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ebooktrial0001
Joined: 02 Jan 2014
Posts: 156
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 Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 2:44 am Post subject: What Online Degrees Are Worthless? |
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Hello Everyone,
I have taken about a dozen online classes in the last few years and enjoy them a lot.
However, I know that for many jobs, online degrees are not considered as rigorous as normal.
Is there any way you could clarify when an online degree becomes a waste of time?
I fear applying, paying the money, doing the work, then finding it won't lead to an increased pay grade.
Thanks for the advice |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 5:02 am Post subject: |
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You're asking two questions:1) Which online degrees are worthless? (Based on your subject line.)
2) When does an online degree become worthless? (Based on your initial post.) Obviously, any degree --- online or on campus --- is worthless when it's not from an accredited university. On the other hand, an online degree from a valid, accredited university can be rejected just for the fact that it was completed online, regardless of how rigorous the coursework was.
However, a degree --- online or on campus --- becomes "irrelevant" when it does not meet any or all of the following:- your specific learning needs
- your career goals
- the requirements of the employer/visa regs in the country you expect to work in Therefore, if your goal is to teach elementary school science, pursuing a degree in music isn't going to cut it; the degree itself is not the problem. So make sure the course content of whatever degree you're pursuing is aligned with what employers are looking for.
Last edited by nomad soul on Wed Mar 09, 2016 5:04 am; edited 1 time in total |
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suphanburi
Joined: 20 Mar 2014
Posts: 916
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| Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 5:03 am Post subject: Re: What Online Degrees Are Worthless? |
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| ebooktrial0001 wrote: |
Hello Everyone,
I have taken about a dozen online classes in the last few years and enjoy them a lot.
However, I know that for many jobs, online degrees are not considered as rigorous as normal.
Is there any way you could clarify when an online degree becomes a waste of time?
I fear applying, paying the money, doing the work, then finding it won't lead to an increased pay grade.
Thanks for the advice |
A lot depends on variables that you didn't even touch on in your post.
Where in the world do you want to go?
What kind of "on-line" course/degree?
Where is it from?
- Distance learning from the UK, Canadian or Australian Open University are as rigorous as and accepted in most places as equal to a brick and mortar degree (outside of the US or US protectorates in the middle east).
- On-line degrees from US "for-profit" universities are seldom worth the paper they are printed on (even in the US).
If you are talking about a post grad credential (MA/PhD) was it research based (thesis / dissertation) with publication in a peer reviewed journal of the paper?
- If yes, then it largely won't matter. Your research and publication speak for themselves.
- If no, your post grad was coursework and exam based, then it depends on where it was from and where you want to go.
If you want to become a legitimate teacher then do a 1-year, professional teaching program that leads to licensure. That license (and a couple of years post license in the classroom) is the golden ticket to the chocolate factory.
An on-line MATESOL and $3 will get you a cup of coffee at the local Starbucks.
And in closing, the "I fear applying, paying the money, doing the work, then finding it won't lead to an increased pay grade," is largely a non-issue.
The degree gets you to the interview. It is what you do afterward that makes the difference in the pay grade.
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ebooktrial0001
Joined: 02 Jan 2014
Posts: 156
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| Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 6:23 am Post subject: |
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To me, I really like college admissions counseling. I feel I have a knack for it.
To me, I'd like to gain license to become a counselor, if there is such a way. Any tips? |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 6:37 am Post subject: |
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| ebooktrial0001 wrote: |
To me, I really like college admissions counseling. I feel I have a knack for it.
To me, I'd like to gain license to become a counselor, if there is such a way. Any tips? |
You already asked this question in your other thread, Enjoying College Admissions Consulting; Where are Markets. Anyway, do an Internet search on college admissions counselor career. |
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timothypfox
Joined: 20 Feb 2008
Posts: 492
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| Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 7:52 am Post subject: |
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| Actually, suphanburi, there are a lot of highly regarded online / distance MATESOL courses out there. It's just that it is advisable to do those while you are teaching in a job. So, a teacher who is already working somewhere as a teacher and gaining valuable on the job experience in the ESL field (which is favorable to employers) will up their employability through an online /distance MA TESOL - from of course a reputable university. Many of these are in the UK (for example the University of Leicester), but there are good courses elsewhere such as at the New School in NYC. Google around also for foreign campuses of Western universities that offer these kinds of degrees abroad on the weekend in person in a country you might be working in. |
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santi84
Joined: 14 Mar 2008
Posts: 1317
Location: under da sea
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| Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 2:19 pm Post subject: |
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Why not look at the credentials of people already in the field? Informational interviews? Industry research? Same tactics for ANY profession.
What license for college admissions counseling? That's not Freud counseling, it's more business administration. You're already in admissions (I don't think any of us are), don't you have contacts to ask? |
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esl_prof
Joined: 30 Nov 2013
Posts: 2006
Location: peyi kote solèy frèt
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2016 8:13 pm Post subject: |
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| santi84 wrote: |
| What license for college admissions counseling? That's not Freud counseling, it's more business administration. |
Isn't it more like sales? Insurance, real estate, hardware, education. You just need to know your product, what distinguishes it from the competition, and how to persuasively get others to "buy" it. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2016 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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| The OP is a troll and the original post is therefore essentially moot unless it is somehow useful for others. Don't waste too much time here.... |
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ebooktrial0001
Joined: 02 Jan 2014
Posts: 156
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| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 5:43 am Post subject: |
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| Come on, I'm genuinely interested. |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 6:08 am Post subject: |
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| ebooktrial0001 wrote: |
| Come on, I'm genuinely interested. |
Yeah, but again, you already dedicated an entire thread to this topic a mere 6 months ago:
| ebooktrial0001 wrote: |
My public high school in Beijing made me a college admissions counselor. I love how it uses my knowledge of global comparative education systems.
I'm thinking of getting a college counseling certificate and maybe a Master's. However, I wonder what I can do afterwards.
...
Source: "Enjoying College Admissions Consulting; Where are Markets?"
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=112336 |
Apparently nothing's changed over the past six months. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 7:52 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Come on, I'm genuinely interested. |
You may be "genuinely interested" but your interest is clearly not genuine (you are not going to do anything with the information).
Dave's offers ESL/EFL 'job discussion,' which implies that participants either currently have a relevant job or are genuinely moving in that direction.
I suggest you take your many selves over to some social chat site, as all you want is chat for no particular purpose. You're wasting our time. |
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Hod
Joined: 28 Apr 2003
Posts: 1613
Location: Home
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| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 7:56 pm Post subject: |
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| spiral78 wrote: |
| The OP is a troll |
As Han Solo said, "I have a bad feeling about this", and look what happened to him. The OP is clearly not an English native speaker, and his English looks like my written German in that it's clear but doesn't flow and certain words are just out of place. But you can't go dismissing people as trolls. Why not ask the OP about his motives for the question? They might be perfectly genuine. |
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ebooktrial0001
Joined: 02 Jan 2014
Posts: 156
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| Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2016 12:54 am Post subject: |
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@HOD
Just to let you know, I am a native English speaker. The last time I took the GRE, I got a 99.9 percentile in the writing section. Although I am the first to be skeptical about prestige in schools, I went to a top 10 US university and graduated with an almost perfect GPA.
Assuming I am telling the truth, you were VERY incorrect, even though we all make errors.
I am not saying that your sense of deductive logic displayed in this example is at all representative of your general ability. But, in this case, with all due respect, you can see how you look now that some facts have been released. I wonder how many other times you have made some serious errors.
I am asking questions simply because I love the education field; but, teaching English in a classroom is not my thing. I'd like to move somewhere else. I want to draw on the experiences of people on this forum, even though I can see I need to present myself more articulately and concisely.
Some of you feel the need to criticize my ideas; I am guessing some of you will do that here. Just to let you know, it simply drives people away. Isn't the point of this forum to assist others with information, rather than chop each other up? |
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