and serve their students, colleagues, and communities as ethical leaders committed to excellence.

The Master of Arts in Education/Curriculum and Instruction is a graduate degree program intended to provide educators with advanced knowledge and skills in curriculum and instruction. The MAED/CI does not prepare students for any type of professional certification or state licensure as a teacher. The program is only intended as an advanced degree.

The Master of Arts in Education/Elementary Teacher Education (MAED/TED-E) is a graduate degree program preparing candidates for teacher licensure. The guiding philosophy of the MAED/TED-E program is to provide the adult student, who already has a degree in a discipline other than education, with the skills and knowledge that will allow them to become a competent and effective educator. This program focuses on elementary student learning by improving the educator's responsibility for that learning. Student teaching is an integral component of the Teacher Education Program. It provides students with a field-based experience at the appropriate grade and content level. Student teachers work with a cooperating teacher from a school site and with a University of Phoenix faculty advisor. The student teaching experience is designed to emphasize the achievement of state standards leading to certification and to present individuals with growth opportunities that best prepare them to assume the duties of a certified classroom teacher. Throughout the program, students are required to complete a minimum of 100 hours of verified field experiences, covering a variety of developmental levels. The focus of each observation will relate to specific course content.

The Master of Arts in Education/Elementary Teacher Education is a graduate degree program intended for students with no prior teaching experience for initial teacher licensure. The program is designed for students who want to become elementary school teachers. Candidates for this program have already earned a bachelors degree. The program includes a clinical component requiring field experiences and student teaching above and beyond program coursework. As licensure requirements may vary by state, it is the students responsibility to ascertain and meet licensure requirements in any state in which the student desires to practice and to contact the applicable state educator licensure agency to verify current requirements to become a licensed teacher. There may be additional qualifications and/or disqualifications applicable in order to work as a teacher with any local, state or federal entity.

The Master of Arts in Education/Secondary Teacher Education (MAED/TED-S 07AZ) is a graduate degree program preparing candidates for teacher licensure. The guiding philosophy of the MAED/TED-S program is to provide the adult student, who already has a degree in a discipline other than education, with the skills and knowledge that will allow them to become a competent and effective educator. This program focuses on secondary student learning by improving the educator's responsibility for that learning.

Student teaching is an integral component of the Teacher Education Program. It provides students with a field-based experience at the appropriate grade and content level. Student teachers work with a cooperating teacher from a school site and with a University of Phoenix faculty advisor. The student teaching experience is designed to emphasize the achievement of state standards leading to certification and to present individuals with growth opportunities that best prepare them to assume the duties of a certified classroom teacher. Throughout the program, students are required to complete a minimum of 100 hours of verified field experiences, covering a variety of developmental levels. The focus of each observation will relate to specific course content.

The Master of Arts in Education/Secondary Teacher Education is a graduate degree program intended for students with no prior teaching experience for initial teacher licensure. The program is designed for students who want to become secondary school teachers. Candidates for this program have already earned a bachelors degree. The program includes a clinical component requiring field experiences and student teaching above and beyond program coursework. As licensure requirements may vary by state, it is the students responsibility to ascertain and meet licensure requirements in any state in which the student desires to practice and to contact the applicable state educator licensure agency to verify current requirements to become a licensed teacher. There may be additional qualifications and/or disqualifications applicable in order to work as a teacher with any local, state or federal entity.

The Master of Arts in Education (MAED) with a specialization in Special Education is a graduate degree program preparing candidates for teacher licensure in the field of special education. Candidates for this program have already earned a bachelor's degree and wish to gain the pedagogical skills and knowledge that will assist them in becoming effective special education educators. The program's curriculum includes orientation to the exceptional child, foundations and methodologies of mild disabilities, diagnosis and assessment of disabilities, structured English immersion, reading and language arts instruction, inclusion strategies, and collaboration and resource management for the special educator.

Throughout the program, students are required to complete a minimum of 100 hours of verified field experiences. The focus of each observation will relate to specific course content. Students' field experiences are designed to prepare them for student teaching. Student teaching is an integral component of the Special Education Program. Student teachers work with a cooperating teacher and with a University of Phoenix faculty advisor during a field-based experience in mild to moderate special education setting. The student teaching experience is designed to emphasize the achievement of state standards leading to certification and to present individuals with growth opportunities that best prepare them to assume the duties of a certified teacher.

The Master of Arts in Education/Special Education is a graduate degree program intended for students with no prior teaching experience for initial teacher licensure. The program is designed for students who want to become special education teachers. Candidates for this program have already earned a bachelors degree. The program includes a clinical component requiring field experiences and student teaching above and beyond program coursework. As licensure requirements may vary by state, it is the students responsibility to ascertain and meet licensure requirements in any state in which the student desires to practice and to contact the applicable state educator licensure agency to verify current requirements to become a licensed teacher. There may be additional qualifications and/or disqualifications applicable in order to work as a teacher with any local, state or federal entity.

Read more:
Online Education Degrees - University of Phoenix

ITT Educational Services (NYSE: ESI) and China Online Education Group (NYSE:COE) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

ITT Educational Services has a beta of 1.96, suggesting that its stock price is 96% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, China Online Education Group has a beta of -0.49, suggesting that its stock price is 149% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

62.7% of ITT Educational Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.0% of China Online Education Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.8% of ITT Educational Services shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares ITT Educational Services and China Online Education Group -s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for ITT Educational Services and China Online Education Group -, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares ITT Educational Services and China Online Education Group -s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

ITT Educational Services has higher revenue, but lower earnings than China Online Education Group -. China Online Education Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ITT Educational Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

ITT Educational Services beats China Online Education Group on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ITT Educational Services

ITT Educational Services, Inc. is a provider of postsecondary degree programs in the United States. The Company offers master, bachelor and associate degree programs to over 45,000 students, and short-term information technology and business learning solutions for career advancers and other professionals. It has approximately 138 campus locations in over 40 states. It offers online programs to students in all over 50 states. It designs its education programs, after consultation with employers and other constituents, to allow graduates prepare for careers in different fields involving their areas of study. It provides career-oriented education programs under the ITT Technical Institute name and the Daniel Webster College (DWC) name. The ITT Technical Institutes offers over 50 education programs in various fields of study across business, drafting and design, electronics technology, criminal justice, information technology (IT), and Breckinridge School of nursing and health sciences.

About China Online Education Group

China Online Education Group is engaged in providing online English language education services to students in the Peoples Republic of China (the PRC). The Company operates an online education platform that provides online tutoring programs to students through the Internet. Its platform analyzes teachers teaching aptitudes, feedback and rating from students, as well as background, and recommends suitable teachers to students according to their respective characteristics and learning objectives. The Company develops and tailors its curriculum to its interactive lesson format. The Company offers various courses, which include Classic English and Classic English Junior that are focused on the development of English communication skills. The Company also offers various specialty courses that are focused at situation-based English education and test preparation needs, such as Business English and International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Speaking.

Receive News & Ratings for ITT Educational Services Inc. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ITT Educational Services Inc. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.

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ITT Educational Services (ESI) and China Online Education Group ... - The Ledger Gazette

Speaking recently during the just-ended BOSETU elective congress, Molao said this is meant to ensure coherent, efficient, seamless, responsive and relevant teacher education system. He added that the number of students choosing to enroll for diploma programmes offered by Colleges of Education has gone down significantly.

This year the total enrolment in all the four colleges is only 874. This is equivalent to just over 80% of the Serowe College of Education capacity alone, he added.

Molao said these are indicators that the demand for these programmes is far below the existing supply hence the ministry has realised that this is not cost effective hence the time has come to transform the colleges to the status of degree-offering institutions.

He also said that one reality that needs to be accepted is that the basic education system has developed to the point where there is need to have the minimum requirement being a first degree.

What is currently happening is that diploma holders have to be taken for further studies to acquire a first degree, he added.

Molao said in an effort to transform tertiary education the ministry is also transforming the Botswana College of Open and Distance Learning (BOCODOL) into an open university. The Botswana Open University Bill according to the minister was approved by Parliament in July and has paved a way for the establishment of the Botswana Open University.

He added that the Botswana Open University will increase access to tertiary education.

There is no doubt that this will provide opportunities for employment creation as well as the maximisation of our human capital. This will be derived from the fact that the Open Education will tap into already existing expertise

in the country. Take advantage of the opportunities availed by the Open University either as students or experts in the different fields that will be offered by the university, he noted.

Molao further indicated that another reform within the tertiary education sector relates to the rationalisation of programmes offered by public institutions. He added that the ministry is concerned with the duplications that are evident in some of the tertiary institutions. He said such duplications in the academic programmes create inefficiencies in the education system.

As a result we have embarked on the rationalisation of academic programmes offered by BIUST, BUAN and UB. The outcome we are targeting is a complementary landscape that enables public institutions to be responsive and efficient in addressing the human resource development needs, he added.

Meanwhile, Professor Roy Du Pre, the European Union University Teacher Development Advisor emphasised the need for the country to move a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based economy. He said currently the country is reliant on minerals and once they deplete there would be no income hence the need to find alternatives, which is knowledge creation.

The world is in economic transition. Knowledge-based economy is reliant on intellectual capacity than on physical input and its creation is central to economic growth and its application. Du Pre added that there is need to invest in ensuring that everyone gets access to technology and that money should be prioritised on improving the knowledge economy.

Let us rethink the way government spends money otherwise knowledge economy would remain unachievable. Stand up and do what you are supposed to do. If knowledge is power then it should empower the weak, he said

Original post:
Colleges of Education to transform into faculty of education - Mmegi Online

ITT Educational Services (NYSE: ESI) and China Online Education Group (NYSE:COE) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

62.7% of ITT Educational Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.0% of China Online Education Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.8% of ITT Educational Services shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for ITT Educational Services and China Online Education Group -, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Profitability

This table compares ITT Educational Services and China Online Education Group -s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares ITT Educational Services and China Online Education Group -s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

ITT Educational Services has higher revenue, but lower earnings than China Online Education Group -. China Online Education Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ITT Educational Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

ITT Educational Services has a beta of 1.96, suggesting that its share price is 96% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, China Online Education Group has a beta of -0.49, suggesting that its share price is 149% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

ITT Educational Services beats China Online Education Group on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ITT Educational Services

ITT Educational Services, Inc. is a provider of postsecondary degree programs in the United States. The Company offers master, bachelor and associate degree programs to over 45,000 students, and short-term information technology and business learning solutions for career advancers and other professionals. It has approximately 138 campus locations in over 40 states. It offers online programs to students in all over 50 states. It designs its education programs, after consultation with employers and other constituents, to allow graduates prepare for careers in different fields involving their areas of study. It provides career-oriented education programs under the ITT Technical Institute name and the Daniel Webster College (DWC) name. The ITT Technical Institutes offers over 50 education programs in various fields of study across business, drafting and design, electronics technology, criminal justice, information technology (IT), and Breckinridge School of nursing and health sciences.

About China Online Education Group

China Online Education Group is engaged in providing online English language education services to students in the Peoples Republic of China (the PRC). The Company operates an online education platform that provides online tutoring programs to students through the Internet. Its platform analyzes teachers teaching aptitudes, feedback and rating from students, as well as background, and recommends suitable teachers to students according to their respective characteristics and learning objectives. The Company develops and tailors its curriculum to its interactive lesson format. The Company offers various courses, which include Classic English and Classic English Junior that are focused on the development of English communication skills. The Company also offers various specialty courses that are focused at situation-based English education and test preparation needs, such as Business English and International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Speaking.

Receive News & Ratings for ITT Educational Services Inc. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ITT Educational Services Inc. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.

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Comparing ITT Educational Services (ESI) & China Online Education Group (COE) - Dispatch Tribunal

Marlaine Black scoffed when her son broached the topic: "Virtual physical education." How could that be a real thing?

"To me it was comical," said Black, a Mount Pleasant resident.

But by the time her son Benjamin had completed the online PE course for high school credit this summer through VirtualSC, a free state-run program, she was sold on the idea.

For a self-motivated student like Benjamin, some argue that a self-paced online course can be just as effective as a traditional gym class.

With more than 2,000 South Carolina students enrolled in the 2015-16 school year, physical education has become one of the most popular courses offered through VirtualSC since the online program began in 2006.

Back

Students clamored for the course this summer, and some ended up on a waiting list as the S.C. Department of Education employed two full-time teachers and eight adjuncts to teach the class.

Some local school districts, including in Horry and Greenville counties, have begun offering their own online PE courses to meet the growing demand.

Here's how it works: Students read through a textbook and complete quizzes online following the same state academic standards as in a traditional gym class. A certified teacher administers each class of about 65 students and is available to answer questions and give guidance on personal fitness plans. Tuition for all VirtualSC classes is free.

Regular registration for fall courses via VirtualSC has ended. To register for later semesters or to look at course offerings, visit virtualsc.org.

For the physical portion of the course, students fill out weekly activity logs. Their activity can be almost anything they want: Yoga, club sports, school athletics, even walking. The point is to demonstrate consistency and improvement over the course of the class, which students can take either in the fall or spring semester or over the summer.

Students must also find an adult to administer the FitnessGram, a battery of physical fitness tasks, at the beginning and end of the course.

"Students are able to do what they enjoy," said Travis Scott, a PE teacher with VirtualSC who oversees classes from his home office in Loris.

"What Im trying to do is to help students be active for a lifetime, to show them the importance of doing things," he said. "In brick-and-mortar (gym classes), some kids just hated the things we would do, but in the virtual setting, students are given choices."

Scott worked as a PE coach in schools across the state before coming to work at VirtualSC, and he's glad to offer help to students who feel uncomfortable in a traditional gym class. He said a parent recently called to thank him because her daughter now asks to jog with her husband every day.

A screenshot from the VirtualSC Physical Education course.Provided/S.C. Department of Education

South Carolina isn't the only state where virtual PE has gained popularity in the last decade.

In a 2013 graduate thesiscompleted at the University of South Florida, Leslie Michelle Williams acknowledged skepticism about the idea within the teaching profession but found that virtual PE "has been a viable option for some teachers in the U.S. and Canada."

"This is becoming part of the new look of 21st-century physical education," Williams wrote.

In a review of existing research, Williams found that some virtual PE students "prefer not to dress out at school and participate in physical activities around their peers." Other students were high achievers getting their PE requirement out of the way at home to free up time in their school schedule for more Advanced Placement and college-credit courses.

Benjamin Black, a sophomore at Academic Magnet High School in North Charleston, said he took PE through VirtualSC to clear up space in his schedule.

He said it allowed him to take Latin and advanced math courses as a freshman at Wando High, and now he's up to speed in the famously competitive environment at Magnet. His chosen physical activity was running, a hobby that he already enjoyed but that he gradually got better at over the course of the summer.

"One drawback was it seemed like I was the only one taking the class," Black said. "I didnt have any interaction with other people who took it. You kind of lose that team spirit of PE."

A handful of students across South Carolina take virtual PE because it's their only option. The newly opened Early College High School in Charleston County, for example, offers students the chance to earn an associate degree while attending classes on the campus of Trident Technical College but there is no gym and no PE teacher, so every student will have to enroll in the VirtualSC PE course to complete their high school diploma requirement.

Horry County's Early College High School has a similar arrangement, although students there have the option of taking PE via the local Horry County Virtual School. Like VirtualSC, the district-run virtual program offers supplemental courses but is not meant to replace a traditional school for students.

"Kids are different now. Some of them have to work to help support themselves in 11th and 12th grade," said Edi Cox, executive director of online learning for Horry County Schools. "Our program has served kids all across the scale. We have students who struggle, at risk, up to students in the Scholars Academy in the top 1 percent in the district."

Reach Paul Bowers at 843-937-5546. Follow him on Twitter @paul_bowers.

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Online physical education: It's a real thing in South Carolina and it's reinventing gym class - Charleston Post Courier

Distance education or distance learning is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school.[1][2] Traditionally this usually involved correspondence courses wherein the student corresponded with the school via post. Today it involves online education. Courses that are conducted (51 percent or more)[3] are either hybrid,[4]blended[5] or 100% whole instruction. Massive open online courses (MOOCs), offering large-scale interactive participation and open access through the World Wide Web or other network technologies, are recent developments in distance education.[1] A number of other terms (distributed learning, e-learning, online learning, etc.) are used roughly synonymously with distance education.

One of the earliest attempts was advertised in 1728 in the Boston Gazette for "Caleb Philipps, Teacher of the new method of Short Hand," who sought students who wanted to learn through weekly mailed lessons.[6]

The first distance education course in the modern sense was provided by Sir Isaac Pitman in the 1840s, who taught a system of shorthand by mailing texts transcribed into shorthand on postcards and receiving transcriptions from his students in return for correction. The element of student feedback was a crucial innovation of Pitman's system.[7] This scheme was made possible by the introduction of uniform postage rates across England in 1840.[8]

This early beginning proved extremely successful, and the Phonographic Correspondence Society was founded three years later to establish these courses on a more formal basis. The Society paved the way for the later formation of Sir Isaac Pitman Colleges across the country.[9]

The first correspondence school in the United States was the Society to Encourage Studies at Home, founded in 1873.

The University of London was the first university to offer distance learning degrees, establishing its External Programme in 1858. The background to this innovation lay in the fact that the institution (later known as University College London) was non-denominational and, given the intense religious rivalries at the time, there was an outcry against the "godless" university. The issue soon boiled down to which institutions had degree-granting powers and which institutions did not.[10]

The compromise solution that emerged in 1836 was that the sole authority to conduct the examinations leading to degrees would be given to a new officially recognized entity called the "University of London", which would act as examining body for the University of London colleges, originally University College London and King's College London, and award their students University of London degrees. As Sheldon Rothblatt states, "thus arose in nearly archetypal form the famous English distinction between teaching and examining, here embodied in separate institutions."[10] With the state giving examining powers to a separate entity, the groundwork was laid for the creation of a programme within the new university that would both administer examinations and award qualifications to students taking instruction at another institution or pursuing a course of self-directed study.

Referred to as "People's University" by Charles Dickens because it provided access to higher education to students from less affluent backgrounds, the External Programme was chartered by Queen Victoria in 1858, making the University of London the first university to offer distance learning degrees to students.[11][12] Enrollment increased steadily during the late 19th century, and its example was widely copied elsewhere.[13] This program is now known as the University of London International Programme and includes Postgraduate, Undergraduate and Diploma degrees created by colleges such as the London School of Economics, Royal Holloway and Goldsmiths.[12]

In the United States, William Rainey Harper, first president of the University of Chicago, developed the concept of extended education, whereby the research university had satellite colleges of education in the wider community. In 1892 he also encouraged the concept of correspondence school courses to further promote education, an idea that was put into practice by Columbia University.[14][15] Enrollment in the largest private for-profit school based in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the International Correspondence Schools grew explosively in the 1890s. Founded in 1888 to provide training for immigrant coal miners aiming to become state mine inspectors or foremen, it enrolled 2500 new students in 1894 and matriculated 72,000 new students in 1895. By 1906 total enrollments reached 900,000. The growth was due to sending out complete textbooks instead of single lessons, and the use of 1200 aggressive in-person salesmen.[16][17] There was a stark contrast in pedagogy:

The regular technical school or college aims to educate a man broadly; our aim, on the contrary, is to educate him only along some particular line. The college demands that a student shall have certain educational qualifications to enter it, and that all students study for approximately the same length of time, and when they have finished their courses they are supposed to be qualified to enter any one of a number of branches in some particular profession. We, on the contrary, are aiming to make our courses fit the particular needs of the student who takes them.[18]

Education was a high priority in the Progressive Era, as American high schools and colleges expanded greatly. For men who were older or were too busy with family responsibilities, night schools were opened, such as the YMCA school in Boston that became Northeastern University. Outside the big cities, private correspondence schools offered a flexible, narrowly focused solution.[19] Large corporations systematized their training programs for new employees. The National Association of Corporation Schools grew from 37 in 1913 to 146 in 1920. Starting in the 1880s, private schools opened across the country which offered specialized technical training to anyone who enrolled, not just the employees of one company. Starting in Milwaukee in 1907, public schools began opening free vocational programs.[20]

Only a third of the American population lived in cities of 100,000 or more population In 1920; to reach the rest, correspondence techniques had to be adopted. Australia with its vast distances was especially active; the University of Queensland established its Department of Correspondence Studies in 1911.[21] In South Africa, the University of South Africa, formerly an examining and certification body, started to present distance education tuition in 1946. The International Conference for Correspondence Education held its first meeting in 1938.[22] The goal was to provide individualized education for students, at low cost, by using a pedagogy of testing, recording, classification, and differentiation.[23][24]

The Open University in the United Kingdom was founded by the then serving Labour Party government under the prime minister, Harold Wilson, based on the vision of Michael Young. Planning commenced in 1965 under the Minister of State for Education, Jennie Lee, who established a model for the OU as one of widening access to the highest standards of scholarship in higher education, and set up a planning committee consisting of university vice-chancellors, educationalists and television broadcasters, chaired by Sir Peter Venables. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Assistant Director of Engineering at the time, James Redmond, had obtained most of his qualifications at night school, and his natural enthusiasm for the project did much to overcome the technical difficulties of using television to broadcast teaching programmes.

The Open University revolutionized the scope of the correspondence program and helped to create a respectable learning alternative to the traditional form of education. It has been at the forefront of developing new technologies to improve the distance learning service[25] as well as undertaking research in other disciplines. Walter Perry was appointed the OU's first vice-chancellor in January 1969, and its foundation secretary was Anastasios Christodoulou. The election of the new Conservative Party government under the prime minister, Edward Heath, in 1970 led to budget cuts under Chancellor of the Exchequer Iain Macleod (who had earlier called the idea of an Open University "blithering nonsense").[26] However, the OU accepted its first 25,000 students in 1971, adopting a radical open admissions policy. At the time, the total student population of conventional universities in the United Kingdom was around 130,000.

Athabasca University, Canada's Open University, was created in 1970 and followed a similar, though independently developed, pattern.[27] The Open University inspired the creation of Spain's National University of Distance Education (1972)[28] and Germany's FernUniversitt in Hagen (1974).[29] There are now many similar institutions around the world, often with the name "Open University" (in English or in the local language).

Most open universities use distance education technologies as delivery methods, though some require attendance at local study centres or at regional "summer schools". Some open universities have grown to become mega-universities,[30] a term coined to denote institutions with more than 100,000 students.

Although the expansion of the Internet blurs the boundaries, distance education technologies are divided into two modes of delivery: synchronous learning and asynchronous learning.

In synchronous learning, all participants are "present" at the same time. In this regard, it resembles traditional classroom teaching methods despite the participants being located remotely. It requires a timetable to be organized. Web conferencing, videoconferencing, educational television, instructional television are examples of synchronous technology, as are direct-broadcast satellite (DBS), internet radio, live streaming, telephone, and web-based VoIP.[31] Web conferencing software helps to facilitate meetings in distance learning courses and usually contain additional interaction tools such as text chat, polls, hand raising, emoticons etc. These tools also support asynchronous participation by students being able to listen to recordings of synchronous sessions. Immersive environments (notably SecondLife) have also been used to enhance participant presence in distance education courses. Another form of synchronous learning that has been entering the classroom over the last couple of years is the use of robot proxies[32] including those that allow sick students to attend classes.[33]

Some universities have been starting to use robot proxies to enable more engaging synchronous hybrid classes where both remote and in person students can be present and interact using telerobotics devices such as the Kubi Telepresence robot stand that looks around and the Double Robot that roams around. With these telepresence robots, the remote students have a seat at the table or desk instead of being on a screen on the wall.[34][35]

In asynchronous learning, participants access course materials flexibly on their own schedules. Students are not required to be together at the same time. Mail correspondence, which is the oldest form of distance education, is an asynchronous delivery technology, as are message board forums, e-mail, video and audio recordings, print materials, voicemail, and fax.[31]

The two methods can be combined. Many courses offered by both open universities and an increasing number of campus based institutions use periodic sessions of residential or day teaching to supplement the sessions delivered at a distance.[36] This type of mixed distance and campus based education has recently come to be called "blended learning" or less often "hybrid learning". Many open universities uses a blend of technologies and a blend of learning modalities (face-to-face, distance, and hybrid) all under the rubric of "distance learning".

Distance learning can also use interactive radio instruction (IRI), interactive audio instruction (IAI), online virtual worlds, digital games, webinars, and webcasts, all of which are referred to as e-Learning.[36]

The rapid spread of film in the 1920s and radio in the 1930s led to proposals to use it for distance education.[38] By 1938, at least 200 city school systems, 25 state boards of education, and many colleges and universities broadcast educational programs for the public schools.[39] One line of thought was to use radio as a master teacher.

Experts in given fields broadcast lessons for pupils within the many schoolrooms of the public school system, asking questions, suggesting readings, making assignments, and conducting tests. This mechanizes education and leaves the local teacher only the tasks of preparing for the broadcast and keeping order in the classroom.[40]

A typical setup came in Kentucky in 1948 when John Wilkinson Taylor, president of the University of Louisville, teamed up with NBC to use radio as a medium for distance education, The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission endorsed the project and predicted that the "college-by-radio" would put "American education 25years ahead". The University was owned by the city, and local residents would pay the low tuition rates, receive their study materials in the mail, and listen by radio to live classroom discussions that were held on campus.[41]

Charles Wedemeyer of the University of WisconsinMadison also promoted new methods. From 1964 to 1968, the Carnegie Foundation funded Wedemeyer's Articulated Instructional Media Project (AIM) which brought in a variety of communications technologies aimed at providing learning to an off-campus population. The radio courses faded away in the 1950s.[42] Many efforts to use television along the same lines proved unsuccessful, despite heavy funding by the Ford Foundation.[43][44][45]

From 1970 to 1972 the Coordinating Commission for Higher Education in California funded Project Outreach to study the potential of telecourses. The study included the University of California, California State University and the community colleges. This study led to coordinated instructional systems legislation allowing the use of public funds for non-classroom instruction and paved the way for the emergence of telecourses as the precursor to the online courses and programs of today. The Coast Community Colleges, The Dallas County Community College District, and Miami Dade Community College led the way. The Adult Learning Service of PBS came into being and the wrapped series, and individually produced telecourse for credit became a significant part of the history of distance education and online learning.

The widespread use of computers and the internet have made distance learning easier and faster, and today virtual schools and virtual universities deliver full curricula online.[46] The capacity of Internet to support voice, video, text and immersion teaching methods made earlier distinct forms of telephone, videoconferencing, radio, television, and text based education somewhat redundant. However, many of the techniques developed and lessons learned with earlier media are used in Internet delivery.

The first new and fully online university was founded in 1994 as the Open University of Catalonia, headquartered in Barcelona, Spain. in 1999 Jones International University was launched as the first fully online university accredited by a regional accrediting association in the US.[47]

Between 2000 and 2008, enrollment in distance education courses increased rapidly in almost every country in both developed and developing countries.[48] Many private, public, non-profit and for-profit institutions worldwide now offer distance education courses from the most basic instruction through to the highest levels of degree and doctoral programs. New York University, for example, offers online degrees in engineering and management-related fields through NYU Tandon Online. Levels of accreditation vary: widely respected universities such as Stanford University and Harvard now deliver online coursesbut other online schools receive little outside oversight, and some are actually fraudulent, i.e., diploma mills. In the US, the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) specializes in the accreditation of distance education institutions.[49]

In the United States in 2011, it was found that a third of all the students enrolled in postsecondary education had taken an accredited online course in a postsecondary institution.[50] Even though growth rates are slowing, enrollment for online courses has been seen to increase with the advance in technology. The majority of public and private colleges now offer full academic programs online.[50] These include, but are not limited to, training programs in the mental health,[51]occupational therapy,[52][53]family therapy,[54]art therapy,[55]physical therapy,[53] and rehabilitation counseling[56] fields. Even engineering courses that require the manipulation and control of machines and robots[57] that are technically more challenging to learn remotely are subject to distance learning through the internet.

Distance education has a long history, but its popularity and use has grown exponentially as more advanced technology has become available. By 2008, online learning programs were available in the United States in 44 states at the K-12 level.[58]

Internet forums, online discussion group and online learning community can contribute to an efficacious distance education experience. Research shows that socialization plays an important role in some forms of distance education.[59]

E-courses are also a viable option for distance learning. There are many available that cover a broad range of topics.

Distance education can be delivered in a paced format similar to traditional campus based models in which learners commence and complete a course at the same time. Paced delivery is currently the most common mode of distance education delivery. Alternatively, some institutions offer self-paced programs that allow for continuous enrollment and the length of time to complete the course is set by the learner's time, skill and commitment levels. Paced courses may be offered in either synchronus mode, but self-paced courses are almost always offered asynchronously. Each delivery model offers both advantages and disadvantages for students, teachers and institutions.

Kaplan and Haenlein classify distance education into four groups along the dimensions Time dependency and Number of participants: 1) MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses): Open-access online course (i.e., without specific participation restrictions) that allows for unlimited (massive) participation; 2) SPOCs (Small Private Online Courses): Online course that only offers a limited number of places and therefore requires some form of formal enrollment; 3) SMOCs (Synchronous Massive Online Courses): Open-access online course that allows for unlimited participation but requires students to be "present" at the same time (synchronously); 4) SSOCs (Synchronous Private Online Courses): Online course that only offers a limited number of places and requires students to be "present" at the same time (synchronously).[1]

Paced models are a familiar mode as they are used almost exclusively in campus based schools. Institutes that offer both distance and campus programs usually use paced models as teacher workload, student semester planning, tuition deadlines, exam schedules and other administrative details can be synchronized with campus delivery. Student familiarity and the pressure of deadlines encourages students to readily adapt to and usually succeed in paced models. However, student freedom is sacrificed as a common pace is often too fast for some students and too slow for others. In addition life events, professional or family responsibilities can interfere with a students capability to complete tasks to an external schedule. Finally, paced models allows students to readily form communities of inquiry[60] and to engage in collaborative work.

Self-paced courses maximize student freedom, as not only can students commence studies on any date, but they can complete a course in as little time as a few weeks or up to a year or longer. Students often enroll in self-paced study when they are under pressure to complete programs, have not been able to complete a scheduled course, need additional courses or have pressure which precludes regular study for any length of time. The self-paced nature of the programming, though is an unfamiliar model for many students and can lead to excessive procrastination resulting in course incompletion. Assessment of learning can also be challenging as exams can be written on any day, making it possible for students to share examination questions with resulting loss of academic integrity. Finally, it is extremely challenging to organize collaborative work activities, though some schools[61] are developing cooperative models based upon networked and connectivist pedagogies,[62] for use in self-paced programs.

Distance learning can expand access to education and training for both general populace and businesses since its flexible scheduling structure lessens the effects of the many time-constraints imposed by personal responsibilities and commitments.[63] Devolving some activities off-site alleviates institutional capacity constraints arising from the traditional demand on institutional buildings and infrastructure.[63] Furthermore, there is the potential for increased access to more experts in the field and to other students from diverse geographical, social, cultural, economic, and experiential backgrounds.[54] As the population at large becomes more involved in lifelong learning beyond the normal schooling age, institutions can benefit financially, and adult learning business courses may be particularly lucrative.[63] Distance education programs can act as a catalyst for institutional innovation[63] and are at least as effective as face-to-face learning programs,[51][52][64] especially if the instructor is knowledgeable and skilled.[55]

Distance education can also provide a broader method of communication within the realm of education. With the many tools and programs that technological advancements have to offer, communication appears to increase in distance education amongst students and their professors, as well as students and their classmates. The distance educational increase in communication, particularly communication amongst students and their classmates, is an improvement that has been made to provide distance education students with as many of the opportunities as possible as they would receive in in-person education. The improvement being made in distance education is growing in tandem with the constant technological advancements. Present-day online communication allows students to associate with accredited schools and programs throughout the world that are out of reach for in-person learning. By having the opportunity to be involved in global institutions via distance education, a diverse array of thought is presented to students through communication with their classmates. This is beneficial because students have the opportunity to "combine new opinions with their own, and develop a solid foundation for learning".[65] It has been shown through research that "as learners become aware of the variations in interpretation and construction of meaning among a range of people [they] construct an individual meaning", which can help students become knowledgeable of a wide array of viewpoints in education.[65] To increase the likelihood that students will build effective ties with one another during the course, instructors should use similar assignments for students across different locations to overcome the influence of co-location on relationship building.[66]

The high cost of education affects students in higher education, to which distance education may be an alternative in order to provide some relief.[64] Distance education has been a more cost-effective form of learning, and can sometimes save students a significant amount of money as opposed to traditional education. Distance education may be able to help to save students a considerable amount financially by removing the cost of transportation.[67] In addition, distance education may be able to save students from the economic burden of high-priced course textbooks. Many textbooks are now available as electronic textbooks, known as e-textbooks, which can offer digital textbooks for a reduced price in comparison to traditional textbooks. Also, the increasing improvements in technology have resulted in many school libraries having a partnership with digital publishers that offer course materials for free, which can help students significantly with educational costs.[67]

Within the class, students are able to learn in ways that traditional classrooms would not be able to provide. It is able to promote good learning experiences and therefore, allow students to obtain higher satisfaction with their online learning.[68] For example, students can review their lessons more than once according to their need. Students can then manipulate the coursework to fit their learning by focusing more on their weaker topics while breezing through concepts that they already have or can easily grasp.[68] When course design and the learning environment are at their optimal conditions, distance education can lead students to higher satisfaction with their learning experiences.[64] Studies have shown that high satisfaction correlates to increased learning. For those in a healthcare or mental health distance learning program, online-based interactions have the potential to foster deeper reflections and discussions of client issues[53] as well as a quicker response to client issues, since supervision happens on a regular basis and is not limited to a weekly supervision meeting.[56] This also may contribute to the students feeling a greater sense of support, since they have ongoing and regular access to their instructors and other students.[53][56]

Distance learning may enable students who are unable to attend a traditional school setting, due to disability or illness such as decreased mobility and immune system suppression, to get a good education.[69] Children who are sick or are unable to attend classes are able to attend them in "person" through the use of robot proxies. This helps the students have experiences of the classroom and social interaction that they are unable to receive at home or the hospital, while still keeping them in a safe learning environment. Over the last few years[when?] more students are entering safely back into the classroom thanks to the help of robots. An article from the New York Times, "A Swiveling Proxy Will Even Wear a Tutu", explains the positive impact of virtual learning in the classroom,[70] and another[71] that explains how even a simple, stationary telepresence robot can help.[72] Distance education may provide equal access regardless of socioeconomic status or income, area of residence, gender, race, age, or cost per student.[73] Applying universal design strategies to distance learning courses as they are being developed (rather than instituting accommodations for specific students on an as-needed basis) can increase the accessibility of such courses to students with a range of abilities, disabilities, learning styles, and native languages.[74] Distance education graduates, who would never have been associated with the school under a traditional system, may donate money to the school.[75]

Distance learning may also offer a final opportunity for adolescents that are no longer permitted in the general education population due to behavior disorders. Instead of these students having no other academic opportunities, they may continue their education from their homes and earn their diplomas, offering them another chance to be an integral part of society.

Barriers to effective distance education include obstacles such as domestic distractions and unreliable technology,[76] as well as students' program costs, adequate contact with teachers and support services, and a need for more experience.[77]

Some students attempt to participate in distance education without proper training with the tools needed to be successful in the program. Students must be provided with training opportunities (if needed) on each tool that is used throughout the program. The lack of advanced technology skills can lead to an unsuccessful experience. Schools have a responsibility to adopt a proactive policy for managing technology barriers.[78]

The results of a study of Washington state community college students showed that distance learning students tended to drop out more often than their traditional counterparts due to difficulties in language, time management, and study skills.[79]

Distance learning benefits may outweigh the disadvantages for students in such a technology-driven society; however before indulging into use of educational technology a few more disadvantages should be considered.[according to whom?] However, through the years, all of the obstacles have been overcome and the world environment for distance education continues to improve.[according to whom?]

Some[who?] say a negative to distance education is the lack of direct face-to-face social interaction, however as more people become used to personal and social interaction online (for example dating, chat rooms, shopping, or blogging). it is becoming easier for learners to both project themselves and socialize with others. This is an obstacle that has dissipated.

Not all courses required to complete a degree may be offered online. Health care profession programs in particular, require some sort of patient interaction through field work before a student may graduate.[80] Studies have also shown that students pursuing a medical professional graduate degree who are participating in distance education courses, favor face to face communication over professor-mediated chat rooms and/or independent studies. However, this is little correlation between student performance when comparing the previous different distance learning strategies.[52]

There is a theoretical problem about the application of traditional teaching methods to online courses because online courses may have no upper size limit. Daniel Barwick noted that there is no evidence that large class size is always worse or that small class size is always better, although a negative link has been established between certain types of instruction in large classes and learning outcomes; he argued that higher education has not made a sufficient effort to experiment with a variety of instructional methods to determine whether large class size is always negatively correlated with a reduction in learning outcomes.[81] Early proponents of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC)s saw them as just the type of experiment that Barwick had pointed out was lacking in higher education, although Barwick himself has never advocated for MOOCs.

There may also be institutional challenges. Distance learning is new enough that it may be a challenge to gain support for these programs in a traditional brick-and-mortar academic learning environment.[53] Furthermore, it may be more difficult for the instructor to organize and plan a distance learning program,[56] especially since many are new programs and their organizational needs are different from a traditional learning program.

Another benefit of distance education is one for developing countries. Judith Adler Hellman states, "In the face of the pressure on these countries to join the global information economy, distance education appears to provide the opportunity to train more people better and at lower cost."[82]

Even though there are advantages in advancing industrial countries, there are still negative sides to distance education. Hellman states, "These include its cost and capital intensiveness, time constraints and other pressures on instructors, the isolation of students from instructors and their peers, instructors enormous difficulty in adequately evaluating students they never meet face-to-face, and drop-out rates far higher than in classroom-based courses."[82]

A more complex challenge of distance education relates to cultural differences between student and teachers and among students. Distance programmes tend to be more diverse as they could go beyond the geographical borders of regions, countries, and continents, and cross the cultural borders that may exist with respect to race, gender, and religion. That requires a proper understanding and awareness of the norms, differences, preconceptions and potential conflicting issues.[83]

The modern use of electronic educational technology (also called e-learning) facilitates distance learning and independent learning by the extensive use of information and communications technology (ICT), replacing traditional content delivery by postal correspondence. Instruction can be synchronous and asynchronous online communication in an interactive learning environment or virtual communities, in lieu of a physical classroom. "The focus is shifted to the education transaction in the form of virtual community of learners sustainable across time."[84]

One of the most significant issues encountered in the mainstream correspondence model of distance education is transactional distance, which results from the lack of appropriate communication between learner and teacher. This gap has been observed to become wider if there is no communication between the learner and teacher and has direct implications over the learning process and future endeavors in distance education. Distance education providers began to introduce various strategies, techniques, and procedures to increase the amount of interaction between learner and teacher. These measures e.g. more frequent face-to-face tutorials, increased use of information and communication technologies including teleconferencing and the Internet, were designed to close the gap in transactional distance.[85]

Online credentials for learningare digital credentials that are offered in place of traditional paper credentials for a skill or educational achievement. Directly linked to the accelerated development of internet communication technologies, the development ofdigital badges,electronic passportsandmassive open online courses(MOOCs) have a very direct bearing on our understanding of learning, recognition and levels as they pose a direct challenge to the status quo. It is useful to distinguish between three forms of online credentials: Test-based credentials, online badges, and online certificates.[86]

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Distance education - Wikipedia

Thursday, August 31, 2017 at 6:03 a.m.

The University of California system has 10 campuses,150 academic disciplines, and 600 graduate degree programs.

An Orange County real estate broker wants to add tens of thousands of online courses to that list. And he wants to make them available to the public. For free. The Bernie Sanders-style proposal, officially submitted this week to the California Attorney General as a potential ballot initiative, is clearly a long shot.

But its author, Boyd Roberts of Laguna Beach, thinks people will be so enthused by the prospect of getting a world class education on their laptops for no cost that they'll come out in droves to help him get the measure on the November 2018 ballot.

"The first thing it does is establish the right of the public to access publicly owned higher education," he says. "More specifically, it gives them the right to audit all publicly owned higher education online."

The measure would apply to Cal State University campuses and California Community Colleges, too. It would establish a two-tiered system for access to online courses: Anyone could audit a class online, but those who seek degrees would have to pay what amounts to a break-even price for the institution involved, Roberts says.

If voters approve the measure, it would amend the state's constitution. As such, it would take585,407 valid voter signatures to make the ballot. And that's if the Attorney General approves the proposal's language for signature gathering, a process that's usually without many glitches. Gathering that many signatures almost always requires a professional firm's help at the cost of $3 million or so, experts have estimated.

Roberts, who's also running for Congress as a Democrat against Republican U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, thinks a rare grassroots effort relying on volunteers could produce a breakthrough initiative.

"I think it would be very popular with students and parents," he says. "I visualize a social media campaign like the Ice Bucket Challenge of the Women's March. If it catches hold people can sign up their friends and ask them to get signatures."

The would-be politician says the effort could be cost neutral because it would attract new students to the online degree programs. Bonds would be issued to pay for initial infrastructure, he says. "I've got it set up to not impact the taxpayer at all," Roberts says. "Schools can't make it a profit center for the state and universities, either."

The measure would also encourage instructors to use "free, open-source books," Roberts says.

Russell Poulin, deputy director of research for online education nonprofit WicheCooperative for Educational Technologies, says the measure is a good idea but that it could be fraught with complications. Chief among them is the daunting volume of courses offered by public higher education institutions in the state. Many would be redundant, Poulin says.

"The way one professor teaches Shakespeare is different from the way another teaches it, so will we have a standard Shakespeare course," he asks.The University of Georgia has approached the problem by creating "an agreed upon core of general education courses available online."

However, if one or even a few Shakespeare courses are approved for online offerings over others, "you run into issues of academic freedom," Poulin says. In other words, would offering one class over another censor a professor? And disruptive students and trolls would have to be dealt with, especially if courses are open for free to the general public, he says.

Some courses, like theater classes, medical demonstrations or physical education, might not be amenable to online versions, Poulin says. And there are myriad of "long tail" classes with relatively obscure topics and low attendance that, while important to a student body, might not be worth the cost of online broadcasting, he argued.

"You'll have to figure out the economics of it," he says.

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Free Online University of California Education for All Aims for Ballot - L.A. Weekly