The eLearners News Blog : Advice about Online Education

When Recession Hits, Enrollments Soar!

AndriaL — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:10:00 GMT

College enrollment soars as jobless seek new skills

Though Brian Campbell of Massachusetts calls the present economy an "equal opportunity unemployer," he acknowledges how difficult it is not to take it personally when you're laid off. Because he has savings and his wife's income to hold them steady, he's enrolled in online courses to get his MBA from Western New England College. He feels the MBA will ensure he's in a better position when the economy bounces back, and we at eLearners wholeheartedly agree!

Massachusetts is seeing an upswing across the board in registration for continuing education classes, and Kimberly Tobin, dean of graduate and continuing education at Westfield State College, credits the increase to the recession. At her school, continuing ed enrollments were up about 5 percent in the spring semester. At Western New England College, applications last fall for online graduate courses were up 50 percent, while those for online undergraduate courses were up 40 percent, compared to a year earlier. At University of Massachusetts, online enrollments were up about 28 percent!

"The days of people being able to take a weekend or a night during the week off to go to school are disappearing. So they're studying online when the kids go to bed or when they are on the road on business, sitting in a hotel room at night," says Eric Berkowitz, associate dean of the Isenberg School of Management at UMass in Amherst.

Read College enrollment soars as jobless seek new skills at http://www.masslive.com/metrowest/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1236842200229920.xml&coll=1.

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From PC World: Virtual Schools Rapidly Building Foothold in Online Education

AndriaL — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:05:00 GMT

From PC World Magazine:
Virtual Schools Rapidly Building Online Education Foothold

Just in case you require further convincing that online learning is perceived as credible and viable, check this out: This summer, Florida is making it mandatory for each school district to offer "virtual school" for all students K-8, as well as online courses for those in high school. How cool is that?

While we have watched e-learning become more commonplace at the college level, its integration at the lower level is encouraging and definitely exciting. The state is still fine tuning the delivery methods it'll employ to bring online learning to FL students, but because research from the Sloan Consortium says online students need to possess good self-direction, this will probably influence the state's course of action.

While the state acknowledges that it could be simple to view the endeavor as a way to outsource education, supporters say "it's a mistake to be afraid of changes that will benefit learning." Elisabeth Walden of Florida's Jackson County School District gushes, "This is going to transform the way education is delivered in schools." We couldn't agree more.

Here's a link to the article from PC World: http://www.pcworld.com/article/160737/virtual_schools.html

-Andria

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New site section! Recession & Your Education

AndriaL — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:44:00 GMT

Hi all!

As we're making our way through this recession (especially when the nightly news seems to exist just to scare everyone), it's super important to be properly informed. That's why eLearners put together a comprehensive recession section, complete with articles, tips, and quizzes to make you totally recession savvy.

Here are just a few of the questions you'll be able to answer after visiting the eLearners.com Recession Section:

What does "recession" actually mean?
Are recessions normal? How often do they happen?
How "recession-proof" are you? What can you do to help?
Why does online education make sense during a recession?

Give the banner below a click and tell me what you thought!

-Andria

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Western Governors U on Time.com — Way to go!

AndriaL — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:23:00 GMT

Hi All!

Western Governors University was just featured in quite a lengthy writeup on Time.com praising its quality, growth, efficiency, and affordability. Here are few things you'll find in the article:

Brief history of the founding of WGU
Accreditation information
Who's hiring WGU graduates?
A bit on the faculty perspective
How WGU costs compare to other schools

The article can be read here. If you're already a WGU student, then pat yourself on the back. Time applauds your decision. If you're just starting to consider online schools or are, perhaps, looking to switch — click to read more about WGU on eLearners.com.

Way to go, WGU!

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Got the Worst-Dressed Celebrity Blues?

helenh — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 18:30:00 GMT

Cheer up, Posh Spice, Wino, MK, and everyone else cruelly banished to Mr. Blackwell's annual list of the past year's "worst-dressed."

Who cares what he thinks, anyway? (According to Wikipedia, he didn't make it past the 3rd grade.) Besides, shouldn't Mr. Style Guru of the World give some helpful feedback rather than just criticize someone outright and not bother to give any advice to improve?

Tsk tsk.

Well, we're here to help. Dressing for success isn't always about your outwardly appearance: what's inside your heart and your head counts too. That being said, here are our recommendations for Mr. Blackwell's top three fashion don't s of 2007:

Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham
Maybe fashion just isn't your bag, baby. Concentrate on that music career. In fact, world-renowned Boston University has a Master's Degree in Music Education. Better yet, study sports management and help manage that tasty husband of yours. Fine, he's already the highest paid player in Major League Soccer, but what a way to truly stand by your man and help him to reach his full athletic potential.
Amy Winehouse
Girl's got six Grammy Award nominations AND a nasty substance abuse problem. Clean your act up. Kaplan University offers a B.S. in Psychology/Substance Abuse. You might be able to save your "better half", Blake Fielder-Civil, who is behind bars in London's Pentonville Prison, too. Might you convince him to go for a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice so he can help defend himself in court for beating up a bartender and trying to obstruct justice?
Mary-Kate Olsen
Yawn. Being pin-thin is out. Anyway, it's no fun either. Put some meat on those bones, for crying out loud. Last we heard, you took a "leave of absence" from NYU in 2005. Go back to school, dear. The "Freshman 15" would do you some good. Also, change your major - we think that a B.S. in Nutrition Science/Dietetics might be the ticket for you!

Happy Learning!

P.S. If you enjoyed this cheeky post, you might also consider a career in fashion or design! You may want to check out these online degrees in fashion and design degrees online.

Don't forget: Education is always in style. Enjoy!

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The eLearners News Blog : Advice about Online Education

When Recession Hits, Enrollments Soar!

College enrollment soars as jobless seek new skills

From PC World: Virtual Schools Rapidly Building Foothold in Online Education

From PC World Magazine:Virtual Schools Rapidly Building Online Education Foothold

New site section! Recession & Your Education

Western Governors U on Time.com — Way to go!

Way to go, WGU!

Got the Worst-Dressed Celebrity Blues?

From PC World Magazine:
Virtual Schools Rapidly Building Online Education Foothold