What do you think of online courses and education?

[Lochton]

Hey all,

snooping around online aiming to expand my resumé a little as I've gotten my hands on some unwanted freetime.

1.: How do you guys feel about online courses and education?

2.: Do companies take a diploma/certificate serious that is printed from an online education site?

3.: What is your current education level?

4.: Have you taken an online education before?


Sorry for the questions, just thoughts coming to mind, and well - worries. Especially about question two.

[PC2]

1.: How do you guys feel about online courses and education?

Definitely go for it. As long as your domain of interest isn't something that is highly applied, such as dissecting something biological or mechanical engineering, then you don't really need to be physically present to learn anything. If you're interested in a field with a lot of social interactions then you also might not want to get an online degree since you'll want experience with group projects and speaking in front of people. But you don't need a traditional degree to get social interaction skills.

2.: Do companies take a diploma/certificate serious that is printed from an online education site?

Some will take it less seriously, but what's more important is whether you can demonstrate your skills in an interview. Doing your own projects is also a great way of showing an employer you know the right things even if you didn't go to a prestigious school.

[Crissi]

I suppose it depends on where you got it form. Diploma mills / for profit online are shit. However, plenty of accredited universities offer undergrad and grad school degrees. My own grad degree was online through USC.

[Themius]

There are online courses from non-mills. Georgia tech for instance does an online masters in cs. For those degrees it really doesn’t matter whether you did it in person or not.

There are plenty of universities that have robust online courses.

My local state school (Rutgers) has a couple online bachelors and masters.

[Freighter]

1.: How do you guys feel about online courses and education?

They're scams. I wouldn't trust anyone with that.

2.: Do companies take a diploma/certificate serious that is printed from an online education site?

Some probably do.

3.: What is your current education level?

University.

4.: Have you taken an online education before?

Nope and I would never.

[Dwarfhamster]

It’s becoming more and more accepted as the landscape of higher education changes and workforce needs change. I’d say currently, how “accepted” it is depends on your purpose—a few courses to get a certificate and “upskill”? Yes totally. Four-year degree? Possibly but depends on the uni.

Do your research and beware of degree mills. Avoid for-profit ones, and stick to non-profit or public college or university.

Claim to expertise: higher education lobbyist.

[PACOX]

Went to a traditional school, 80% of my classes were traditional classes. A number of those classes were online classes in a fancy dress.

You can't honestly diss online education when traditional courses are more or less online.

Hell even most of the science courses were guided tutoring when we went to lecture. Everything else was on a computer from <insert $150 paid homework and labs from x publisher>.

[Thekri]

[SIZE=4]
1.: How do you guys feel about online courses and education?

Can be a great way to expand your skills and develop yourself on your own schedule. Definitely some great stuff out there, but as with everything, do your research first, there is plenty of scams too.

2.: Do companies take a diploma/certificate serious that is printed from an online education site?

Depends very much on the context. In general companies are fairly good at recognizing the level of education that is being provided, so if it is easy to get and cheap, it probably isn't worth much. Online degree programs from purely online colleges are almost universally worthless. However a lot of technical and professional certifications can be very valuable. Check the credentialing of the offering institution.

3.: What is your current education level?

Bachelor's only. Can't be bothered to go back for a masters since my career is actually booming right now, and I don't see it as useful at this point.

4.: Have you taken an online education before?

Yes, done a fair number of them. The most significant was doing most of my Junior college work online, and some of my university classes online. It isn't an online degree, I still took in person courses on campus, but every semester I would take my easiest classes online to make my schedule more flexible (And make it so I only had to drive in 3 days a week, since it was a 90 minute drive one way). It was a great way to use the online options, but your mileage may vary of course.

I have also done a fair bit of online training to build my personal knowledge and skills, I wasn't so concerned about certifications, just the learning.

[Lochton]

@PC2 @Crissi @Themius @Jinro @Dwarfhamster @PACOX @Thekri

Thanks for all the answers,

I'm looking around at increasing/refreshing my old degree as I have too much time on my hands. I am asking about online courses as I cannot actually participate in physical location education due to mental health handling. I work in customer service and IT technician, getting some refreshment courses as well as new names on the list also means a little further coin.

My personal aim is for a free course (or more).

Just a worrying step when you have people chuckling at print out from online courses. Heh.

[Zuben]

1. Companies wan't skill and experience rather than qualification. Getting the job done is what makes the moolah. Higher education is a strong starting point, but in many trades new things keep emerging that you have to teach yourself, since they, new as they are, weren't taught in school when you ran through it. In many cases online courses offer the best bang for the buck for that.

2. Depends on the company, but like I said, they look at your skills over qualifications. They want a sample of what you can actually do rather than a paper that says you're hot shit.

3. I have a diploma from apprenticeship. They're not as impressive as university degrees, but in my trade both are of little regard. What gave my diploma credibility is that I had to impress three people to get it: A professional worker, an employer, and a professor, all in the trade I was studying (developer). After that I was employed full-time, and to keep that position I've had to deliver on my assignments, which requires keeping up to date on my trade. Collecting diplomas from online courses is less relevant than actually learning the stuff they teach. That can be seen in the work you deliver more than in a piece of paper.

4. Yup, and it's proven useful. The company I work for even sponsored it, because they want their workers skillful to beat the competition.

[Themius]

@PC2 @Crissi @Themius @Jinro @Dwarfhamster @PACOX @Thekri

Thanks for all the answers,

I'm looking around at increasing/refreshing my old degree as I have too much time on my hands. I am asking about online courses as I cannot actually participate in physical location education due to mental health handling. I work in customer service and IT technician, getting some refreshment courses as well as new names on the list also means a little further coin.

My personal aim is for a free course (or more).

Just a worrying step when you have people chuckling at print out from online courses. Heh.

Exactly what field are you wanting to get into?

[Zero3]

All i know is that every person that's done something in a domain for more than a few months is starting it's own payed lessons, from which i find their "certificates" worthless. Also the word Webinar makes me puke in my mouth a little bit.

[PokeKitty]

1.: How do you guys feel about online courses and education?

I took few of them before when I was at university, they are just courses that can fill up your degree requirement. I feel like those courses are alright for education, but the content and course quality must be a good experience for the students to learn.

The online courses are mandatory I think because there is a lot of students have an extremely busy life, they usually have a part-time job on the side while study at university so when they take online courses it reduces the travel time and stress.

I still think traditional lecture learning with a professor or TA is the right way to go. The human interaction is too important, like a lot of courses requires you to team up with other students to work on projects, or you have to do a research presentation in front of many students at the lecture, those things online courses don't offer, those are the experience you must learn before you go to the work place.

2.: Do companies take a diploma/certificate serious that is printed from an online education site?

Absolutely not for most of the companies, they prefer you to be at elite college programs, but there are companies doesn't need you to have a Bachelors degree.

3.: What is your current education level?

University level.

4.: Have you taken an online education before?

Few times at my school.

[Katchii]

If the online courses are being offered by an accredited and legit university, go for it. Otherwise, steer clear, credits from "those" online universities won't be accepted by any legit university as the course content doesn't actually cover everything (or in some cases ANYthing) that it should...there's a reason those places aren't accredited.

[Kraenen]

1.: How do you guys feel about online courses and education?

Not much point to pay for them, if you can avoid it. There are more and more lectures from well-known schools on Youtube, from anything like engineering to machine learning. There are plenty of free online resources for just about anything nowadays.

Overall the field is good for getting a quick run-down of the topic, but IIRC the research showed that the social aspects of learning are still too important to give up, such that online learning is really not ideal in most cases.

2.: Do companies take a diploma/certificate serious that is printed from an online education site?

Not to my knowledge or experience.

3.: What is your current education level?

Post-grad

4.: Have you taken an online education before?

Various forms of it - nothing that is structured by a teacher in the traditional sense. Most of the education I do these days is just browsing the internet and trying to make sense of different opinions on my own. Which can be pretty tricky since you don't have that scaffolding. I've never done an "online course" though.

- - - Updated - - -

There are online courses from non-mills. Georgia tech for instance does an online masters in cs. For those degrees it really doesn’t matter whether you did it in person or not.

There are plenty of universities that have robust online courses.

My local state school (Rutgers) has a couple online bachelors and masters.

Come to think of it I think coursera (sp) was somewhat reputable.

[steeveey]

Its a great way to improve your knowledge. Personally learnt alot of stuff on onlibne courses that helped me land a job

[Kellhound]

I got my BS online from an accredited state university. Its no less viable than one gotten in person. You just have to make sure its an accredited school and program.

[d00mGuArD]

Hey all,

snooping around online aiming to expand my resumé a little as I've gotten my hands on some unwanted freetime.

1.: How do you guys feel about online courses and education?

2.: Do companies take a diploma/certificate serious that is printed from an online education site?

3.: What is your current education level?

4.: Have you taken an online education before?


Sorry for the questions, just thoughts coming to mind, and well - worries. Especially about question two.

Online education is great. Make sure to use an accredited institution for your education.
A great idea are the Graduate Diplomas from University Of London for 3k (for example Data Science one)

Aim for actual degrees or for official professional certifications.

Online education is the future. Just make sure to check accreditation first.

If you want to say your field of knowledge and your country, I can recommend many options

- - - Updated - - -

@PC2 @Crissi @Themius @Jinro @Dwarfhamster @PACOX @Thekri

Thanks for all the answers,

I'm looking around at increasing/refreshing my old degree as I have too much time on my hands. I am asking about online courses as I cannot actually participate in physical location education due to mental health handling. I work in customer service and IT technician, getting some refreshment courses as well as new names on the list also means a little further coin.

My personal aim is for a free course (or more).

Just a worrying step when you have people chuckling at print out from online courses. Heh.

Now I saw that you are from IT field.
GeorgiaTech MSc for $7000, or Texas+edX MSc for $10000 are great options. Ranked top5 in US or something

[pionock]

Like many others here, I think it's completely fine as long as the university is accredited. I'd probably stick with online universities that have a physical location too. I'm enrolled at Colorado Technical University for computer science and I'm fully online and love the flexibility.

That's probably where the future is headed anyway. I think for some disciplines like an electrical engineer, you're going to have to have some face to face lab time. But for something like I'm doing? I'm just writing programs and sending them to professors to show they work.

[Xirrohon]

College is a joke. I have MS as do most of my coworkers. Most IT programs only offer MS degree in an online format. Pretty much every single one of my coworkers got their MS degree from doing online courses. That is the nature of the industry now. I also have coworkers that are professors for these online colleges. Depending on what industry youre looking to get into I feel like a Bachelor Degree should be the bare minimum. If I was just getting out of High School right now, I would most likely go the Trade School route.