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| Saturday, September 2
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Students can get a personalized, quality education online |
yWhat's the purpose of an education? According to scholars, higher education should help students use higher-order thinking skills, think critically and solve real-world problems.
Our founding fathers knew that an educated population is essential to maintain a strong economy, support democracy and ensure continued freedom as a nation (refer to the Constitution and Federalist Papers). Some of our decision makers wisely allocate funds to provide our growing population with the best educational tools possible.
We have progressed to the point where we can offer a quality educational experience at an affordable price to any student who wants to meet the educational requirements via online courses and one-on-one communication with faculty.
Unfortunately, there have been editorials in The Tribune questioning policy makers who direct public money to partially support an online university that provides a one-on-one scholarly environment to every student.
This new education method means that every student is able to have one-on-one conversations with his/her own professor who is experienced and credentialed in a specialized field of study. The opportunities to conduct meaningful dialogues covering critical thinking, active learning and guided applications of higher-order thinking skills for every student are unprecedented.
We can now do these things, thanks to technological advances and to critical planning by decision makers and forward-thinking educators. Those of us who have spent hundreds of hours sitting in classrooms know that not all students in those classrooms are gaining the desired education to qualify as critical thinkers. In every class that you have taken in school, weren't there some students who passed everything with ease while other students struggled?
Every student can gain a personalized, engaging, quality education online.
Everyone knows that technological advances have changed our world. The business of education is no exception to change. Today we are fortunate to be able to offer multitudes of eager learners quality educational experiences in their own homes. Most of these students are not able to get interactions with their professors by traveling to a campus because of time and location constraints.
I have earned five degrees, including three master's degrees, from the University of Utah consisting of more than 512 credit hours in class time. I am earning my doctorate degree in an online environment. I am employed as faculty with Western Governors University, a nonprofit, competency-based online institution, and I teach online courses as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Utah.
I have the responsibility of seeing that every student in my classes engages in critical thinking and communicates effectively with well-supported solutions to real-world problems. I use phone conversations, chat sessions, discussion board dialogues and frequent e-mails with all of my students.
Often, I will hear, "I know I am not your only student, but I sure feel like I am your only student." Each student appreciates the individual attention. It is only through this personalized, one-on-one instruction that I can make absolutely certain that every single student is learning effectively and gaining those higher-order thinking skills that our democratic citizenry demands.
Not all students learn in the same way or at the same speed. Each student works as an individual, developing individual abilities to think critically, solve problems effectively and apply the skills to the demands of business, education and social needs.
WGU has effectively raised the bar of quality education in this country by demonstrating that higher education can evolve to fulfill the responsibility of producing a well-educated population, without exception. |
posted by ^%&^
@ 1:21 PM
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