Blog entries

E-Textbooks and Piracy

Sarah Askins — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:38:09 +0100

For many college students, textbooks can be one of the most expensive parts of a college education. Publishing companies have begun to distribute e-textbooks that should help ease the amount of money students spend on textbooks. Many times; howeve...

Online Education: A Popular New Option in Tennessee

Sarah Askins — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 11:17:29 +0100

Over the summer, many families in Tennessee eagerly applied their children for enrollment in Tennessee's Virtual Academy. Online education courses are provided through K 12 Inc., and both the Virtual Academy and education officials are pleased wit...

Online Education: A New Requirement for Florida's Students

Sarah Askins — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:34:21 +0100

As the school year begins for many students across the country, the state of Florida has mandated that every high school graduate will be required to take an online course prior to graduation. Since the beginning of Florida's Virtual School in 199...

Online Education and the University of California System

Sarah Askins — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:42:03 +0100

Across the nation, state university systems are making necessary budget cuts which means many students may not have access to certain courses. The University of California system officials reached an agreement that online education would help redu...

Online Education: Making College Accessible

Sarah Askins — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:31:55 +0100

As many colleges and universities open their doors to a new semester, many potential students may not be attending this year. Tuition rates for many state universities have increased dramatically this past year due to budget cuts, and many student...

Online Learning and Video Tutoring

Sarah Askins — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:07:19 +0100

With a new school year beginning for many students, teachers are looking for new ways to incorporate technology and online learning programs into their lesson plans. These teachers know that the lecture based learning does not always engage studen...

Michigan Pushing for More Open Online Education Options

Sarah Askins — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:56:17 +0100

Online education continues to be popular option in the state of Michigan; however, some educators and legislators believe the current education laws hinder the growth of online education programs. Currently, a middle or high school student in Mich...

Two Higher Education Companies to Merge

Sarah Askins — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 12:45:19 +0100

In an announcement last week, two of the leading companies making student management software, SunGard and Datatel, plan to merge their assets. According to an article in The Chronicle for Higher Education, this merger between SunGard and Datatel...

Online Education: Changing the System or Conforming to It?

Sarah Askins — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:15:06 +0100

With the increasing popularity of online education, several states have or will soon require all high school graduates to take an online course. This innovative pedagogical tool can accommodate various learning styles, incorporate new technology m...

Online Education: Changing the Classroom Dynamic

Sarah Askins — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:14:54 +0100

For many high school students, school is a series of lectures taking place in various classrooms on campus. After school, students muddle through homework and the cycle repeats. Salman Khan, founder of Khan Academy, saw the need to question the fu...

Online Learning: Designing Courses for Culturally Diverse Learners

Sarah Askins — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:06:49 +0100

With the increasing popularity of online learning courses, instructional course designers must account for the ever expanding global reach of online courses and the cultural needs of a diverse learning population. Traditional classroom learning en...

Online Learning: A Useful Tool for the Public Schools System

Sarah Askins — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 11:25:36 +0100

In the state of South Carolina, online learning and virtual public schools have helped ease the education budget crunch and helped students through challenging courses. South Carolina currently has five fully online public schools which any ...

Open Sourcing Textbooks

Sarah Askins — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 11:56:30 +0100

For each college student, textbook costs garner a sizable portion of education related expenses. Whether the student enrolls in an online learning courses or a traditional classroom environment, each student must acquire the textbook to complete t...

Addressing the Issues of Online Learning

Sarah Askins — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:43:43 +0100

When the University of Southern California partnered with 2tor Inc., this online learning collaboration has garnered praise from those still skeptical of this new advancement in education. Others have been more cautious when it comes to online lea...

Online Learning Offering Students Another Choice

Sarah Askins — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:00:21 +0100

With the sluggish economy not improving as quickly as once hoped, college graduates are weary of the uncertain job market and perhaps their choice to attend a traditional four year college or university. Tuition increases and the decrease in fund...

How to Rank Online Schools

Sarah Askins — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 10:49:38 +0100

For many years, students have relied upon various university and college ranking systems to compare the benefits that certain institutions of higher learning possessed. Each year, a new report of traditional colleges comes out to help students in ...

Does Study Time in an Online Course Affect Grades?

Sarah Askins — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 12:34:04 +0100

When evaluating student success in courses, many researchers have relied upon self-reported study times, projected end grades, and a student's grade point average as indicators of a course design's overall success. Studies have found that these cr...

Online Degrees and Getting the Job

Sarah Askins — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 11:44:23 +0100

With the popularity of for profit online universities, many human resource staffers have viewed this online degree as a liability for the potential job candidate. Online education, particularly in the post-secondary arena, offers access to the for...

Online Education: Assessing Student Readiness

Sarah Askins — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 11:22:34 +0100

In a recent study conducted in the state of Washington, researchers evaluated the online education courses and the completion rates for Washington's community colleges. The push for community colleges to offer some form of online degree programs a...

New Online School Popular in Tennessee

Sarah Askins — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:34:54 +0100

In the past six months, several states from California to Utah have debated and passed legislation concerning the future of online education. In May 2011, Tennessee joined the ranks of states who have implemented a new online school system that wo...