Online courses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Online courses - Essay Example not hold the same value as traditional degrees do, but this thesis will try to look at the other side of online degrees as having the same value as the conventional degrees. Online colleges, just like their conventional classroom colleges have to follow the laid down guidelines in offering their degree, online colleges just like conventional ones. They have to teach the mandatory units and subjects in a certain degree program, they have to follow the stipulated timelines and grading of the students must be done at regular intervals in a similar way the conventional colleges do (Koontz, Li and Compora 38). In online degree programs, the subjects are taught by a teacher and not a programmed robot as some think, class notes are sent by the teacher to the students through email. The teacher interact with his students online through various ways such as online video chats and message boards, the tests are done online and they are graded by an actual teacher. In a survey conducted to determine the perception of employers toward online degrees, in 2001 only twenty-nine per cent of employers said they would not hire students with online degrees. The rest seventy-one percent said they did not mind the whether the degree was conventional or online as long it was from an accredited institution of learning and the employee had acquired the relevant skills. Some employers are now preferring online degree holder to the conventional degree holders as the online degree holders are perceived to have certain characteristics such self starters, they have self discipline and are able to meet deadlines. In the workforce, online degrees are valued as a great asset since they show the holder was creative enough to be able to complete the programme online successfully (Palloff, Pratt and Palloff 18). A research conducted by the United States department of education in 2009 found that the students who did online degrees performed much better than those who went to the conventional