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What is Distance Education? This is an introduction to distance education for the layman. Discusses the importance of accreditation in choosing a distance degree program.
The Corner College Discusses the reasons distance education has become so popular and describes modes of instruction available: videotape, audiotape, satellite television, internet, and good old-fashioned postal mail service.
The Cottage College A brief introduction and overview of modern distance learning.
Back to School from Home Tracy Smith and Susan Lerner are perfect examples of persons who have benefited bythe increasing numbers of distance education programs designed specifically for working adults.
Nurse Practitioner Diane Burlock lives in the Northern Territorities of Canada, yet she was able to work on an accredited Master's degree in Community Health Administration and Wellness Promotion. Her story proves that an education is available no matter where you live.
DegreeFinders.comSM
Counseling Service There are literally thousands of distance degree programs out there. Some are excellent, some good-to-fair. Some are so dreadful that listing them on your resume might land you in prison. Amazingly, price isn't always the best indicator. Fnding just the right distance education program can be overwhelming.That's why I started DegreeFinders.comSMmy acclaimed distance degree consulting service. Take a look at my questionnaire. Whether or not you use my service, the questionnaire will give you an idea of the many factors you need to keep in mind when selecting a distance degree program.
DegreeFinders.comSM Distance Learning Bookstore
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Wherever you live, whatever your background, a respectable college degree is as close as your mailbox, phone, or PC.

Educators in the United States like to call campus-free learning "nontraditional"; yet, it has been a standard instructional method in pretigious European universities (University of London, for example) for centuries. Requiring students to punch a clock and sit in a chair for years on end to earn a degree is a peculiarly American idea, left over, I think, from the Industrial era of factories and mass production. 
Today, our "nontraditional" education is joining the tradition of the ages. We are finally admitting that a thing learned is a thing learned no matter how or where the learning took place. We are finally admitting that the learning is the thing of importance and not the sitting in a chair. 
One thing makes modern distance learning non-traditional: It has merged with communications technology. Audiotape, videotape, and D.V.D. recording, satellite broadcasting, e-mail, internet conferencing, electronic message boards, fax, telephone, and good old-fashioned postal service, make it possible for students to get high quality instruction from a distance. You aren't just "on your own." 
In the United States, until very recently, both the educational establishment and the public has considered distance learning a "fringe" activity. That is changing rapidly. Today, you can now earn legitmate associate, bachelor, master, even doctoral degrees without ever stepping foot on campus. It is even more likely that you can find the degree and field of your choice if you are willing to spend a few weeks on campus. There is no longer any need to pick up and move to campus for years and years. 
Here's the best part. A 1997 study conducted at California State University, Northridge (actual study results) (C/NET news.com summary) confirms what a lot of us already suspected: online students not only do as well as traditional classroom students, they actually air better --across the board--than their counterparts in a traditional classroom. better. In this study, online students interacted 50 percent more, tested 20 percent better, and enjoyed the process of learning more than the classroom students as well! 
If you would like to learn more about distance learning, distance degree programs, and some of the people who have taken advantage of them, just follow the links.

If you have comments or suggestions, e-mail me:

Rodney L. Merrill, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Distance Degree Consultant
DegreeFinders.comSM

Fax: (978) 945-6576


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