The Trouble With Online Education

“AH, you’re a professor. You must learn so much from your students.”

This line, which I’ve heard in various forms, always makes me cringe. Do people think that lawyers learn a lot about the law from their clients? That patients teach doctors much of what they know about medicine?

Yet latent in the sentiment that our students are our teachers is an important truth. We do in fact need to learn from them, but not about the history of the Roman Empire or the politics of “Paradise Lost.” Understanding what it is that students have to teach teachers can help us to deal with one of the most vexing issues now facing colleges and universities: online education. At my school, the University of Virginia, that issue did more than vex us; it came close to tearing the university apart.

A few weeks ago our president, Teresa A. Sullivan, was summarily dismissed and then summarily reinstated by the university’s board of visitors. One reason for her dismissal was the perception that she was not moving forward fast enough on Internet learning. Stanford was doing it, Harvard, Yale and M.I.T. too. But Virginia, it seemed, was lagging. Just this week, in fact, it was announced that Virginia, along with a number of other universities, signed on with a company called Coursera to develop and offer online classes.

But can online education ever be education of the very best sort?

It’s here that the notion of students teaching teachers is illuminating. As a friend and fellow professor said to me: “You don’t just teach students, you have to learn ’em too.” It took a minute — it sounded like he was channeling Huck Finn — but I figured it out.

With every class we teach, we need to learn who the people in front of us are. We need to know where they are intellectually, who they are as people and what we can do to help them grow. Teaching, even when you have a group of a hundred students on hand, is a matter of dialogue.

In the summer Shakespeare course I’m teaching now, I’m constantly working to figure out what my students are able to do and how they can develop. Can they grasp the contours of Shakespeare’s plots? If not, it’s worth adding a well-made film version of the next play to the syllabus. Is the language hard for them, line to line? Then we have to spend more time going over individual speeches word by word. Are they adept at understanding the plot and the language? Time to introduce them to the complexities of Shakespeare’s rendering of character.

Every memorable class is a bit like a jazz composition. There is the basic melody that you work with. It is defined by the syllabus. But there is also a considerable measure of improvisation against that disciplining background.

Something similar applies even to larger courses. We tend to think that the spellbinding lecturers we had in college survey classes were gifted actors who could strut and fret 50 amazing minutes on the stage. But I think that the best of those lecturers are highly adept at reading their audiences. They use practical means to do this — tests and quizzes, papers and evaluations. But they also deploy something tantamount to artistry. They are superb at sensing the mood of a room. They have a sort of pedagogical sixth sense. They feel it when the class is engaged and when it slips off. And they do something about it. Their every joke is a sounding. It’s a way of discerning who is out there on a given day.

A large lecture class can also create genuine intellectual community. Students will always be running across others who are also enrolled, and they’ll break the ice with a chat about it and maybe they’ll go on from there. When a teacher hears a student say, “My friends and I are always arguing about your class,” he knows he’s doing something right. From there he folds what he has learned into his teaching, adjusting his course in a fluid and immediate way that the Internet professor cannot easily match.

Online education is a one-size-fits-all endeavor. It tends to be a monologue and not a real dialogue. The Internet teacher, even one who responds to students via e-mail, can never have the immediacy of contact that the teacher on the scene can, with his sensitivity to unspoken moods and enthusiasms. This is particularly true of online courses for which the lectures are already filmed and in the can. It doesn’t matter who is sitting out there on the Internet watching; the course is what it is.

Not long ago I watched a pre-filmed online course from Yale about the New Testament. It was a very good course. The instructor was hyper-intelligent, learned and splendidly articulate. But the course wasn’t great and could never have been. There were Yale students on hand for the filming, but the class seemed addressed to no one in particular. It had an anonymous quality. In fact there was nothing you could get from that course that you couldn’t get from a good book on the subject.

A truly memorable college class, even a large one, is a collaboration between teacher and students. It’s a one-time-only event. Learning at its best is a collective enterprise, something we’ve known since Socrates. You can get knowledge from an Internet course if you’re highly motivated to learn. But in real courses the students and teachers come together and create an immediate and vital community of learning. A real course creates intellectual joy, at least in some. I don’t think an Internet course ever will. Internet learning promises to make intellectual life more sterile and abstract than it already is — and also, for teachers and for students alike, far more lonely.

Mark Edmundson, a professor of English at the University of Virginia, is the author of “Why Read?”

Universities Reshaping Education on the Web

As part of a seismic shift in online learning that is reshaping higher education, Coursera, a year-old company founded by two Stanford University computer scientists, will announce on Tuesday that a dozen major research universities are joining the venture. In the fall, Coursera will offer 100 or more free massive open online courses, or MOOCs, that are expected to draw millions of students and adult learners globally.

Even before the expansion, Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng, the founders of Coursera, said it had registered 680,000 students in 43 courses with its original partners, Michigan, Princeton, Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania.

Now, the partners will include the California Institute of Technology; Duke University; the Georgia Institute of Technology; Johns Hopkins University; Rice University; the University of California, San Francisco; the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; the University of Washington; and the University of Virginia, where the debate over online education was cited in last’s month’s ousting — quickly overturned — of its president, Teresa A. Sullivan. Foreign partners include the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, the University of Toronto and EPF Lausanne, a technical university in Switzerland.

And some of them will offer credit.

“This is the tsunami,” said Richard A. DeMillo, the director of the Center for 21st Century Universities at Georgia Tech. “It’s all so new that everyone’s feeling their way around, but the potential upside for this experiment is so big that it’s hard for me to imagine any large research university that wouldn’t want to be involved.”

Because of technological advances — among them, the greatly improved quality of online delivery platforms, the ability to personalize material and the capacity to analyze huge numbers of student experiences to see which approach works best — MOOCs are likely to be a game-changer, opening higher education to hundreds of millions of people.

To date, most MOOCs have covered computer science, math and engineering, but Coursera is expanding into areas like medicine, poetry and history. MOOCs were largely unknown until a wave of publicity last year about Stanford University’s free online artificial intelligence course attracted 160,000 students from 190 countries. Only a small percentage of the students completed the course, but even so, the numbers were staggering.

“The fact that so many people are so curious about these courses shows the yearning for education,” said Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education. “There are going to be lots of bumps in the road, but this is a very important experiment at a very substantial scale.”

So far, MOOCs have offered no credit, just a “statement of accomplishment” and a grade. But the University of Washington said it planned to offer credit for its Coursera offerings this fall, and other online ventures are also moving in that direction. David P. Szatmary, the university’s vice provost, said that to earn credit, students would probably have to pay a fee, do extra assignments and work with an instructor.

Experts say it is too soon to predict how MOOCs will play out, or which venture will emerge as the leader. Coursera, with about $22 million in financing, including $3.7 million in equity investment from Caltech and Penn, may currently have the edge. But no one is counting out edX, a joint venture of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or Udacity, the company founded by Sebastian Thrun of Stanford, who taught the artificial intelligence course last year.

Each company offers online materials broken into manageable chunks, with short video segments, interactive quizzes and other activities — as well as online forums where students answer one another’s questions.

But even Mr. Thrun, a master of MOOCs, cautioned that for all their promise, the courses are still experimental. “I think we are rushing this a little bit,” he said. “I haven’t seen a single study showing that online learning is as good as other learning.”

Worldwide access is Coursera’s goal. “EPF Lausanne, which offers courses in French, opens up access for students in half of Africa,” Ms. Koller said. Each university designs and produces its own courses and decides whether to offer credit.

Coursera does not pay the universities, and the universities do not pay Coursera, but both incur substantial costs. Contracts provide that if a revenue stream emerges, the company and the universities will share it.

Although MOOCs will have to be self-sustaining some day — whether by charging students for credentials or premium services or by charging corporate recruiters for access to the best students — Ms. Koller and university officials said that was not a pressing concern.

About two-thirds of Coursera’s students are from overseas, and most courses attract tens of thousands of students, an irresistible draw for many professors. “Every academic has a little soapbox, and most of the time we have five people listening to us,” said Scott E. Page, a University of Michigan professor who taught Coursera’s model thinking course and was thrilled when 40,000 students downloaded his videos. “By most calculations, I had about 200 years’ worth of students in my class.”

Professors say their in-class students benefit from the online materials. Some have rearranged their courses so that students do the online lesson first, then come to class for interactive projects and help with problem areas.

“The fact that students learn so much from the videos gives me more time to cover the topics I consider more difficult, and to go deeper,” said Dan Boneh, a Stanford professor who taught Coursera’s cryptography course.

The Coursera contracts are not exclusive, so many of its partner universities are also negotiating with several online educational entities.

“I have talked to the provost at M.I.T. and to Udacity and 2Tor,” which provides online graduate programs for several universities, said Peter Lange, the provost of Duke University. “In a field changing this fast, we need flexibility, so it’s very possible that we might have two or three different relationships.”

One looming hurdle is overcoming online cheating.

“I would not want to give credit until somebody figures out how to solve the cheating problem and make sure that the right person, using the right materials, is taking the tests,” said Antonio Rangel, a Caltech professor who will teach Principles of Economics for Scientists in the fall. Udacity recently announced plans to have students pay $80 to take exams at testing centers operated around the world by Pearson, a global education company.

Grading presents some questions, too. Coursera’s humanities courses use peer-to-peer grading, with students first having to show that they can match a professor’s grading of an assignment, and then grade the work of five classmates, in return for which their work is graded by five fellow students. But, Ms. Koller said, what would happen to a student who cannot match the professor’s grading has not been determined.

It will be some time before it is clear how the new MOOCs affect enrollment at profit-making online institutions, and whether they will ultimately cannibalize enrollment at the very universities that produce them. Still, many professors dismiss that threat.

“There’s talk about how online education’s going to wipe out universities, but a lot of what we do on campus is help people transition from 18 to 22, and that is a complicated thing,” said Mr. Page, the Michigan professor, adding that MOOCs would be most helpful to “people 22 to 102, international students and smart retired people.”

Eventually, Ms. Koller said, students may be able to enroll in a set of MOOCs and emerge with something that would serve almost the same function as a traditional diploma.

“We’re not planning to become a higher-education institution that offers degrees,” she said, “but we are interested in what can be done with these informal types of certification.”

Influence of online education on students

  Internet has changed the world the way goes about doing things. It is one more point in a long continuum of inventions that is set to revolutionize life styles. Internet usage opens the entire world of information & communication to students. Students can access libraries from any city of the world anytime any day or night. The internet has a more pervasive effect than other electronic media and is the modern engine of progress; it is the new form of thinking that will show a fresh approach to online education.
  The internet is making large amounts of information available at unprecedented speed. When this revolution makes itself fully felt in schools, teachers & students will have virtually instantaneous access to vast amounts of information & a wide range of learning tools. If we guide the information revolution wisely, these resources will be available not only to affluent suburban schools but also to rural school districts & inner-city schools used well; this transforming technology can play a major role in school reform.
          Web resources are excellent tools for researches. The internet is an incredible information resource & a powerful communication tool. The ability to use new technologies is becoming a more important factor in career options & the future success of today's student will be more affected by their understanding of and ability to access and use electronic information. The increased use of online services in the home by children adds to the impetus for schools to make a more active role in family education regarding their use.
           Internet is really a boon for the students. Students get all the necessary materials at their finger tips that is starting from tutors to syllabus books, reference books etc. There are so many websites where student can get all these facilities. For example- www.literaturetutor.webs.com & www.schoolsuccess.webs.com etc. Along with the facility of online tutors, students are finding it easier to understand even the difficult subject. There are so many expert tutors, who can make the students understand the subject in a simpler way especially topics in Literature where students find it very difficult to understand. Here are the email addresses of some tutors:  daniel_7799@yahoo.co.in

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                         Education is a fundamental human process; it's a matter of values & action. The cluster of technologies called the Internet has the ability to compliment, to reinforce & to enhance the educational process. It will take the focus of education from institution to the student. The Internet has come to befriend, dwell with & live beyond, both the teacher & the student. African Wisdom says, "It takes an entire village to raise a child".
       Ensuring equity & excellence must be at the core of systematic reform efforts in education as a whole. If educators assume responsibility for helping students master the use of technology & educating them about potential risks, students will become more empowered to make intelligent choices.

Evolution of English Literature

Literature & writing though obviously connected are not synonymous. The very first writings from ancient Sumer by any reasonable definition do not constitute literature; the same is true of some of the early hieroglyphics or the thousands of logs from ancient Chinese regimes. Scholars have already disagreed concerning when written record keeping became more like "literature" than anything else; the definition is largely subjective.
      Many texts handed down by oral tradition over several centuries before they were fixed in written form are difficult or impossible to date. The core of the Rig-Veda may date to the mid second millennium BC. Homer's Illiad & Odyssey date to the eighth century BC & mark the beginning of classical antiquity. They also stand in oral tradition that stretches back to the late Bronze Age.
       English Literature is the literature written in English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England. In other words English Literature is as diverse as the varieties & dialects of English spoken around the world.
      Despite the variety of authors of English Literature, the works of William Shakespeare remain paramount through out the English speaking world.The first works in English written in old English appeared in the early middle ages (the oldest text is Caedmon's Hymn). The oral tradition was very strong in the early English culture & most literary works were written to be performed. Epic poems were thus very popular & many, including Beowulf have survived to the present day in which corpus of Anglo Saxon Literature that closely resemble today's Norwegian, Northumbrian & Scots English dialects of modern English.
     In the 12th century, a new form of English now known as Middle English evolved. This is the earliest form of English literature which is comprehensible to modern readers & listeners. Middle English Bible translations notably, Wycliffe's Bible helped to establish English as a literary language. There are three main categories of Middle English literature: Religious, Courtly Love & Arthurian.
    The most significant Middle English author was Geoffrey Chaucer, who was active in the late 14th century. Often regarded as the father of English Literature, Chaucer is widely credited as a first author to demonstrate the artistic legitimacy of the vernacular English language rather than French or Latin. The Canterbury Tales was Chaucer's magnum opus & a towering achievement of western culture.
   Following the introduction of printing press into England by William Caxton in 1476, vernacular literature flourished. The poetry, drama & prose produced under both Queen Elizabeth I & King James I constitute what is today labeled as early modern age (Renaissance).
     The Elizabethan era saw a great flourishing of literature especially in the field of drama. Elizabethan plays such as Gorbuduc by Sackville & Norton & The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd that was to provide much material for Hamlet. William Shakespeare stands out in this period as a poet & playwright as yet unsurpassed. Shakespeare was not a man of letters by profession & probably had only some grammar education. But he was very gifted & incredibly versatile. Though most dramas met with great success, it is in his later years that he wrote what have been considered his greatest plays: Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, Othello, King Lear , Macbeth, Antony & Cleopatra and The Tempest, a tragi comedy that inscribes within the main drama, a brilliant pageant to the new king. Shakespeare has also popularized English sonnet which made significant changes to Petrarch's model. The sonnet was introduced into English by Thomas Wyatt in the early 16th century.
             After Shakespeare's death, the poet & dramatist Ben Johnson was the leading literary figure of Jacobean Era. Besides Shakespeare whose figure towers over the early 17th century, there were John Donne & other metaphysical poets.

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         Restoration literature includes both Paradise Lost & Earl of Rochester's Sodom, the high spirited sexual comedy of Country wife & the moral wisdom of Pilgrim's Progress. The largest & most important poetic form of the era was Satire. In general, publication of Satire was done anonymously. There was great danger in being associated with a satire. John Dryden was set upon for being merely suspected of having written the satire on Mankind.
          Prose in Restoration Poetry is dominated by Christian religious writing but Restoration also saw the beginnings of two genres that dominate later periods, Fiction & journalism. Puritan authors such as John Milton were forced to retire from public life. John Bunyan stands out beyond other religious authors of that period. Bunyan's ‘The Pilgrim's Progress' is an allegory of personal salutation & a guide to the Christian life.
        The period from 1689-1750 was called ‘The Augustan Age' because of the aptness of the metaphor throughout the 18th century (including Voltaire & Olivee Goldsmith). The literature of this period is completely political. It is an age of exuberance & scandal, of enormous energy & inventiveness & outrage that reflected an era.
            The most outstanding poet of the Age is Alexander Pope. The mock-heroic was at its zenith. Pope's "Rape of the Lock" & "The Dunciad" are still the greatest mock –heroic poems ever written. It was during this time that James Thomson produced his melancholy.
           The superiority of nature & instinct over civilization had been preached by Jean Jacques Rousseau & his message was picked by almost all European Poets. The first in England were the Lake poets, a small group of friends including William Wordsworth & Samuel Taylor Coleridge. These early Romantic Poets brought a new emotionalism & introspection & their emergence is marked by the first romantic Manifesto in English Literature; the ‘Preface to the Lyrical Ballads'. This collection was mostly contributed by William Wordsworth although Coleridge must be credited for his long & impressive ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner' a tragic ballads about the survival of one sailor through a series of supernatural events on his voyage through the south seas which involves the slaying of an albatross, the death of the rest of the crew, a visit from death & his mate, life-in death & the eventual redemption of the Mariner.
       Coleridge & William Wordsworth understood romanticism in two entirely different ways. While Coleridge sought to make the supernatural "real", Wordsworth sought to stir the imagination of readers through his down to earth characters taken from real life.
    Next set of romantic poets includes Lord Byron, P B Shelley & John Keats. Byron was influence by 18th century satirists & was perhaps the least romantic of the three.
   It was in Victorian era that the novel became the leading form of Literature in English. The Best known works of the era include the emotionally powerful works of Bronte sisters; the satire Vanity Fairs by William Makepeace Thackeray & realist novels of George Elliot.
    Charles Dickens emerged on the literary scene in the 1830s. Dickens wrote vividly about London life & the struggles of the poor, but in a good humored fashion which was acceptable to readers of all classes. His famous work The Pick wick Papers are masterpieces of comedy.
   The major lyric poet of the first decade of the 20th century was Thomas hardy. His classic novels are Tess of d'Ubervilles, Far from the Madding Crowd & Jude the Obscure. The most widely popular writings of early years of 20th century was arguably Rudyard Kipling, a highly versatile writer of novels, short stories & poems

Analysis of Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost begins with Milton describing what he intends to undertake with his epic: the story of man's first disobedience & "loss of Eden" subjects which have been "unattempted yet in prose". His main objective however is to "justify the ways of God to men".

The poem then shifts to focus on the character of Satan who has just fallen from heaven. The scene opens in a fiery, yet dark, lake of hell. Satan, dazed, seems to be coming to consciousness after his fall & finds himself chained to the lake.
      Milton tells us that he is tackling the story told in Genesis of the fall of Adam & the loss of Garden of Eden.  With it Milton will also be exploring a cosmic battle between good & evil. Supernatural creatures including Satan & the Judeo Christian God himself, will be mixing with humans and acting & reacting with humanlike feelings & emotions. By demonstrating the nature of the beings who created mankind, Milton is presently his culture's, view on what good & evil mean, what mankind's relationship is with the Absolute, what man's destiny is as an individual & as a species.
    The story therefore can be read as a simple narrative, with characters interacting with each other along a plot & various subjects. It also holds theological & religious messages, as well as political & social themes.

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      Milton's portrait of Satan has fascinated critics since Paradise Lost's publication, leading some in the Romantic period to claim that Satan is, in fact the heroic protagonist of the whole work. Milton's depiction Satan has greatly influenced the devil's image in western art & literature since the book's publication.
      In the epic tradition Milton is using poetry to tell his story following most prominently the style of Homer. The work, therefore can also be examined through the lens of poetry with an eye towards rhythm & sound.
      Milton portrays Satan as a seemingly powerful & noble character who claims to have been wrongfully mistreated by the almighty. Paradise Lost is a work of enduring charm & value because of its theological conception & its beautiful language. 

Learning Online Stocks Trading in Indian Stock Market

Online stock trading has opened the world of stocks to millions of young investors who might not have considered investing in stocks otherwise. The get-rich-quick success stories have further boosted the attraction for stock market. However, it is not that simple as it looks on the ground and many have burnt their fingers. The continuing bull-run in the market is another reason for investors queuing up to enter the world of online trading without sufficient knowledge of the market and without any prior home work. However, once the bears take control of market trends, even for a short period of time, the investors realize that it is the time to harness their knowledge and strategies for playing the stock market game. The rule of the game is that though internet has made stock trading simple, it has not changed the basic fundamental of smart investing. The investors still need to follow certain rules and guidelines to help them make money the smart way, no matter whether they invest online or through traditional way. 
ndian Capital Market Scenario

A huge range of websites and trading portals are available that provides an investor with daily market commentary, stock tips and trading fundamentals other than trading and depository facilities. But they all come along with high cost and extreme risk, none of them provides an emerging investor with a safe learning space at zero cost. Sensex at 14,000 is the most talked about topic these days and everybody seems to be interested. Every body is euphoric about this phenomenal rally. But most of them do not make sense of it. They only understand one thing that there is lot of money involved and some big bulls out there are making lot of money. But they really wonder as to where be their pie of 14,000 and here emerges Khelostocks that empowers masses to get their share of thrill, adventure and capital market education out of this rally. Khelostocks can cater to all these people, those who do not have money, those who have money but are risk averse, those who have money and also willing to takes risk but do not have the know how. Khelostocks is a one stop Virtual Stocks Trading Portal of India.

Liberalization and consistent economic growth of India in past decade has lead to the emergence of a bullish phase in the Indian stock markets. The exorbitant growth rate show cased by stock markets has attracted a whole new breed of investors, which consists of youngsters working in knowledge economy, students and housewives. These are the people with lot of liquid money in hand and free excess to internet together with a simple goal of making fast money. These youngsters, who splurge at malls, shopping plazas and multiplexes, have high disposable incomes. They are "the young and the restless". These ‘spendthrift' professionals have now chosen investing in stocks as an expressway to making fast bucks. But the point to notice here is that most of these potential customers belong to middle class, they are risk averse and they are huge in number.

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How to learn

Khelostocks.com at this point emerges as the only opportunity for this emerging group of willing investors to test their trading fundamentals and techniques and learn new ones and turn themselves into savvy investors, before stepping into the real market. It is typically a stock game which provides learning as well as thrill of trading. At the same time high performers on Khelostocks can get cash prizes on daily basis.

Khelostocks is a virtual stocks trading portal. It's a platform that helps an evolving investor to experience the dynamics of real time stocks trading at zero cost and zero risk. Here a willing investor can trade in equities of top Indian corporate in a virtual manner. It helps client to learn and test most of the online trading techniques and fundamentals. With my personel experience and analysis I can say it is the most safe way of experiencing stocks trading as close as real.

How it works

Every client, on signing up, which is free, is provided with virtual one million rupees. Market data is streamed on a real time basis into the Khelostocks systems from National Stock Exchange for 400 companies listed on NSE. A user can place buy or sell order on both intraday and delivery basis in the Khelostocks trading systems using the virtual cash provided to him. Order can be placed at both limit and market rates. Now as the desired trading rate by the client is reached in the spot market his outstanding order is materialized and client becomes an owner or seller of the script as the case may be. As long as the order remains outstanding in the Khelostocks order book, corresponding margin is blocked for the Client. On buy trade, money is deducted from his cash assets and in case of a sell trade money is credited to his cash assets. Client's net profit, loss and net assets are updated to his Account summary. Hence the client is playing with real time stock values and trading techniques but with virtual money. To help traders to make a head start khelostocks provide them with daily Market Outlook and intraday as well as delivery based Stock Tips. It has easy to use Streamer, Get Quotes, Stocks Calls facility and gives explanation to niche market terms that helps evolving investor to understand the market lingo. It also facilitates clients to ask their queries and doubts. Khelostocks provides an exclusive News Room that provides the latest business and market news from various sources at one place. It even has hosted a number of Trading Tutorials that help investors to learn the basics of trading.

Importance of learning literature, its significance & role of internet in providing online study material

Literature is a form of art; it is capable of bringing about different emotions & a general sense of "spiritual" wellbeing. Poets William Wordsworth &  Percy Shelley wrote about this power of poetry in "Preface to the lyrical ballads" & "A defense of Poetry" respectively.
The study of literature allows people to develop new ideas & ethical stand points & can help individual to present themselves as educated members of society. Studying literature can be an enriching, eye-opening experience. English Literature allows us to understand the philosophical movements & ideas that permeated a particular culture at a particular time. For e.g.:  Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" shows us the ambivalence the British felt towards empiricism. English literature gives us a new way of thinking about the world. Mary Wollstonecraft for instance, presents the idea that women shouldn't be subservient to men, giving birth to modern feminist theory.
By following the histories presented throughout English literature, it's possible to understand how contemporary western culture has developed into what its today. Reading new words & new phrases can increase anyone's lexicon. Literature is also crucial to learning stylistic & artistic conventions for communication and writing.

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Literature is a topic that can be interesting & easy to learn. The study of English literature begins in high school and continues in college. Though literature is typically taught in schools, this topic is one that can easily be learned online. Courses begin with a general survey then get more specific with studies on authors & works from various literary periods. Whether as a hobby or for school projects, English literature is readily available through many online sources like: www.literaturetutor.webs.com & www.schoolsuccess.webs.com that not only have the works available, but also have study guides or informative essays that can help with understanding literature. A lot of expert tutors are available online to give information about literature.The internet has a wealth of resources; students can access to help them gain a better understanding of what they are studying in class. These websites will also be useful to anyone interested in learning more about the authors of famous works of English literature.

Online Quran Tutors

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The Qur’an is the most often-read book in the world. Muslims lovingly recite and memorize Qur'an. It is obligation of Muslim parents to teach or manage to teach their children Qur'an from childhood. We make the parents job easy by providing a simple and flexible medium for learning quran online using top quality software. Software enables tutor and student talk to each other just like a telephone conversation but through the computer. Tutor and student share and see the same lesson on their computer screen. Our program is equally beneficial for childern and parents as well.

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We provide one-on-one Qur'an learning classes enabling our qualified tutors to pay full attention to individual learning needs of the student. Our qualified tutors access students current level of already learnt Qur'an and recommend where to start learning Qur'an with Al Quran Academy.

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Our tutors are highly qualified and experienced. Most tutors have earned degree in Islamic education and have several years of teaching experience. All tutors are Hafiz-ul-Quran as well. Every student is not same and has individual learning needs. Our tutors access and pay attention to the students needs and make the classes the most beneficial.

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Because Al Quran Academy is not center-based, it is often the best solution for busy families to manage for online Qur'an learning classes from comfort of their own home. Most of the times lesson times can be arranged to fit into busy family schedules. Time is not wasted dropping off, waiting, and picking up students at a learning center. Extra-curricular activities can be more easily coordinated while the student receives needed support in his or her home.

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Should I Study at Ashford University?

Hello, I will be doing a review on Ashford University's online degree programmes and the university in general. It is a private, for-profit, co-ed liberal arts university located in Iowa, and accredited. Both physical campus and online websites are known and well recognised. 
Associate, Bachelors, MBAs, and Masters degree programmes are all offered her at Ashford University. For example, business, social science, sociology, MBAs, Masters of Organisational Management and Masters of Teaching and Learning with Technology, are some of the courses offered by this university.

A quick look at the online programmes offered will tell you that their main courses are in social sciences; it is indeed an arts college that does specialise in the arts and social sciences, after all, so that is to be expected. Please note that this is not to say that the other online or degree programmes offered by Ashford University that are not arts based are useless or not worth doing. It all depends on your criteria.

There is an advantage to doing your course with Ashford University, because the fees are lower than most other private online degree universities. In addition, some classes are 5-6 weeks long and some degrees can even be completed in less than 2 years, and that is very fast. That would mean that Ashford University offers one of the lowest and affordable costs for studying at a good and efficient university. You finish the degree earlier, you pay less as compared to other online degree programmes, and you get to go out and work faster as well. Also note that in addition, there are bursaries and scholarships available, for various groups and various types of students, and that might help you should you need aid.

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This University's online programmes are affordable accredited programmes that are easy to do and accelerated. These important points make it special and different from other universities and other programmes. One, the fees are lower, compared to Phoenix for instance. Two, the degrees are accelerated, especially since some of them can be done in 24 months and yet others in 12 months, and yet these degrees carry and hold the same validity and standards as a degree from the physical campus. This makes for a good bargain. I would suggest a recommendation for arts students pursuing their degree online - try this university. You might want to consider this university seriously.

Note that if you want to do more research into online education, you should review many articles and search websites to find out what is really good for you. For more online education reviews, please visit Get Your University Degree Online. Cheers!

Understanding Sociology- Basic Concepts

TERMS, CONCEPTS AND THEIR USE IN SOCIOLOGY


Previously, we saw that a central task of sociology is to explore the interplay of society and the individual.

Like any other discipline, sociology also requires a terminology. If we try to trace back the origin of the terms used in the different era, we find wide variations. If for Karl Marx, class and conflict were key concepts to understand society, social solidarity and collective conscience were key terms for Emile Durkheim. Similarly, concepts such as status and role begin with the individual whereas others like social control or stratification begin from a larger context within which individuals are already placed.


An important characteristic of these ideas is that these are required to be modified from time-to-time. As expected, disagreements among the new and already existing concepts occurred. For example, conflict theory versus the fundamentalist theory. But it was inevitable, for society itself is diverse.


SOCIAL GROUPS AND SOCIETY


The comparative and historic perspective of sociology brings home two apparently innocuous facts. The first that in every society whether ancient or feudal or modern, Asian or European or African human groups and collectivities exist. The second that the types of groups and collectivities are different in different societies.


However, it may be noted here that any gathering of people does not necessarily constitute a social group. Aggregates are simply random collections of people who are in the same place at the same time but share no connection with one another. Passengers waiting at a railway station or airport or bus stop or a cinema audience are examples of aggregates. Such aggregates are often termed as quasi groups.


A social group can be said to have at least the following characteristics:


(i) Persistent interaction to provide continuity;


(ii) A stable pattern of these interactions;


(iii) A sense of belonging to identify with other members, i.e. each individual is conscious of the group itself and its own set of rules, rituals and symbols;


(iv) Shared interest;


(v) Acceptance of common norms and values;


(vi) A definable structure.


Thus, a social group can be defined as a collection of continuously interacting persons who share common interest, culture, values and norms within a given society.


TYPES OF GROUPS


PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOCIAL GROUPS


This categorization is based on the fact that the groups that we belong to may not be of equal importance to our lives. The term primary group is used to refer to a small group of people connected by intimate and face-to-face association and co-operation. The members of this group have a sense of belonging. Family, village and groups of friends are examples of primary groups.


Secondary groups are relatively large in size, maintain formal and impersonal relationships.


The primary groups are person-oriented, whereas the secondary groups are goal-oriented.


Schools, government offices, hospitals, students' association etc are examples of secondary groups.


COMMUNITY AND SOCIETY OR ASSOCIATION


Community refers to human relationships that are highly personal, intimate and enduring, those where a person's involvement is considerable if not total, as in the family, with real friends or a close-knit group.


Society or association, on the other hand, is totally different and in fact, opposite of community. The group is apparently impersonal, superficial and transitory relationship of modern urban life. We make contracts or agreements rather than getting to know one another.


We may draw a parallel between the community with the primary group and the association with the secondary group.


IN-GROUPS AND OUT-GROUPS


A sense of belonging marks an in-group. Children belonging to a particular school may form an ‘in-group' as against those who do not belong to the school.


Non-members of the in-group are generally said to be the out-group. Migrants are often considered as an out-group. But history has it that, out-groups ultimately become in-groups with passage of time.


REFERENCE GROUP


The groups whose life styles are emulated are known as reference groups. In the colonial period, many middle class Indian aspired to behave like proper Englishman. In that sense they could be seen as a reference group for the aspiring section.


PEER GROUPS


This is a kind of primary group, usually formed between individuals who are either of similar age or who are in a common professional group. Peer pressure refers to the social pressure exerted by one's peers on what one ought to do or not.


SOCIAL STRATIFICATION


Society can be visualized as consisting of ‘strata' in a hierarchy, with the more favoured at the top and the less privileged near the bottom. In simple words, stratification can be defined as structural inequalities between social groupings of people and can be compared to the geological layering of rock in the earth's surface.


In general, opportunities for health, longevity, security, educational success, fulfillment in work and political influence are all unequally distributed in systematic ways.


Historically four basic systems of stratification have existed in human societies: slavery, caste, estate and class.

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Slavery is an extreme form of inequality in which some individuals are literally owned by others. It has existed sporadically at many times and places, but there two major examples of a system of slavery; ancient Greece and Rome and the southern states of the USA in the 18th and 19th centuries.


Estates characterized feudal Europe.


CASTE


In a class stratification system, an individual's position is totally ascertained by birth. Suppose, a person is born to a family with lower status attributes, irrespective of his great achievements acquired in the course of his life, will be treated as low caste.


Traditionally, society is divided in terms of the four fold Varna of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. In reality, there are innumerable occupation-based caste groups called jatis.


Even though, constant steps undertaken by the Government and NGOs have considerably curtailed casteism, but still it thrives in various parts of the country.


CLASS


In Marxist theory, social classes are defined by what relation, they have to the means of production. Questions could be asked as to whether groups are owners of means of production such as land or factories? Or whether they are owners of nothing but their own labour?


Weber used the term life-chances, which refers to the rewards and advantages afforded by market capacity. Weber tried to reason inequality with relation to economic conditions.


The functionalist theory of social stratification begins from the general presupposition or belief of functionalism that no society is "classless" or unstratified. The main functional necessity explains the universal presence of social stratification in requirements faced by a society of placing and motivating individuals in the social structure. Functionalism takes into account the functions which are perform to the society. Functionalist sociologists understood society as essentially harmonious and conflict theorists saw society as essentially unequal, unjust and exploitative.


STATUS AND ROLE


A status is simply a position with definite rights and duties that an individual possesses in a society. A role is the dynamic or the behavioural aspect of status.


People acquire different status at various stages of life. A son becomes a father, father becomes a grandfather and then great grandfather and so on. This is called a status sequence.


An ascribed status is a social position, which a person occupies because of birth, or assumes involuntarily. The most common bases for ascribed status are age, caste, race and kinship.


An achieved status refers to a social position that a person occupies voluntarily by personal ability, achievements, virtues and choices. In modern societies, mostly members are accorded prestige on the basis of their achievements, even though ascribed status also matters.


Another term ‘prestige' is an important effect of status. The prestige of a doctor may be high in comparison to a shopkeeper, even if the doctor may earn less.


Role conflict is the incompatibility among roles corresponding to one or more status. A common example is that of the middle class working woman who has to juggle her role as mother and wife at home and that of a professional at work. Ironically, men also face role conflict in the khasi matrilineal society.


Role stereotyping is a process of reinforcing some specific role for some member of the society. For example, men and women are often socialized in stereotypical roles, as breadwinner and homemaker respectively.


SOCIETY AND SOCIAL CONTROL


Social control refers to the social process, techniques and strategies by which the behaviours of individual or a group are regulated. It refers both the behavior of the individual and groups and also refers to the enforcing of values and patterns for maintaining order in society.


It has been defined differently by functionalist and conflict theorists. Functionalists opined social control as


(i) The use of force to regulate the behavior of the individual and groups


(ii) Enforcing of values and patterns for maintaining order in society.


(iii) It is viewed basically, as necessary stabilizing force.


Conflict theorists usually would see social control more as a mechanism to impose more as mechanism to impose the social control of dominant social classes on the rest of the society. For instance, law can be seen as the formal writ of the powerful and their interests on society.


Society may be informal or formal. Formal social controls are mainly the agencies and mechanisms like law and state. Informal social controls are mostly the personal, unofficial and uncodified ones. They include smiles, making faces, body language frowns, criticism, ridicule, laughter etc.


Social control can also be positive or negative.


A sanction is a mode of reward or punishment that reinforces socially expected forms of behavior. Deviance refers to modes of action which do not conform to the norms or values held by most of the members of a group or society. For example, a woman choosing to become an astronaut may be considered deviant at one time, and be applauded at another time even in the same society.


CONCLUSION


Thus, we get an idea how various terms can facilitate the understanding of society in a systematic and efficient way.

What is Bioengineering

Bioengineering also know as biomedical engineering is a discipline that combines engineering expertise with medical needs for the enhancement in healthcare. Bioengineering integrates the engineering sciences with biomedical and clinical practice to improve human health in 3 levels. 

• Advance the knowledge of living systems by applying engineering, biology, imaging and computational sciences as diagnostic tools.


• Improve the function of living systems by designing devices, systems and constructs based on biological and non-biological components.


• Prevent the injury to living systems by building models, algorithms and devices that may predict or guide behavior.

The major advances in bioengineering include the development of artificial joints, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the heart pacemaker, arthroscopy, angioplasty, bioengineered skin, kidney dialysis, and the heart-lung machine.

Bioengineering Specialties

By combining biology and medicine with engineering, biomedical engineers develop devices and procedures that solve medical and health-related problems. A person that involve in bioengineering field may choose to specialize in many specialty areas, among the well know specialty areas in bioengineering field include:

1. Bioinstrumentation

Bioinstrumentation is the application of electronics, measurement principles and techniques to develop devices used in diagnosis and treatment of disease. The advanced technology in computing plays an important role in bioinstrumentation. One example of bioinstrumentation device is medical imaging system, a device that enables a medical specialist to view and analyze 3 dimensional images captured from their patients. Enhanced computing technology & power is needed to process the large amount of information in a medical imaging system.

2. Biomechanics

Biomechanics is the study of mechanical parameters which drive living system motion. The biomechanics experts are the people contributed in human organ spare parts development, these human organ spare parts include artificial heart and replacement heart's valves, the artificial kidney and the artificial hip.

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3. Clinical Engineering

Clinical engineering is the application of technology for health care in hospitals. The clinical engineers work along with other medical team to adapt instrumentation to the specific needs of the hospital. This often involves the interface of instruments with computer systems and customized software for instrument control and data analysis.

4. Rehabilitation Engineering

Rehabilitation engineering is a new and growing specialty area of biomedical engineering. Rehabilitation engineering involves the design and application of devices to restore function to the physically disabled. Biomedical engineers contribute to every field of rehabilitation engineering: communication enhancement for hearing and speech, wheelchairs and wheeled mobility, prosthetics, technologies for orthopedic and spinal cord injury.

Biomedical Engineer's Tasks

The examples of major contributions of biomedical engineers include:

• Designing and constructing cardiac pacemakers, defibrillators, artificial kidneys, hearts, blood vessels, joints, arms, and legs.


• Designing computer systems to monitor patients during surgery or in intensive care.


• Designing instruments and devices for therapeutic uses, such as a laser system for eye surgery or a device for automated delivery of insulin.


• Designing clinical laboratories and other units within the hospital and health care delivery system that utilize advanced technology.


• Designing, building and investigating medical imaging systems based on X-rays, magnetic fields (magnetic resonance imaging), ultrasound, or newer modalities.

Search Engines To Find People - Truly Free Results

Thanks to companies like Search People Free.ws, it is now possible to find out detailed information on people's backgrounds, social security numbers, hidden assets, records, and more. You can find out pretty much anything you want to know about anyone by doing people searches on the internet white pages. You can do background checks on current a current boyfriend or girlfriend to find out about any possible problems he or she may have had in the past. Protect yourself from going out with a potential psychopath! You can also do background checks on babysitters, your child's friends, and their parents, which will help keep them safe.
Another great thing about agencies like Public Records Pro, is that you can look up information on old friends to find out where hey may be living now. It provides a great way for you to become reacquainted with old friends and colleagues. You can try to find their current homes, previous homes, phone numbers, marriage certificates, and more. Net Detective currently contains over 3.1 billion records, which cover most people in the United States.
Even detectives and private investigators are using Public Records Pro to aid them in their searches! So why spend money on hiring private investigators when you can find out the same information as they can by doing your own searches? Even if you have no interest in searching for information about others, you can search for your OWN records and information! Do an online search for your own profile and records to see what all kinds of information others can find out about you. This comes in handy for those concerned with identity theft, as well. You can keep up with your own credit information with Public Records Pro.
Here are some more benefits from conducting online people searches:

• Run credit checks on business partners or even friends who are wanting to borrow money from you. You can find out about any court records concerning bankruptcy.
• Find out about registered sex offenders in your area.
• Do searches on ex spouses, ex boyfriends, or ex girlfriends to find out what they're up to now. You can find information about their marital status as well.

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You don't even have to know the full name of a person when conducting a people finding search! You can type in any information you have on a person or even a business, and then narrow down the results. If you'd like to know more detailed information about a certain business, try typing in information such as the phone numbers and location of the business, and you'll probably find a lot more information! This comes in handy when you need to find out more information about somebody you've met online, as well. Make sure you find out all the information you can about them, especially if you ever decide to meet them.
Agencies such as Public Records Pro offer excellent resources for finding out about people, business, and backgrounds; get started on online people searches today!
There are Over 349 Million Personal Records Unlocked and Ready to View. Click Here for full access

Famous People With a Ged

ABC News anchor Peter Jennings. Actor and comedian Chris Rock. Sanjaya Malaker, the popular singer from American Idol. Judge Greg Mathis. What do these people have in common, besides being famous and respected? None of them finished high school, and they all earned their the GED.

Pros and Cons of Online Education for the World Citizen

While an online method of education can be a highly effective alternative medium of education for the mature, self-disciplined student, it is an inappropriate learning environment for more dependent learners. In order to successfully participate in an online program, student must be well organized, self-motivated, and possess a high degree of time management skills in order to keep up with the pace of the course. For these reasons, online education or e-learning is not appropriate for younger students (i.e. elementary or secondary school age), and other students who are dependent learners and have difficulty assuming responsibilities required by the online paradigm.

Millions of students use e-learning solutions in over 140 countries: corporations such as Kodak and Toyota and education providers like ExecuTrain, New Horizons, the Enoch Olinga College (ENOCIS), Phoenix University amongst the hundreds of schools and colleges.

Studies have shown student retention to be up to 250% better with online learning than with classroom courses. Several recent ones have helped frame the debate. The Sloan Consortium published a widely distributed report titled "Growing by Degrees: Online Education in the United States in 2005" that examined the growing prevalence of online education across U.S. institutions.

In addition, a study conducted by the Boston-based consulting firm Eduventures found that, while about half of institutions and more than 60 percent of employers generally accept the high quality of online learning, students' perceptions differ. Only about 33 percent of prospective online students said that they perceive the quality of online education to be "as good as or better than" face-to-face education. Ironically, 36 percent of prospective students surveyed cited concern about employers' acceptance of online education as a reason for their reluctance to enroll in online courses.

But what actually drives quality? A March 2006 report released by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education identifies six quality indicators: mission, curriculum and instruction, faculty support, student and academic services, planning for sustainability and growth, and evaluation and assessment.

The debate rages on while the Pros and Cons of Online Adult Education for today's international students are constantly analyzed to determine if this type of education platform can deliver predictable and measurable results.

The Enoch Olinga College (ENOCIS) is one institution which uses this type of delivery system. ENOCIS enhances their learning experience by offering many other "value added", cost reducing benefits to students. Online pupils can apply for scholarships available to students of excellence and other financial aid programs like the Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS), with attractive interest rates. They also provide convenient payment facilities, on line banking, Western Union Quick Collect, bank cards and a student who is granted a loan can start repaying it after two months if they have a corporate guarantor.

Pros of Online Education:

The key advantages of the online education experience are briefly explained below:

1. Cheaper: Online courses may be more affordable than those offered at colleges or trade schools. You may also save on transportation costs like gas, bus passes, and parking permits because you don't need to commute to school and there are no housing or meals plans to worry about since you do not need to live on or near a college campus. Housing expenses and other costs associated with living expenses are usually the most expensive aspects of a college education, so by taking an online course you could save quite a bit of money. The best part of online education is the absence of travel and immigration problems.

2. More Convenient: By taking courses online, you're able to decide when you study and for how long. You are also able to schedule your studying around your work or social schedule.

Since you're not bound to a classroom, you may do your work wherever you have access to a computer and the internet. You'll be able to set your own pace and decide exactly how fast you want to go over the material. Take online courses when you need them, not based on some college's annual or semester schedule. You can learn when you need it (Just-In-Time)

3. Flexibility: with no set class times, you decide when to complete your assignments and readings. You set the pace. In some programs, you can even design your own degree plan. The online students can carry out their private or official work, along with the online education. They can allot more time in the topics, which they feel comparatively hard and vice versa. The speed of learning depends solely upon the students.

4. Technology: With the help of the scientific technology, students can do their online education at any place. The only mandatory pre-requisite is the availability of computer along with an internet amenity.

5. Availability: distance-learning opportunities have exploded over the past few years, with many accredited and reputable programs.

6. Accessibility: with an online course, you can work on the course just about anywhere you have computer access. Your learning options are not constrained by your geographic location. The new virtual classrooms have created a myriad of learning opportunities for global learning and education center. On line education is a new era experience adapting to the needs of the world citizen.

7. Self-Directed: you set your own pace and schedule, so you control the learning environment.

8. Time Spent in Classroom: now you can take a course on just about any subject without ever having to be in, or travel to, a classroom so you have very little wasted time. Note, however, that some distance-education programs still do have an in-class component and normally to receive a fully accredited US university degree an international student must spend one or two semesters on campus.

9. High Quality Dialog: Within an online asynchronous discussion structure, the learner is able to carefully reflect on each comment from others before responding or moving on to the next item. This structure allows students time to articulate responses with much more depth and forethought than in a traditional face-to-face discussion situation where the participant must analyze the comment of another on the spot and formulate a response or otherwise loose the chance to contribute to the discussion.

10. Student Centered: Within an online discussion, the individual student responds to the course material (lectures and course books, for example) and to comments from other students. Students usually respond to those topics within the broader conversation that most clearly speak to their individual concerns and situations resulting in several smaller conversations taking place simultaneously within the group. While students are expected to read all of their classmates' contributions, they will become actively engaged only in those parts of the dialog most relevant to their needs. In this way, students take control of their own learning experience and tailor the class discussions to meet their own specific needs. Ideally, students make their own individual contributions to the course while at the same time take away a unique mix of information directly relevant to their needs.

11. Level Playing Field: In the online environment learners retain a considerable level of anonymity. Discriminating factors such as age, dress, physical appearance, disabilities, race and gender are largely absent. Instead, the focus of attention is clearly on the content of the discussion and the individual's ability to respond and contribute thoughtfully and intelligently to the material at hand.

12. Synergy: The online format allows for a high level of dynamic interaction between the instructor and students and among the students themselves. Resources and ideas are shared, and continuous synergy will be generated through the learning process as each individual contributes to the course discussions and comments on the work of others. The synergy that exists in the student-centred virtual classroom is one of the unique and vital traits that the online learning format posses..

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13. Access to Resources: It is easy to include distinguished guest experts or students from other institutions in an online class as well as allow students to access resources and information anywhere in the world. An instructor can compile a resource section online with links to scholarly articles, institutions, and other materials relevant to the course topic for students to access for research, extension, or in depth analysis of course content material in the global classroom.

14. Creative Teaching: The literature of adult education supports the use of interactive learning environments as contributing to self-direction and critical thinking. Some educators have made great strides in applying these concepts to their on ground teaching. The nature of the semi-autonomous and self-directed world of the virtual classroom makes innovative and creative approaches to instruction even more important. In the online environment, the facilitator and student collaborate to create a dynamic learning experience.

Cons of Online Education:

Briefly explained are some factors that could negatively affect your success with distance learning courses:

1. The Technology:

a. Equity and Accessibility to Technology: Before any online program can hope to succeed, it must have students who are able to access the online learning environment. Lack of access, whether it be for economical or logistics reasons, will exclude otherwise eligible students from the course. This is a significant issue in rural and lower socioeconomic neighbourhoods and educating the underserved peoples of the world. As far as Internet accessibility is concerned, it is not universal, and in some areas of the United States and other countries, Internet access poses a significant cost to the user. Some users pay a fixed monthly rate for their Internet connection, while others are charged for the time they spend online. If the participants' time online is limited by the amount of Internet access they can afford, then instruction and participation in the online program will not be equitable for all students in the course. This is a limitation of online programs that rely on Internet access. Equity of access to learners of all backgrounds and parts of society

b. Requires New Skills/Technologies: if you're not computer-savvy or are afraid of change or new technologies, then online education will probably not work for you. The online students are required to learn new skills, such as researching and reviewing the internet.

c. Computer Literacy: Both students and facilitators must possess a minimum level of computer knowledge in order to function successfully in an online environment. For example, they must be able to use a variety of search engines and be comfortable navigating on the World Wide Web, as well as be familiar with Newsgroups, FTP procedures and email. If they do not possess these technology tools, they will not succeed in an online program.

d. Limitations of Technology: User friendly and reliable technology is critical to a successful online program. However, even the most sophisticated technology is not 100% reliable. Unfortunately, it is not a question of if the equipment used in an online program will fail, but when. When everything is running smoothly, technology is intended to be low profile and is used as a tool in the learning process. In downtime situations of broken systems the technology is neither seamless nor reliable and it can detract from the learning experience.

2. The Institution: Many online education facilities are relatively new with many courses and hence, lack in modern instructors for instructing the new curriculum. Estimates show that there is still a need for an increase of more 50% of qualified instructors for online education.

b. The Administration and Faculty: Some environments are disruptive to the successful implementation of an online program. Administrators and/or faculty members who are uncomfortable with change and working with technology or feel that online programs cannot offer quality education often inhibit the process of implementation.

3. The Facilitator: Lack of Essential Online Qualities: Successful on-ground instruction does not always translate to successful online instruction. If facilitators are not properly trained in online delivery and methodologies, the success of the online program will be compromised. An instructor must be able to communicate well in writing and in the language in which the course is offered.

4. Perceptions/Reputation: while slowly changing as more and more mainstream colleges and universities embrace distance learning, there still is a stigma attached to distance education to the student's interaction in the online education. Some of the students believe that, there are few opportunities with regards to face-to-face interactions and feedbacks.

5. No Instructor Face Time: If your learning style is one where you like personalized attention from your teachers, then online education will probably not work for you.

6. Little Support: students are expected to find their own resources for completing assignments and exams, which is empowering for some, but daunting for others. There is little support and limited guidelines provided in on line education system.

7. Lacking Social Interaction: while you often interact with classmates via email, chat rooms, or discussion groups, there are no parties or off line get-togethers.

8. No Campus Atmosphere: part of the traditional college experience, of course, is the beauty of the campus, the college spirit, but you have none of that with distance-education courses. Since you're not on campus or in classes, you may lack opportunities to meet other students.

9. Making Time: if you are a procrastinator or one of those people who always needs an extra push to complete work, you may have a hard time making time for your online classes. On line learning requires new skills and responsibilities from learners

10. Academic honesty of online students: requires a new mindset to online assessment. Most education experts agree that rote memory testing is not the best measure of learning in any environment and new measurement and evaluation tools are evolving.

11. Types and effectiveness of assessments: The importance of outcomes in online learning cannot be over emphasized. Does the program have measurable results? Are students learning what you say they should be learning? Then there are institutional outputs: course completion rates, job placement rates (if that's the goal of the institution), graduation rates, student success on third-party tests, and student satisfaction scores.

These factors, both the pros and cons, contribute greatly to making an informed decision about the direction of your career path and how you are going to accomplish your goals: on line, in the classroom or a combination of both.

Institutions and companies that use continuing education to meet their needs also face similar decisions. Institutions that deliver online education are confronted with a series of challenges, including the search for good faculty, use of technology, and provision of adequate student services.

The Sloan Consortium report "Growing by Degrees: Online Education in the United States in 2005" found that 64 percent of chief academic officers and faculty believe that it takes more discipline for a student to succeed in an online course than it does in a face-to-face course.

More and more major business and industry is turning to on line continuing education as a viable and cost effective resource for training its personnel. Hilton Hotel has 380 hotels worldwide and is represented in 66 countries.

When you weigh the benefits and advantages of on line adult continuing education the cost of study and flexibility of scheduling tip the scales of programs like the Enoch Olinga College, Capella and Phoenix University's distance learning program on line adult continuing education is becoming a world wide respected form of education.

However, as with any situation, there are both pros and cons with the concept of online education and the benefits of the virtual or global classroom. You may want to evaluate both before you decide on an online education program. By examining the advantages and disadvantages, you will be able to make a more informed decision. But, at the end of the day, online learning is independent learning. A lot of structure has been put into online programs, but it still comes down to a learner sitting in front of a computer by him or herself. The knowledge you receive or the benefits it will generate either in development of self esteem or increasing earning capacity will depend sole upon you the student.