Author Archive for Amelia Gray

With the U.K.'s IT and telecom industry in need of recruits, and underprepared IT graduates struggling to find jobs, companies including IBM have pitched in to help create new degree programs that they say will give IT graduates the skills they'll need in the workplace, reports Computerworld-UK.

The two new distance-learning degrees in IT and computing at the U.K.'s Open University were developed in partnership with a technology-sector skills association. Representatives of IBM, Logica and Capgemini […]

Online degrees in computer science can range drastically in price, a recent survey found. Consumer research group GetEducated.com recently posted its list of the most affordable online computer science master's degree programs, Digital Journal reported in June 2011. East Carolina University came in first, with residents paying only $4,860 for an online master's degree. While distance learning programs are typically available to students nationwide, out-of-state tuition was markedly more expensive with students paying $20,040 for the same degree. […]

Among brick-and-mortar schools shifting toward online education, Arizona State University has big goals. Officials there project that online course enrollment at the school will increase by 30,000 students by 2020, putting nearly a quarter of its students online within the decade. In the 2011 fiscal year, ASU Online generated an estimated $6.2 million in profit, the school reported to The Arizona Republic. The school benefits from higher enrollment without new building and maintenance costs, and students benefit from the flexibility […]

With tools like virtual classrooms and interactive student profiles, an increase in customization is advancing online education at many schools. Educators at the University of Southern California (USC) have found specific benefits to bringing classes online.

"Putting the education online means you can see what issues are universal," Melora Sundt, associate dean of academic programs at USC's Rossier School of Education, told The Atlantic. "It's wonderful to hear students say, 'I have that issue in Kansas!' and 'I have the same […]

A national survey of two-year institutions by the Instructional Technology Council released in May 2011 found that community colleges saw a 9 percent increase in online education enrollment between Fall 2009 and Fall 2010, according to an article in Inside Higher Ed. And even though more students are being enrolled in such programs, the colleges are still not meeting demand, with 68 percent of the surveyed schools reporting that the "demand [for online education] exceeds their distance education […]

In a bid to overhaul the higher education model in Texas, Gov. Rick Perry challenged local colleges and universities in February 2011 to create an online bachelor's degree program that costs students less than $10,000. In an Education Today piece on Classesandcareers.com, Brooke Brown writes that just months later, progress is being made. State Commissioner of Higher Education Van Davis reports that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is working aggressively to enact the economical, fast-track degree. In a […]

The Internet has reshaped the educational landscape in Kuala Lumpur, the Maldives and other Asian nations, writes Liz Gooch in a New York Times article titled "Online Degrees Come of Age in Asia." The shift towards distance learning means that students in far-flung island nations or other countries without plentiful access to campus-based colleges and universities can log on to pursue their studies. Of the online education format, Wong Tat Meng, the president of the Asian Association of Open Universities, […]

Whether you're looking for a popular associate's or bachelor's degree, targeted certificate training, or an advanced master's or doctoral degree, there are benefits of distance education in technology and IT:

1. Work with aspiring tech gurus across the country.

Reach out and find fellow techies from sea to shining sea and around the world. One of the benefits of an online degree in technology and IT is the networking you can do with fellow students. Best of all, you don't have to […]