Thursday, December 11, 2008

Before Starting an Online Learning Program!

Online learning is gaining popularity quickly. There are many people seeking online universities or other educational resources to continue their education or just to get additional training if a specific field. On the other hand there are a lot of people who believe online learning has nothing to do with the traditional learning and that its quality is significantly lower.

If you are on the crossroad of choosing how you will continue your educations - online or at a regular brick-and-mortar education institution, check out the points in the list below.

Can you attend a regular education institution?

Are there any obstacles preventing you from attending regular classes at a university, college or another learning institution? If there aren't any than online learning is not for you. It is not that you will not get the correct amount or quality of academic knowledge, it is that traditional learning provides much more than learning itself. There are tutors who can help and people of the same social level as yours - these are great advantages that should not be neglected.

Choose the best online learning center.

Similar to buying a car you should do various checks before the actual purchase. The same rule applies for those who are looking for the right online learning center.

There are a lot of online courses available and not all of them are good. Select several that have long history and good feedback from other online students. The ones that provide access to teachers and have good learning software are the ones anyone looking for online education should aim for.

Established online universities and colleges will also provide you with a diploma accepted by other education institutions and employers.

If you want to continue the traditional way.

If you want to continue your online education in a traditional brick-and-mortar college or university you should make sure the credits you have gained so far will be recognized. If you have been attending an accredited online learning center this should not be a problem.

Get ready to study.

If the only reason for choosing an online school instead of a traditional one is that you believe studying will be less difficult you are terribly wrong. The recognized and respectable online schools provide the same level of education both in their classrooms and online. The difference is that there is much more flexibility in online learning allowing students more time.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Online Education Tips - Getting Your Forensic Accounting Degree Online

Forensic accounting is the fastest growing area of accounting today. It is a special type of career that involves the use of accounting, auditing and investigative skills to assist in legal matters. If you are looking for a career that is both exciting and financially rewarding, consider becoming a forensic accountant, but you need to own a required degree and license to start with. With the available of online education and the increasing market demands for forensic accounting careers, more and more universities are offering forensic accounting degree online.



The standard education requirement to start a career as forensic accountant is a bachelor business degree in accounting or finance, and you need to have a CPA (Certified Public Account) license. In additional to the requirements, you will also need to own a forensic accounting certification such as the Forensic Examiner Diplomat or the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) designation. Hence, if you are interested to enter this career field, then be prepared to equip yourself with the required degree, certification & license.



Many online forensic accounting degree programs offered by accredited universities have integrated CPA and CPE credits. The degree program can prepares you with the education requirement to become a forensic accountant. The key advantages of taking the forensic accounting degree online are Flexibility and Convenient. You do not need to commute to and from the school, save your money in term of transportation cost and your valuable time. In additional, you can enroll into the forensic accounting degree program offered by your preference university without the need to consider geography factor; this means you even can pursue a degree offered by university abroad as long as they open their courses to international students.



Although there are many similar online forensic accounting degrees offered by various online universities, a few things you must confirm before you sign up with your selected degree program are:



* Your selected online degree program must be offered by a properly accredited university which the accrediting agency must be recognized by the Department of Education.

* If you intend to use the degree to enter into forensic accounting career, you must ensure that the forensic accounting degree program contains the courses that meet your goal.

* If the degree program requires you to attend certain hours of face-to-face classes or practical works, you need to find out the closest facility within your convenient distance that provides by the university.

* If you need a financial aid, then you may want to review the financial aid packages offered by the university.



In additional to the above, you must request the details information about the forensic accounting program from your short listed universities for carefully review, and talk to the admission officer to get all your questions answered before you finalized the degree program to enroll with. Most information requests and enquiries are all free of charge; you should utilize this benefit to get as detail information as possible about the degree program before you make your ultimate decision to enroll into the selected one.



Summary



Forensic accounting is a career that requires the knowledge of accounting, auditing and investigative skills. Forensic accounting degree program can prepares you to meet the requirements. The degree is offered as online degree program by many accredited universities which you can enroll and earn the degree from your comfort home.

Amelia Turner, an educational article writer for http://www.your-online-degree.info You can find more details information and free resources about online forensic accounting degree and learn from guides to success in online study, financial aids and other accredited online education programs that can help you to make decision to earn your degree online.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Amelia_Turner

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Educational Evaluation Quality - Good Results

An adequate educational evaluation enhances instruction. Just as evaluation impacts student learning and motivation, it also influences the nature of instruction in the classroom. There has been considerable recent literature that has promoted evaluation as something that is integrated with instruction. To her, when evaluation is integrated with instruction it informs teachers about what activities and assignments will be most useful, what level of teaching is most appropriate, and how summative evaluations provide diagnostic information. For instance, during instruction activities informal, formative evaluation helps teachers know when to move on, when to ask more questions, when to give more examples, and what responses to student questions are most appropriate. Standardized test scores, when used appropriately, help teachers understand student strengths and weaknesses to target further instruction.

Good assessment is valid and considers validity as a concept that needs to be fully understood. Like reliability, there are technical terms and issues associated with validity that are essential in helping teachers and administrators make reasonable and appropriate inferences from evaluation results (e.g., types of validity evidence, validity generalization, construct underrepresentation, construct-irrelevant variance, and discriminant and convergent evidence). Both intended and unintended consequences of evaluation need to be examined with appropriate evidence that supports particular arguments or points of view. Of equal importance is getting teachers and administrators to understand their role in gathering and interpreting validity evidence.

Good evaluation is fair and ethical and there are four views of fairness: as absence of bias (e.g., offensiveness and unfair penalization), as equitable treatment, as equality in outcomes, and as opportunity to learn. It includes entire chapters on the rights and responsibilities of test takers, testing individuals of diverse linguistic backgrounds, and testing individuals with disabilities or special needs.

According to his text, there are also three additional areas characterized as also important:

- Student knowledge of learning targets and the nature of the evaluations prior to instruction (e.g., knowing what will be tested, how it will be graded, scoring criteria, anchors, exemplars, and examples of performance).
- Student prerequisite knowledge and skills, including test-taking skills.
- Avoiding stereotypes.

Evaluation that is fair, leading to valid inferences with a minimum of error, is a series of measures that show student understanding through multiple methods. A complete picture of what students understand and can do is put together in pieces comprised by different approaches to evaluation. While testing experts and testing companies stress that important decisions should not be made on the basis of a single test score, some educators at the local level, and some (many?) politicians at the state at the national level, seem determined to violate this principle. There is a need to understand the entire range of evaluation techniques and methods, with the realization that each has limitations.

Good evaluation is efficient and feasible. Teachers and school administrators have limited time and resources. Consideration must be given to the efficiency of different approaches to evaluation, balancing needs to implement methods required to provide a full understanding with the time needed to develop and implement the methods, and score results. Teacher skills and knowledge are important to consider, as well as the level of support and resources.

We may consider a lot the importance in the fact of good evaluation appropriately incorporates technology. As technology advances and teachers become more proficient in the use of technology, there will be increased opportunities for teachers and administrators to use computer-based techniques (e.g., item banks, electronic grading, computer-adapted testing, computer-based simulations), Internet resources, and more complex, detailed ways of reporting results. There is to him, however, a danger that technology will contribute to the mindless use of new resources, such as using items on-line developed by some companies without adequate evidence of reliability, validity, and fairness, and crunching numbers with software programs without sufficient thought about weighting, error, and averaging.

To summarize, what is most essential about evaluation is understanding how general, fundamental evaluation principles and ideas can be used to enhance student learning and teacher effectiveness. This will be achieved as teachers and administrators learn about conceptual and technical evaluation concepts, methods, and procedures, for both large-scale and classroom evaluations, and apply these fundamentals to instruction.


About The Author
Luiz Gustavo is a Brazilian expert author and give classes of writing and research development in his country. Give him the pleasure to visit his website of Monografia de Educação. He also works for another company: TCC de Avaliação

Monografia de Educação - www.monografiaac.com.br/monografia.html

TCC de Avaliação - www.monografiaac.com.br/artigocientifico.html

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Benefits Of Online Education

An online education has many benefits including lower costs, no travel time, and easy access. All you need is a computer, meaning you can work whenever and wherever it’s convenient for you. This is especially true for the adult learner, who must often juggle studies with a full-time job.

How can you benefit from studying online?

• Learning is unscheduled. It means that you don't have to attend classes on regular basis. You can choose to work and study at any time of the day you like. Though, a great responsibility for education falls on your shoulders and you are to be very self-disciplined and have a desire to succeed in your studying.

• Online education allows you to absorb up-to-date and quality information, obtain valuable and relevant knowledge and master practical skills which are in demand by employers.

• You have a great opportunity to commute with people all over the world and establish new relations.

• You can establish meaningful interaction with your tutors and other students via the Internet without leaving your home. You can contribute to course discussion and comment on the thoughts of others. This quality and extended discussions make up a valuable element of your studying.

• You have an access to a wealth of resources extremely easily, quickly and relatively cheap. Just imagine that you'll be able to get any materials needed for your studying with a simple click of your mouse.

• Your course materials include everything you may need in your studying from websites of libraries, associations, museums, agencies to databases and extensive number of media types - photos, video and audio, that enhances quality and interest factor of your education.

• You get convenience and flexibility. You are free from any limitations of time and location so that you can get instruction at any time from anywhere.

• You can work independently, moving onward on your own pace and concentrate on the specific topics of your interest as you complete your assignments. You are encouraged to elaborate your own learning style and choose a form of course materials which suits you better.

• You can quickly earn a degree without attending a physical university and also you have an excellent opportunity to spread your course out for a longer period of time.

Thus, in short online education means students no longer have to quit their jobs to attend college, no longer have to take time off from work to attend a specific course and spend hours in rush hour traffic or drive 200 miles to the nearest University. It also means students learn at their own pace, gain more one-on-one access to their instructors and earn degrees in less time than it would take to juggle traditional courses.

In just a few years, the Internet has turned online education into a multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry; the majority of colleges and universities now offer some form of distance learning as part of their curriculum. And with the benefits we've listed here it's easy to see why online education has become so popular.

Working adults can now continue their education, earn higher degrees, and earn more money by attending courses that primarily take place over the Internet.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Nursing Education – The Importance Of Critical Thinking

In the nursing profession, more now than ever, the ability to think critically is essential. The responsibilities of a Registered Nurse have increased over the years. In correlation with this increase in responsibility comes the additional increase in educational prerequisites and core requisites required to achieve a degree in Nursing. The ANA (American Nursing Association) Standards has set forth the framework necessary for critical thinking in the application of the “nursing process". The nursing process is the tool by which all nurses can equally become proficient at critical thinking. The nursing process contains the following criteria:

1. Assessment

2. Diagnosis

3. Planning

4. Implementation

5. Evaluation

It is in the application of each of these processes that the nurse may become proficient at critical thinking. It is important to look at the components that describe critical thinking in nursing, The table below lists components that define the critical thinking process. There is much more that goes into critical thinking than what is listed in the table. The table is a rough draft of the process.

CRITICAL THINKING COMPONENTS

Entails purposeful, informed, outcome focused thinking, that requires careful identification of specific problems and other physiological and psychological factors that affect the clients position on the health and wellness continuum.

The process is driven by the client, the client’s family and other health team members who are also collaborating in ensuring essential client care.

Specific educational knowledge base and level of experience in applying that knowledge in client care. (Nursing School to graduate nurse to experienced nurse) As the level of experience of the nurse increases so will the scientific knowledge base that the nurse applies.

Proficiency in the application of the institutions standards, policies and procedures.

Application of the humanistic standards of caring in conjunction with the nursing process, to holistically treat the clients response to an actual or perceived illness.

Constant evaluation and re-evaluation of the nursing process to determine the clients level of wellness

Nurses learn critical thinking via application with experience. Experience is the best teacher. But it is equally important to know that the process is being applied correctly. Many institutions will ensure that this pathway is followed by enlisting new nurses in a eight to ten week orientation program. During this time the new nurse will learn about the polices and procedures of that institution and what type of documentation is used for charting purposes. Also, the new nurse will have an experienced mentor who they will follow and who will evaluate their performance as well.

Documentation is an essential part of the critical thinking process for the nurse. Every institution places emphasis on documentation. It is said, “that if it is not documented, then it was not done". Since the nursing process is a scientific process. In scientific research, all things are documented. In this documentation, researches can look back to see if the results were due to interventions and whether or not the interventions were successful or have to be altered. The documentation process helps the nurse accomplish the same goals. Many times procedures are used that have unproven efficacy.

In it is this framework of critical thinking and documentation that such procedures can be either continued or eliminated, depending on the efficacy of the research. In other words, does the procedure actually improve, help or otherwise jeopardize the client’s health. An example of the critical thinking process and scientific reasoning is in the efficacy of taking a rectal temperature of new born infants. Currently, this procedure is still widely accepted. However the scientific approach is to ask the following, is the procedure safe, is it necessary, and can an axillary temp be used in place of the rectal temp? In answering these questions, the nurse can better evaluate whether the efficacy of taking a rectal temp on a infant should be continued.

This is just one example of how the critical thinking process is used within the nursing profession. The scientific approach using critical thinking helps the nurse develop evidence based practice. It is through “evidence based practice" that the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) rates the performance of hospitals. Further research is still continuing in delineating the intricacies of the nursing process and the integration of critical thinking. All health care professionals are encouraged to pursue this type of research in their practice to ensure the quality of client care and enhance the validity of their profession.

Learn more about nursing education at The NET Study Guide.

The nursing entrance test study guide provides nurses the assistance they need with the nursing entrance test. The nursing study guide helps nurses. Visit http://www.truthsixpackabsreview.com for more information.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Homeland Security Education and the Corporate World

The post 9/11 world we live in has seen a multitude of changes in regard to the way we perceive homeland security. What was once a buzzword has become a certified institution, and academia has taken notice. The number of accredited colleges and universities offering homeland security degree programs has grown steadily over the last five years.

Homeland security degree programs offer an exceptionally wide platform from which to build a career. From law enforcement and corrections to border security and any of the many government agencies responsible for our nation’s safety, the opportunities are almost endless. One area of employment often overlooked by homeland security degree program graduates lies in the complex and oft misunderstood world of corporate security.

When most people think of corporate security, images of IT professionals come to mind. Certainly the problems of the information age have made data security and the safe and secure transmission of information a high priority. Still, corporate security involves much more than just the realm of information technology.

Trade secrets, formulas, employee access, financial information and secured locations are all part of the average large corporations security concerns. Considering that very few large corporations fall into the category of average, the need for qualified security personnel is ever present.

Homeland security degree programs, because of their very nature, are well suited for producing qualified applicants. The training and skills covered in areas such as surveillance, criminal law and security protocols and procedures can readily be applied to the corporate world. In years past, corporations would rarely hire recent graduates to handle their security needs, instead opting to recruit ex-military or retired police force personnel. Unquestionably, there is no substitute for experience in the law enforcement field or the military. Still, the curriculum offered in homeland security degree programs can provide students with the technical knowledge to be successful in the field. Those who have police or military experience in addition to a homeland security degree are especially ideal because of their experience level.

As the corporate world begins to recognize the potential for finding qualified security personnel from the pool of recent college graduates, it’s likely that more and more headhunters will be from the private sector in the years to come.

To learn more about online homeland security degrees, visit http://www.degreesinhomelandsecurity.com/ . You can also obtain homeland security degree information at http://homeland-security-degree.blogspot.com/ and more education resources and degree programs at http://truthsixpackabsreview.com

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Online IT Degrees Offer Advantages Over Campus-Based Programs

If you buy a computer today, almost anyone in the industry will tell you that your purchase is already yesterday€™s technology the moment you get it home.. Technology is expanding exponentially and what is new today quickly turns old tomorrow. The same can be said for campus based information technology degree programs. As with any knowledge that is constantly evolving, information presented in a traditional IT program can be outdated before the course begins. Textbooks sometimes take a year or longer to be written and published and software is revised, rewritten and replaced at a rate that defies logic.

IT education once relied upon teaching the fundamentals of hardware and software through the platforms on which they are conceived and built while allowing students to specialize in other areas that involved more current curriculum. Unfortunately, as information technology has progressed, even the platforms that were prevalent for so many years are now changing. Programming languages, applications and even the way in which programs interact with one another are in an almost constant state of flux, which makes the time frame associated with developing learning material infinitely small.

Seldom updated materials are acceptable for subjects such as history, geography, or literature, but entirely unacceptable for IT as the information is quickly antiquated. This problem works against educational efforts. Every college and university wants to offer its students the most current information, but that can be a tall order for IT departments, especially for those hampered by the traditional campus structure.

On the other hand, online IT programs have managed to find a way to stay as current as possible semester after semester. Many online universities work with active industry professionals and hire senior administrators in the IT field to serve as faculty. IT programs are able to avoid the problems associated with a tenured professor, which allows them to use the best minds available for each course. As a result, students are outfitted with the latest materials and information as they pursue their IT degree.

Online IT degree programs hold other advantages as well. Tuition is usually less than at a campus-based program and students can study at their own convenience from wherever internet access is available, in most instances. Most programs have students work in groups on occasion to help build teamwork skills related to problem solving. Homework is transmitted online and tests are taken online in a program that limits the time for answering questions to keep the student from seeking outside assistance or formulating answers from course materials during testing. In short, online IT degree programs are similar in form and function to traditional campus based programs, but with benefits that only distance learning can provide.

For more information on IT degree programs, visit our site at http://www.computersciencedegrees.info/ . For IT information and resources, visit our online education blog at http://searchforclasses.blogspot.com . For online and campus based degree programs, visit www.SearchforClasses.com .