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Distance Learning and Studying Abroad

Here’s a welcome relief in the education conversation. Distance learning: the twenty-first century version of the correspondence course. Distance learning is a good choice if you are unable to attend a brick-and-mortar campus or vocational school, or as a supplement to other courses. Distance education courses can be presented as live, interactive audio- or videoconferencing; prerecorded instructional videos; webcasts; CD-ROMs or DVDs; or computer-based systems accessed over the internet. It is the fastest-growing sector of education.

MOOCS AND ACCREDITED ONLINE LEARNING

One of the rising stars in this sector are MOOCs or Massive Online Open Courses. MOOCs are free. Yes, that’s right. Free! And open to everyone on the internet! It is the wave of the future: distance learning—and not from some dinky place you’ve never heard of. Some of the most elite universities in the country—Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, MIT, and Princeton—have joined forces with web designers to produce online curricula with select, top-notch courses available through companies such as Udacity, Coursera, and EdXfeatures. MOOCs differ from for-profit online universities because they only offer courses, and most are, at the moment, not yet organized into an accredited degree-earning program. However, some of the courses will get you credit if you complete them, and that credit is applicable toward your degree. According to a collaborative survey by Babson Survey Research Group and the College Board, the number of US students taking at least one online course is now officially over 6.7 million, or 32 percent of all higher education students. But is distance learning right for you?

First the upside: Distance learning is a quick, great way to learn at less cost. All you need is access to a computer and the internet and you can take as many classes as you can handle, without ever having to leave your house. Everything you need, including instruction, syllabi, reading material, and tests, is provided electronically. If you need to keep a job, take care of kids or parents, or can’t afford to attend school in person, distance learning might be the answer. You are also free to work toward your degree or certification at your own pace. The bummer-side? You have to make yourself log-on and do the work with no one but your own conscience to prompt you. It’s an isolated, lonelier way to learn and requires a lot of motivation and self-discipline. Yes, you will be able to chat with fellow students online, but that is not the same as sitting in a classroom and walking around campus with them. The experience is also not a great choice if you like to work with your hands. Moreover, there is, at this point in time, no good way to gauge the quality of an online course except by judging the institution offering the program. According to the Babson survey, even as online learning is growing in popularity, its reputation for providing a quality education is sinking among faculty at the very institutions that offer the courses.

But things continue to evolve, and there’s no stopping the popularity of distance learning, at least for some classes. The price of attending college and living on a traditional campus so exceeds what most families can afford that elite colleges in many cases are pricing themselves out of the student market. Those alienated students are going online instead and putting the dollars they do have there. According to Forbes magazine, a few colleges are leaning into the wind and offering not just courses but actual degrees online. Some of the largest are Penn State, UMass online (the University of Massachusetts’s online education consortium with UMass Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and UMass Medical School), and Arizona State University. These online degrees are adjunct with the school, which means you have to apply to the actual institution and be accepted in order to qualify to go digital.

MOOCs are free—for now—but they may not stay that way. Look at them as goodwill builders and take advantage of what they offer, while understanding that as soon as all colleges and universities can find a way to offer an online degree, they will do it—and most likely it will not be free.

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Stephen Hawking, physicist

Stephen Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, in the United Kingdom, three hundred years to the day after the death of Galileo. He is now widely considered to be the most influential physicist since Einstein, rocking the world of physics in 1974 with his groundbreaking research on black holes.

You would think that this kind of brain was a shoo-in for academia, right? Not so fast. In his early years, Hawking struggled with school. He was very bright and he liked math, but he was not the brightest in his class (though his nickname was Einstein, so his classmates must have seen something in him). At one point in high school, he did so poorly that he ranked third from the bottom of his class. Hawking preferred to do things outside of school; his family kept bees and made fireworks in the basement. He liked to disassemble clocks and radios, build models, and play board games. He invented new games of his own with his friends. At age sixteen, Hawking and some of his friends made their own computer out of recycled parts and used it to solve math problems. At age seventeen, he went to University College. The school did not have a math major, so, lucky for us, he agreed to study physics. His continuous exploration into the underpinnings of the universe has changed the way scientists view time and space, cosmology, quantum mechanics, and the origins of the universe, despite his struggle with a progressive nerve disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease), since he was diagnosed at age twenty-one.

STUDYING ABROAD

If you are fluent in a particular language or have a parent from another country, or even have an obsession with a specific culture or region in the world, applying to a foreign university may be an option worth considering, since many schools in other countries don’t charge tuition. About 46,000 US students are enrolled in full-degree programs outside the country, according to a report released in May 2013 by the Institute of International Education’s Project Atlas. Many of these students solve the language problem by going to school in English-speaking countries (Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand).You can also choose to study abroad for a couple of months or a year or two, and transfer your earned credits. Most foreign universities and accredited study abroad programs (that will help you enroll in a foreign university) have bachelor degree programs, as well as post-graduate degrees. You may never come back!

Aside from the obvious benefits (language fluency, exposure to a different culture, becoming a global citizen with friends from around the world), studying abroad can be a less expensive option than attending a US school. Many South American and European countries regard higher education as a right rather than a privilege, and their tuitions and fees reflect this belief. However, the housing and facilities can leave a lot to be desired for American students used to more luxury, and the instruction-style is very different from what you might be used to. In general, you’ll get a lot less hand-holding.

If you apply to a foreign university on your own steam, you should expect to be treated just like any other native student subject to all the attendant rules, government-mandated curriculum, and regulations of that institution and culture. If you go through a study abroad program like Center for Study Abroad (CenterForStudyAbroad.com) or GlobalLinks Learning Abroad, (GlobalinksAbroad.org), they will help you search and apply for the right university and degree program and serve as an advocate for you when you are overseas. Transitions Abroad (TransitionsAbroad.com) is a good online clearinghouse that will link you into various study abroad programs by destination. Another good place to do research is your guidance counselor’s office.

The most important criteria to consider when thinking about studying abroad are:

Federal financial aid and scholarships are available for students wanting to study abroad. The National Association of Foreign Student Advisers (nafsa.org) has a great website that will help you figure out how much cash you will need (based on your desired destination, institution, length of study, etc) and where to find help with funding. If you are nervous about making a commitment for 3-4 years, you could always try studying abroad for a semester or a summer session while you are still in high school.

Foreign universities are beginning to accept the common application and US standardized test scores, but they do things differently. Be prepared to apply and to test ahead of time into a specific subject or college within the university system. For example, if you want to study history, you will apply to the academic department/college that instructs history. Don’t be afraid to do your research into the requirements and then take the test and see what happens. Studying overseas could be a great option, as it combines both college and broad life experience that can only enhance your skills as an adult. For more information on traveling and working abroad, see Chapter 20

Many foreign universities offer a bachelor’s degree within three years (in contrast to four here) because the curriculum is more specialized. Let’s say you want to go to Oxford University in England. There are no major or minor subjects, only a single course of study (one subject) or joint honors courses (two subjects). Subjects are taught in lectures and tutorial sessions consisting of a tutor and you (and possibly one other student). The onus of work is on you.