Online Adult Education

The title of the article is "Clicking your way to an MBA-online classes in continuing education" which was published in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine in March of 1999. The author of the article is Marc. L. Schulhof, it was assessed on http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1318 website that provides thousands of articles from scholarly sources on specified topics.

The main theme of the article is concerned with the online education for people who are seeking for a second degree, especially those in business fields. It concentrates on the description of a few professionals studying online and gives evidences of why it is a good way to learn and what perspectives this education line has in the future. It describes one professional Vince Sutera who decided to register for courses online. He is a new-business developer living in Chicago and looking for a decent school to give him specific knowledge in the project that is required for his work. That is when one of Philadelphia universities’ Wharton came handy with its direct course. It was extremely important for Vince to be able to squeeze in this course in his busy schedule, like for many professionals who are looking for a second education or specific course, being flexible in schedule is essential. By the time these people earn a second degree, most of them have families and full time jobs that are demanding huge amount of time and effort.

The article was very informative in a sense of providing detailed information on how exactly the course and the schedule were designed. The description of the equipment that was present in the classroom was essential for the reader’s understanding of what exactly was provided with the purchase of the course. Moreover, it becomes clear that such course as from Wharton school allows students to actually hear and see the professor in real time, which is very important for learners in order to comprehend material better. It is noted in the article that a few years ago, such online courses were not interactive at all. The students received only videotaped lecture with the materials and had to study from that, without communicating with classmates or a lecturer. Nowadays this e-learning process is getting more and more perfected and students are fully immersed in the process, where they can participate answering and asking in real time. This system thus allows to be constantly prepared for the class in order to be able to answer when you are asked by the professor.

Evident advantages of the online learning especially for adults are clearly described in the article. Working adults with families are much more likely to choose an online course and work online rather than leaving their homes for a few hours or weeks to traveling to the classroom. This is a vital aspect of the online education-the ability of people to study without interrupting the course of their lives, plus receive a high quality interactive learning.

Unique programs that are available over big distances in real time are very attractive for people seeking for specific skills and expertise. Being able to study in such places without traveling far is an obvious practical benefit that saves money, time and effort. Besides those studying online have all recourses available instantly before them, without having to haul that to the classroom. Assignments, spreadsheets and books are made accessible right there, the fact that assures better performance and understanding of the material. In business world where money and time are interrelated such approach of accessibility of the recourses, integrated materials and interactive communication provides the best result for the limited amount of time. The proof to that can be found in the interviews of the professionals, who were studying via online and received a better deal than they would in a physical setting of a regular college. The stress is put on the attentive selection of the university/college for your need, mentioning that the tuition will not be much cheaper than in classical education. For the technologies applied in the learning processes are very expensive and have to be regularly renewed.

Studying through internet would be a great experience for people wanting to save time and effort. Provided, it is a good program with needed up to date resources it would be to a definite advantage of those wanting to continue studying. It is clear that currently serious schools are appropriately equipped and set up for the convenience and best results of the learner. The idea of communicating with a professor and other classmates is very comforting to me as I would be able to exchange ideas and thoughts with them in case of need. Taking into consideration the fact that most employers are willing to pay for their employees to continue educating I would suggest for the educators to create specific programs for groups of people from the same companies. Developing special educating courses in particular fields of study for such teams would result in better interaction between the classmates. For instance, an educational program can be designed for a group of financial analytics in a big company. This would lead to increased productivity, better team work, quality performance and school’s reputation as a provider of quality service. The ability to present high quality online education for the educators is based on the knowledge of modern technology and study materials.

There is only one definite forecast clearly seen in the online education sector: it will grow and develop until young professionals want to learn and improve their skills.