Distance Learning - What You Need, What it Takes and What You Gain!

Distance learning convinced me a long time ago now. Certainly the subject is not new. After all, if people are already using video conferencing in their company for online meetings, why not for training? Actually it has already been more than 10 years since offers appeared for learning languages by phone. And there are lots of reasons to like distance learning. Here are a few of them:

• You do it where you want
• You do it when you want
• You save the transportation time
• There are no commodities issues and costs

Of course people would say it is always better to have a trainer next to you. But why? I still haven't found any reason. For the social aspect? Well by saving time on your training and making it more flexible you will actually gain time for other things like participating in social activities, seeing your friends etc.

And the truth is that, with the development of Internet technology, it just becomes better and easier. A good virtual classroom has exactly the tools that a tutor needs to teach online. Video and audio ensure communication, and the whiteboard works perfectly for collaboration.

Directly integrated in the whiteboard there is the possibility of displaying images, switching between different layers, even playing a video... all this on top of all the things you can naturally do with a normal blackboard: annotate, erase etc.

Moreover the session is easily recordable, and it needs no costly hardware. A simple computer with a headset and an internet connection is sufficient.

Despite all this, the use of the virtual classroom for training sessions is not yet totally popular. There are a few reasons for this, and we have noticed that just a few steps can help to remove the barriers.

1. People don't like change

People definitely don't like changes. Even if the virtual classroom brings them a lot of advantages, until they really notice it, it can be extremely difficult to convince them. Based on our experience, I would like to give two suggestions when the learners are not ready for this new step:

• Make the first one or two appointments offline. We have noticed that the fact of building a relationship between the tutor and the learner before starting the online sessions greatly helps people who are not yet experienced with learning online
• Use a tutor who is very familiar with online tools

2. Tutors are not used to these tools

A short experience has showed us that a big part of the problem comes from the tutor. Indeed who can imagine that a tutor who has never used a virtual classroom before can actually give a good lesson? Actually a virtual classroom does not take that long to learn. If the interface is intuitive, the tutor can easily start to know all the tools within one hour. Still the tutor needs to find his way around this new method.

Based on our experience, a tutor needs between 5 and 10 hours of online tutoring to start to be totally efficient with the tool. Therefore, a proper training method should be defined. The appropriate time budget should be allocated so that the tutor gets trained in a real session.

3. Technical problems

Technical problems are another barrier for distance training. If the user has to download software, install it, solve problems, he will not easily accept facing the change and the necessity of taking up this new habit.
Our tip: choose a web-based virtual classroom where there is absolutely no software to install. Relying on massive spread plugins like Java or Flash will definitely reduce the problem and maximize compatibility.

Finally if you face a technical problem because of infrastructure (poor internet connection) or because the people don't really know how to use a computer, try using the phone for communication at the beginning, combined with the whiteboard.

What is sure is that after a few hours, tutors and learners will both enjoy this flexible new way of teaching / learning a lot. It is worth it!

Our company has developed a complete learning management system which integrates a web-based virtual classroom. Using the virtual classroom it is possible to give 1 on 1 or 1 on many training sessions, and our platform allows the trainers to easily complete the live training by exercises and content that they or the school create, allowing a great blended learning offer.

If you are interested and wish to test our solution please visit: http://www.espok.org/

We publish other articles on this subject on our blog: http://blog.espok.com/

Online Degrees - What Online College is the Best?

If you've been thinking about getting an online degree you may be wondering what online college is the best. I'm asked this question often. There are many variables to consider however.

You probably know that a traditional, well-known school with a campus, such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford and others, is going to have a better reputation. However, the cost of attending these schools is prohibitive for many, besides having to go through the acceptance process.

But there are many other schools that have excellent reputations that are worthy of attending or taking classes from online. There are also vocational and traditional schools that are limited to online degree programs only.

The program and major you plan to pursue and whether you want an associate's, bachelor's, master's degree or doctorate will greatly influence which online school you decide on.

Online colleges and online degree programs are becoming more and more popular and are more and more accepted by employers, much more so than they used to be. Many of the largest companies in the U.S. readily accept applicants with online degrees, especially from accredited online colleges.

Technology is also gaining and improving every year so you have better access to your professors and to other students as well.

You want to avoid schools with unrecognizable names that offer promises of quick diplomas or degrees. These are called diploma mills and they're still operating. Some of these schools report that you can get your bachelor's degree in 72 hours. You don't want to present this kind of degree to a prospective employer. It will work against you.

Recently in our community, I read that it was discovered that three state (highway) patrol officers had online degrees from diploma mills and were fired.

Staying with a recognizable name school and checking to make sure they are accredited is very important. You can check through the Council of Higher Education Accreditation to make sure they are accredited.

If you're unfamiliar with the school here are a few questions you can ask of any online college or school that you're considering. What is the acceptance rate, can they help with financial aid, what is the retention and graduation rate and what is the number of years the school has had accreditation. You also want to make sure that any school you transfer into later will accept your credits. Know this before you sign up.

What online college is best is going to depend on your needs, as there are many variables. Your location, how much money it will cost, whether you're on a budget or have plenty of money to spend on an online degree or do you want to get to go free or cheap? It will also depend on the program you choose and how specialized it is.

There is plenty of federal financial aid and other money available for online degree programs so you may want to check this out. There are also grants and scholarships available for online students and many go unawarded every year. There are many scholarships available in specialized areas too. Some students go free. Just take a little time to do some research and you can save a lot of money.

For more tips and info on avoiding scams, choosing the best online degree program or accredited bachelor's degree online and finding the best online degree scholarships, grants, education loans or financing go to http://www.OnlineDegreesTips.com for all types of online degrees