25 Nisan 2009 Cumartesi

Accredited Online Degree Programs Info

As a result of the convenience and the unfussiness associated with online degree when compared with on campus university degrees, many people will be able to obtain further college. Due to all these distinctiveness lots of people have decided to opt online learning program particularly people that are very busy and those that are more often than not at home, like house wives.

Studies have shown that lots of universities nowadays organize online learning programs. That's why unlike before one can right now easily get an online degree in a field one favored like online science degree, engineering degrees online, etc.

National accredited online degrees are those degree certified and approved officially as a result of meeting a set standard. At whatever time you want to obtain your want degree online, you should also be aware of fraudulent online university degree websites.

A lot of research works have proved it that student can also learn well using online method of learning, there they earn the same certificate with university regular students. Many people now talk more about online learning programs and so there is a rise in employment for its degree holders. In them, the employers will perceive desirable qualities needed from a good employee such as inspiration, independence and industriousness.

It's very noteworthy for you to be aware that you need to make a compare of different credit per cost for different courses you wish to opt for. This will help you to know the ones you can meet up with the expenses involve.

Fleming passionately writes to enlighten people about Online Degrees and has made tremendous success as an online tutor with several years of experience. Recommended: Visit http://myonlinedegree.fateback.com for more information and also see his personal blog http://on-linedegree.blogspot.com which has many free useful online degree resource materials.

15 Nisan 2009 Çarşamba

Online Bachelor Degrees - Six Simple Steps to Blitzing an Online Bachelors Degree Course

A bachelors degree online is one of the best moves you can make if you are willing to do a little work to make this happen. You will be in the best position when it comes to all the careers available to those with a bachelors degree. Options are plentiful for completing your degree. Online programs are offered by some of the top schools in the country as well as those that have their own degree programs. There are also community colleges. Many from each of these choices have very affordable prices.

The courses are not easy. They do require work and this is where a lot of people have problems. They may not have a good environment in which to work. Between the noise levels at home due to television, video games, children and pets as well as people dropping in and eating, this may interfere with your study time.

This may make classroom work much more preferable to those who need to be able to concentrate and get their work done. There may be other problems such as your access to a computer or the Internet. The ability to pay the bill is one such problem.

If you can manage to do this, it will be a very rewarding outcome. The following tips are designed to help you find the right path to your bachelors degree so you can get started on your promising future.

Find a Trustworthy Education Program

Check into which programs have the Counsel by Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) because many do not. If not, be leery of these programs. Schools that are out of the country, schools that do not supply contact information or those that are willing to sell you a diploma are considered suspicious. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has information on most schools. When searching online and you think you have found a good choice, do your investigating and make sure before deciding.

Get Your Academic Records Together

A reputable school will want to see any certificates or diplomas you have (especially high school) to make a determination of what, if anything for which you may qualify. These records should be gotten in order first thing.

Check Out the Campus

If there is actually a physical school that you will be considering you should make a visit and see what impression you get of the institution. If not and it is an online college, do a little research and see what you can find. One way is by contacting former students of this program and ask them if they had any problems. By doing a fair amount of research this should tell you if the school is going to be a school you want to attend.

Financial Help is Available

Most people cannot afford to pay for their education out of pocket. This does not mean they cannot get one. The schools normally have arrangements made with local banks and they offer a financial aid plan. The better your credit is the more chances of getting a good loan but if it is not perfect, you can still get help. You might just have to pay a little more. When you want to go to school to earn a bachelors degree, there are options if you are having financial straits.

Ensure the Timing Is Right

When you decide to go to school make sure this is the right time for you. You must be at your best in order to pass the courses required for a bachelors degree. Dropping out should not be an option. Make sure there is no major stress in your life and that you are going to be all right with studying and the cost of the course.

Making the Final Decisions and Preparations

Paying tuition fees, getting applications and all the paperwork filled out and a consultation with a financial adviser are all steps that will need to be taken. If you can get everything going to get your bachelors degree, your life will be set up for great earning potential. You will be well on your way on the path to success.

Further information on how to save time and money on online bachelor degrees is freely available right now. Learn how to work smarter not harder to maximize your results of your online education at http://www.JobTrainingPlace.com

John Maxted is an online education specialist who has a passion for helping others succeed with their education. John's Site, Job Training Place dot com is designed specifically to provide you with comprehensive job and career information as well as discussing the various education and training alternatives available. These include construction industry training and apprenticeship programs, conventional university and college education as well as online courses ranging form basic programs right up to full Bachelor's and post graduate degrees. If you are currently exploring your career and educational options this site will be most valuable.

30 Mart 2009 Pazartesi

Five Questions to Ask When Choosing an Online Insurance Continuing Education Provider

Making sure that you comply with your state's insurance licensing regulations is one of the most important issues you have to deal with as an insurance professional. Your career depends on it. Getting the required insurance continuing education (or "CE") is a big part of that, and thanks to current technology, you have more insurance CE options than ever.

A recent study from Agent Media indicated that 67 percent of respondents now get at least some of their insurance CE credits online. It really is the most efficient option, saving the travel costs and time away from the office associated with classroom training. Because of its increasing popularity, there are a lot of web-based businesses now offering online insurance continuing education. How do you narrow down all these options to find best insurance CE provider for you?

Before you sign up for your next course, consider these questions:

Does the provider offer high quality, compelling course material?

Online insurance CE courses should take advantage of the multimedia (audio, video, animation) capacity of the web to maximize the effectiveness of the learning experience. The courses should be written by recognized industry experts, should follow the required format, and should be approved in all 50 states. Ask for a no-charge sample course to make sure the provider meets these requirements. Also, review the provider's course catalog to make sure they offer a wide enough variety of courses so that you can get all the training you need from one source.

Does the provider track and report training results for you and your employees?

For you to remain compliant, the results of your insurance continuing education courses must get into the right hands in a timely manner. Look for an insurance CE provider who will handle that for you without additional paperwork on your part. The whole idea of getting your required credits online is to make the process faster and more efficient, so make sure your provider will track all your courses automatically, inform you of the courses you still need to take, and report your results to state within two to three business days (as allowed by your state's licensing board). You should also immediately receive a Certificate of Completion when you pass a course, so you'll have proof in-hand when needed. These services should be available to you at no additional charge.

Are the courses flexible enough to fit your schedule?

Online learning has made it possible to take your insurance CE courses anywhere and anytime you have a web connection, but sometimes it's still difficult to find the time to sit down and complete a course in one sitting. Look for an online insurance CE provider that allows you to save your sessions and pick up where you left off, so you can truly work at your own pace.

Can you re-take courses without additional charges?

Once you have paid for a course, you should be able to review it as many times as you want without being charged again. You should also be allowed to re-take the exams as often as you need to pass the course and earn the credits.

If you are going to be away from your computer, can you take the course material with you?

Just because you are taking a web-based course, you need not be tied to the computer the entire time. Look for a provider that will allow you to print out pages from the course material for later review. Also, your provider should allow you to download the audio from multimedia courses. These audio downloads can be saved like a podcast to your MP3 player for even more flexibility. You can review the information while on the road, exercising, doing housework -- anywhere you can use you iPod.

The point of insurance continuing education is to make sure you stay up-to-date on all the latest developments in insurance services and regulations. When you receive the best possible training, both you and your clients will reap the rewards. Finding a high quality, accredited online continuing education partner is the first step in maximizing the benefit to your business, and it's worth the effort to do your homework.

Bruce MacMillian is the President and CEO of CEU.com. CEU offers multimedia-rich online insurance continuing education courses to licensed insurance professionals.

12 Mart 2009 Perşembe

Concepts in Linear Regression You Need to Know Before Learning Multilevel Models

It seems very many researchers are needing to learn multilevel and mixed models, and I have to say, it's not so easy on your own. I too went to graduate school before it was taught in classes--we did learn mixed models as in Split Plot designs, but things have progressed a bit since then. So I too have had to learn them without benefit of a class, or teacher. So I feel your pain. But I've struggled through and learned a lot, although I had the advantage of seeing very, very many examples as I've worked with clients over the years, and of having knowledgeable colleagues to ponder and learn with. So if reading Singer makes you feel stupid, you're not alone.

I've also had the advantage of having really good training in the general linear model. This came not only from numerous classes in graduate school, but once again, from seeing so many examples in consulting, and having to explain it so many times. (Teaching is when you learn best).

Why is this important? Because multilevel models are just general linear models with extra sources of variation. It's much harder to learn multilevel models if you're still unsure about some of the concepts in linear regression. You want to focus on figuring out what a random slope really means, not a centered predictor.

So here are 4 concepts in linear regression that you really, really should get clear about before you attempt to read the Singer article. It won't make it easy, but it will make it easier.

1. What centering does to your variables. Intercepts are pretty important in multilevel models, so centering is often required to make intercepts meaningful.

2. Working with categorical and continuous predictors. You will want to use both dummy and effect coding in different situations. Likewise, you want to be able to understand what it means if you make a variable continuous or categorical. What different information to you get from it and what does it mean? Even if you're a regular ANOVA user, it may make sense to treat time as continuous, not categorical.

3. Interactions. I know you know that you have to leave in lower order terms for each interaction (right?). Make sure you can interpret interactions, regardless of how many categorical and continuous variables they contain. And make sure you understand.

4. Polynomial terms. Random slopes can be hard enough to grasp (and keep straight from random intercepts). Random curvature is worse. Know thy Polynomials.

And finally, understand how they all fit together. These 4 concepts really come down to understanding what the estimates in your model mean. How to interpret them. And that will come largely from practice, asking questions, and relearning the basics in the context of your data.

The advantage is that understanding these concepts will behoove you in learning any advanced modeling--nonlinear models, logistic regression, Cox regression, and so on.

I'd like to invite you to learn more about linear regression analysis, including interpreting interactions, centered predictors, polynomials, and more in one of my FREE monthly Analysis Factor Teleseminars: "Interpreting Linear Regression Parameters: A Walk Through Output." Visit Teletraining 4 to get started today.

© 2008 Karen Grace-Martin -- Statistical Consultant and founder of The Analysis Factor

3 Mart 2009 Salı

4 Tips to Avoid Being Scammed by Diploma Mills

Online education has been introduced for decodes and it is now receiving increased respect from top employers. Students who are interested to earn their degree online generally do not need to worry about the acceptance of their online degree as long as they earn their degree from a legitimate online college. However, diploma mills who offer valueless degree limit the prestige of a legitimate online degree. You as an online student need to ensure the degree you pursue online is from $a properly accredited college, else you will have problem to use the degree to start your career later. Here are a few tips to avoid being scammed by diploma mills.

Tip #1: Understand the college's past performance

The college past performance is useful to identify legitimate online colleges. Online colleges that won yearly award or participating themselves to be reviewed for ranking position such as The Best College of Year 2009 should be cleared enough to identify as legitimate online colleges.

Tip #2: Find out which accrediting agency that performs accreditation

Accreditation is an important indicator for quality assurance of the online degree programs offered by any college. However, it is not enough to know that your selected online college is accredited, but you need to know which organization is accrediting the college and whether that accrediting agency is a body recognized by the Department of Education of your country. The reason is diploma mills do claim accreditation, which they are accredited by a "fake" accrediting agency. Hence, you should find out which accrediting agency that performs the accreditation process of your selected online college and ensure the accrediting agency is in the list of CHEA.org, an official online database that keeps information about accreditation.

Tip #3: Join the forums that discuss about online colleges

What other people talk about the online college that you are interested to may give some hints about how good the college is and whether the college is a diploma mill that cheats money without providing legitimate degrees. In the forums, people will talk about the good things and the bad things about the colleges and their degree programs. You should be able to get a lot of information about the online colleges that offer the degree program you are interested in. Avoid those online colleges that have bad comments and suspicious to be diploma mills.

Tip #4: Avoid online colleges that offer deals that look too good

When you see something is too good to be true, then it better trigger your alert sensor on any potential scam activities by diploma mill. When you see that the requirements to earn a degree is too easy until you don't need to put in any effort, then the degree you are going to earn is most probably be a fake degree then a legitimate one. Hence, keep in mind that earning a degree online has no different than the campus-based degree except there are some advantages that will benefit you. Other than that, you still need to put in efforts for coursework, attending online classes and complete the total credits required for graduation. Avoid totally any offer from online colleges that look to good to be true.

Summary

Don't let yourself have chances to be scammed by diploma mills. Use the above 4 tips to distinguish a legitimate online college before you sign up any of it online degree program.

Julie Harvard would like to invite you to explore more information on online education at http://www.studykiosk.com which will help in making your education decision and select a legitimate online college that best fit your goals.

24 Şubat 2009 Salı

University Online - Education Easier Than Ever

We live in a peculiar world these days. Some would even say that it's pretty amazing. You see we live in a world where you can go to a University Online and earn an online degree from the comfort of your own home. That's a pretty amazing thing if you consider that just a decade ago that wasn't possible.

Sure there were mail programs, but a) hardly any of those were accredited or looked at as legitimate, and b) it took forever to even get through one of those courses...and again, it got you basically nowhere.

But things are different now. There are tons of online universities that have the same exact accreditation that offline college campuses have, and these degrees are now highly accepted world wide.

If you've been wondering where to start your search for a University Online, then you'll be happy to know that it's a pretty simple process nowadays. There are a number of legitimate directories to help you, and then there are of course always the well known schools like Phoenix University Online, or Kaplan...and tons of others.

Perhaps the easiest way is to go through a directory that helps you find one such as E-Learners, that way most of the heavy lifting is done for you.

Site like these will go through and check through the various universities online following the criteria that you set, or simply just show you the best overall that's been rated by other users.

This saves you much of your valuable time on searching out a university on your own.

Go start your journey to an online education now at the University Online that's right for you!

7 Şubat 2009 Cumartesi

College Student Success Strategies

Succeeding in college is not all that difficult. Freshmen enter the "Halls of Ivy" with optimism and trepidation. They soon learn that it isn't always the smartest students who do the best.

The keys to success in college can be categorized into a few principles:

PERSISTENCE

Often it is the "last ones standing" that walk down the aisle to receive their diploma. Life happens along the way. Health problems, financial difficulties, family problems, etc., are common. Most students are trying to balance work and school, and many are raising a family, too. And, a large number of students today are single parents. It's easy to get discouraged when so many stressors are competing for our time and attention. The simplest solution may appear to be to drop out. However, it seldom is.

So, hang in there and realize that endurance is the most important factor in getting your degree.

PATIENCE

Be patient with yourself and your instructors. Patience will help avoid the escalation of trivial matters into major problems. Most of all, be gentle with yourself. Take matters in stride and you will not experience the degree of stress that leads to impulsivity and poor decisions.

FLEXIBILITY

In college, as the rest of life, things happen. Schedules change, instructors change, rooms change, curricula change, grading standards change, textbooks change, classmates change, etc. Don't let these changes "throw" you.

Many students get frustrated or upset at frequent changes. Yet, their education is intended to help them successfully navigate an unpredictable world full of frequent and profound change.

One of the major difficulties for many students is adapting to the different teaching styles, personalities and manner of the faculty. All students have their "favorites." They expect faculty to adapt to them, instead of them adapting to their instructor. Just as in the workplace they will have to adjust to, and satisfy the expectations of their superiors (bosses); in the classroom they will have to adjust to the style and expectations of their teacher. In the business world if they fail to meet the standards for performance set by their employer, they will receive poor evaluations. In the classroom these evaluations are called GRADES.

SCHOLARSHIP

I would be negligent if I didn't refer to scholarship. As a student you have an obligation to go to class, be attentive, participate, and complete your homework. If you have difficulty meeting these obligations, examine yourself and your study habits. College should be a top priority. After all, your education should assist you throughout your life in making a living and progressing professionally. So take it seriously, and try to garner all of the knowledge and networking contacts you can.

While being the "class clown" may sound like fun, it's temporary and generally unappealing. Your classmates may regard you as a fool, or resent your intrusion on their learning experience.

INVOLVEMENT

Become involved with the school and the opportunities it affords. Frequently there are various Clubs, organizations, interest groups, community involvement opportunities, etc. These represent another dimension of your learning and provide opportunities for leadership and participation. Besides looking good on your resume, they contribute to your education. These entities may also provide professional and employment avenues.

COMMUNICATION

Get to know your instructors. It is important that you share with them your circumstances as they pertain to the course. If you have to be tardy or absent because of work requirements, child care, or emergencies, let the instructor know. Otherwise your instructor may think you are not interested, serious or disciplined. If you need to be absent, or miss an assignment ask if it will impact your grade. Try to arrange for homework/make-up/extra-credit assignments to offset this. Most instructors want to be kept informed concerning their students' issues, challenges and conflicts, and are more than willing to work with you.

If you have trouble keeping up, or understanding the material ask for help. Many schools offer tutoring or special study groups to address these matters.

RESOURCES

Use the other resources available. Everything from Admissions, to Financial Aid, Business Office, Registrar's Office, Student Services, Career Services, etc., is there to support you and facilitate your education. Familiarize yourself with these offices and their functions. For example, you may need to re-write your student loan, or you may need help with transportation, or a scholarship, or a job, etc. Ask!

FRIENDS

We all need a support group. Try to align yourself with those who will help you succeed. Study partners, car pool buddies, those with similar majors or interests are all of value, and so are the good listeners, the motivators, etc. A large part of the college experience is making personal and professional contacts. Just as in the business world it's often "who you know," and not "what you know" that makes the difference.

FOCUS

Stay focused on the "prize." Students drop out when they get discouraged, feel overwhelmed, or lose focus. The more you see yourself as successfully completing your education, the greater the likelihood of you graduating. Almost every college grad comments on how quickly the time flew in college, and before they knew it they were done. Focusing on the end result will help you through the tough times and give you the motivation and courage to succeed.

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From years in academia I have seen many students complete their education, and a surprisingly large number who don't. Paying attention to these simple, yet important, tips should help you successfully complete your educational journey.

Ben A. Carlsen, Ed.D, MBA, is an experienced CEO and manager. Dr. Carlsen has over 30 years experience in management, consulting, and teaching. Currently the Head of the Business Department at Everest Institute, Hialeah, FL., he was Chairman of the Los Angeles County Productivity Managers Network and President of the Association for Systems Management (So. Calif. Chapter). Additional information can be obtained at http://drben.info