This is a guest post by Olivia Coleman, who writes on the topics of online colleges and universities.  She welcomes your comments here or at her email Id: olivia.coleman33 @gmail.com.

Having attended a brick-and-mortar institution, I remember what a crapshoot in-school lectures could be. Some were marginally interesting, others were pointless beyond comprehension, and still others were nothing short of life-changing. A delightful, relatively new online trend that is becoming further popularized through the advent of OpenCourseWare is the availability of recorded classroom lectures.

The beauty of free video lectures is, of course, the ease of access. Want to learn about the latest findings in cognitive science? Or how about brush up on basic algebra skills? Maybe you’d even be interested in viewing a more controversial lecture in which a Harvard professor discusses human nature and morality. While before, we would have to be enrolled in a school to reap the benefits of these lectures, now each of these can be viewed with a few quick clicks of the mouse.

Free video lectures not only enable you to get a full in-class experience in topics that you find interesting, but they can be very helpful if you want a different explanation of a concept that you are having difficulty understanding. For example, say you are taking a course in college-level calculus. Your textbook or instructor have a specific way of teaching the material, but you still don’t quite understand. With free video lectures available online, you can see for yourself how other professors teach the same subject matter. Since there are millions of different ways to communicate and explain millions of different ideas, you can surf the Net at your leisure to find the one method that’s right for you.

Now where to find these video lectures? There are several venues online that compile the best video lectures. Two great sites for video lectures browsing are Academic Earth and Free Video Lectures. If science is your cup of tea, then check out Free Science Videos and Lectures. This website breaks down groups of video lectures by their respective science field. You can also check out what’s available on YouTube, or you can go to different university websites that have OpenCourseWare options.

Whether you’re pursuing a degree online or at a brick-and-mortar institution, every student stands to benefit from the proliferation of online video lectures. The opening up of education online is precisely what has allowed video lectures to gain such freedom of access. Anyone who wants to learn more about anything should take full advantage of the best that eLearning has to offer.

The Best of Online Learning: Free Video Lectures is a post from Learning Online Info, a blog dedicated to the world of e-learning and the new learning technologies.

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Schoology provides an enterprise level learning management system and configurable social network. Instructors and students can easily create, share, and manage academic material through a social networking interface.

By incorporating learning management tools into a social environment, Schoology provides a means for teachers, students, parents, and administrators to seamlessly communicate and collaborate on academic issues.

Teachers/administrators can quickly import courses, users and enrollments via a simple import wizard. The system comes fully functional for all users – no computer programming knowledge necessary. Administrators have access to a suite of administrative controls that truly makes Schoology an enterprise level system.

And it’s free! The standalone Schoology LMS is free for both individuals’ teachers as well as for entire schools or districts. Please note that some add-ons such as custom branding, data integration, dedicated support and professional training are not free.

Schoology: Combining Learning Management with Social Networking is a post from Learning Online Info, a blog dedicated to the world of e-learning and the new learning technologies.

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1st Global Conference Experiential Learning in Virtual Worlds (Call for Papers), 20th–22nd March 2011, Prague, Czech Republic. The aim of this conference will be to examine formal and informal learning in virtual worlds in an attempt to critique both its essential characteristics and its future possibilities. Teachers of all levels, university faculty, virtual world players, researchers, and others interested in what happens in virtual worlds and what it means for us as humans are invited to participate.

Being such a broad topic, Experiential Learning in Virtual Worlds defies a definitive list of sub-topics. The following list is indicative of some of the topics covered:

• Skill development in MMORPGs
• Online communities, formal and informal
• Case studies of experimental projects
• Art of building a virtual persona
• Emerging technologies within Higher Education
• International technology challenges
• Blended Learning approaches
• Metrics and assessment in virtual worlds
• New forms of testing in virtual worlds
• Organizational issues/strategies in Virtual education

300 word abstracts should be submitted by 1st October 2010.

Experiential Learning in Virtual Worlds Conference is a post from Learning Online Info, a blog dedicated to the world of e-learning and the new learning technologies.

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This guest post is contributed by Angelita Williams, who writes on the topics of online college courses.  She welcomes your comments here or at her email Id: angelita.williams7 @gmail.com.

Online students are connected to their homework, campus services, professors and classmates via their distance learning university, but there are other tools that can enrich their learning experience and make them feel even more included and engaged in their education. Twitter is an easy, remote-access tool that facilitates research, directs students to primary resources and interviews, and can even act as a project management system, all while allowing students free, independent access to self-directed exploration. While some students may use Twitter and other social networking sites as an extracurricular – or purely social – outlet, others can restrict their use and their friends or followers list to include only the people and organizations that are relevant to their education. English majors may wish to follow other professors on Twitter, as well as journals, newspapers, authors, word or reference sites, and other literature or language enthusiasts. Every time that student logs on to Twitter, then, he or she will be invited to all sorts of conversations, debates and collaborations that bring classroom-learned concepts into the real world. This sort of experiential education is catching on rapidly in distance learning and vocational schools, and is even gaining more traction on traditional campuses. And while Twitter is an Internet tool, it’s hardly passive: you could even call it hands-on training for participating in the workplace and valuable practice for formulating arguments and figuring out solutions to real problems.

There are lots of Twitter apps and tools that have been developed to streamline the experience, but if you overload on these, you’ll just clutter up your Twitter feed and make it more complicated. Use one tool – either a desktop client or an e-mail integration tool to keep Twitter close at hand without distracting you. Another useful tool you should start with is a directory for finding the people you want to connect with via Twitter. A popular, effective directory is WeFollow, which lets you search by keyword so that your follow list only includes users who will be of value to you and your research.

As an online student, Twitter can be an extremely significant partner, helping you with research for specific projects or to just learn more about the field you’re studying in general. With a tool like Tweetree, you can even display conversations in context, creating an automatic mind map or brainstorming illustration to organize your thoughts and papers. You can also collaborate with study partners in your own class if you want to share Twitter links and resources with them. Tools like Hoot Suite help groups keep track of messages and group members, track assignments, add notes, and organize outlines, quotes, links, and more.

If you’re already on Twitter for social networking, create a new account just for academics and career building. Limit your followers and follow list to people who won’t distract you from your work but who will educate you on the field and welcome your opinions and discussion. Share links and ideas, and be respectful, remembering that Twitter can be another extension of your online learning experience.

Twitter for Online Students is a post from Learning Online Info, a blog dedicated to the world of e-learning and the new learning technologies.

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This is a guest post by Kathy St. George. Kathy is an education specialist for 866MyMajor, a free college guide for students looking for the best program and school to fit their needs.

If you are looking to continue your business education and obtain an MBA degree, chances are you have put a lot of thought into where you are going to school, how you are paying for your education, how long you will be in school, etc. In the whirlwind that is graduate school though, it is easy to forget a few of the important decisions that you will need to make when considering an MBA degree program.

1. Online or Campus Based?

These are two ways that you can earn your MBA degree. Depending on your lifestyle and how you choose to learn, you can easily decide which option would be best for you. If you are a parent, have a full time job, don’t have a lot of time to sit in class or just like to work alone, you may want to choose an online program. If you are better at learning face to face with a professor, enjoy classroom interaction and enjoy being in group settings, you will certainly want to choose the campus based degree program. Another thing to consider is the time commitment when it comes to online vs. campus based MBA programs.  You should take into consideration the traveling time, gas, studying and homework time for both kinds of learning.

2. Scholarships, Financial Aid, Grants

Not having enough money is never an excuse to delay your education. Make sure you do your research and find the best scholarships out there. There are plenty for business students planning to continue their education towards an MBA degree. There may even be specific ones for someone planning on obtaining an MBA specifically online or specifically all in a campus based setting. Also, you can never go wrong with Financial Aid and Grants, which is free money given to you by the government to continue your education.

3. Academic Time Line

Different MBA programs have different academic time lines. Some MBA programs take two academic years, which is 16 to 20 months. Others take only a year and a half to one year. Online degrees can make the time involved longer or shorter. You can choose to do part-time online, which is nice if you have other commitments. The downside is that the MBA can take you twice the time to obtain. You can also accelerate up your MBA degree by obtaining it online by taking more courses at once and finishing in half the time estimated.

4. Find A School and Program That Fits Your Needs

There are many MBA programs in the world, and each is different than the other. Students should choose which program and school to go to based on the specific wants for their future career. Which school will give you the experience you need for your future? Which program will offer more programs concentrated on the specific skill you wish to learn? Does the school you are considering help you find internships? Do they offer networking opportunities when it comes time to find a job? These are very important things to ask yourself.

There is no doubt that choosing the right MBA Degree program for you is not a simple task. All you can do is breathe easy and rest assured that if you consider all the possibilities and decide what options are best for you, you will find the perfect program to fit all your needs.

Recommended: Selected Science News and Resources

4 Things to Consider When Choosing an MBA Degree Program is a post from Learning Online Info, a blog dedicated to the world of e-learning and the new learning technologies.

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• The Best of Online Learning: Free Video Lectures
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• Twitter for Online Students

This guest post is contributed by Anna Miller, who writes on the topic of online degrees. She welcomes your comments here or at her email id: anna.miller009@gmail.com

They offer a host of advantages to people who would otherwise not be able to earn a degree; even so, online degrees are more than a few rungs lower in the professional world than their traditional counterparts. It’s not because they’re all inferior; rather, it’s the general perception that gives rise to this idea. Employers have been conditioned to think that people who have earned their degrees online are not as qualified as those who’ve spent four years in a traditional brick-and-mortar institute. And even though the trend is changing to reflect a more positive view of online degrees, there’s no harm in boosting your chance for suitable employment even though you’ve studied online:

• Choose a reputable college: This factor matters not just in the world of online degrees, but even in the realm of regular colleges – the name of your institution and its reputation matter immensely. An ordinary bachelor’s degree from MIT is much more valuable to employers than a doctorate that you’re earned at your local college. So when you choose to study online, choose a school that is well-known and recognized for its high standard of education.
• Ensure that the institute and the degree are accredited: Besides offering degrees that pose challenges for serious learners, online schools must rate high on credibility if they are to be taken seriously by employers. So ensure that both the school you choose and the degree you opt to study are accredited by the right agencies and that they’re recognized as legitimate in the professional world.
• Opt for a degree that is relevant to your chosen field of work: If it’s advancement at work you’re looking for, then choose a degree that will help you achieve the same instead of going back to school just for the sake of it. You may have a master’s or even doctoral degree, but if it’s not relevant to the field you work in, it’s not going to be of any use to you in the professional world.
• Augment it with practical experience: When your degree is augmented with a few years of practical experience, it gains in value and you’re likely to be rated higher by most employers. So make the most of your choice to earn a degree online and find an opportunity to work in the field you’re interested in simultaneously.
• Impress during your interview: It’s not necessary to stress in your resume that your degree is from an online school. Just list your qualifications and achievements and hope that you’re called for an interview where you can impress your potential employer with your confidence, gift of the gab, and professional acumen. Don’t lie about your degree, just don’t mention it at the outset before you’ve had a chance to impress your interviewer. When they realize your capabilities, they’re usually willing to overlook their prejudices towards online degrees.

Don’t regret your choice to learn online; instead, make the most of it and focus on securing a job of your choice.

How to Boost Your Online Degree’s Chances of Acceptance is a post from Learning Online Info, a blog dedicated to the world of e-learning and the new learning technologies.

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• University of the People (UoPeople): The First Tuition-Free Online University

TeachersFirst Wiki Walkthrough: The path starts with the basic What in the world is a wiki? and continues with Who uses wikis? and What is the difference between a wiki and a blog? For teachers is important to know So how do I use wikis with my class(es)? or What benefits are there from student wiki participation? Some examples can be seen on the wiki walk through some sample wikis. We can even play with some wiki tools on the Which wiki tool will you use? section. A visit to the TeachersFirst wiki is also recommended. Here we can find more ideas on how to use a wiki as a learning tool.

TeachersFirst is offering two free meetings at OK2Ask Guided Wiki Walk, today and July 29 at either 3 pm or 6 pm Eastern time both days (with a little homework in between).

Wiki Walkthrough: Wikis FAQs answered by TeachersFirst (with examples) is a post from Learning Online Info, a blog dedicated to the world of e-learning and the new learning technologies.

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This is a guest post by Alyssa Baldocchi. Alyssa is a writer on online courses for Guide to Online Schools.

Diploma mills, sometimes called “degree mills,” are scams; they are businesses that pose as universities or other academic institutions, and they charge individuals for transcripts, diplomas, and other mediocre services. The degrees one can receive from this school will involve very little if any actual education and will be worthless in the real world. Unfortunately, however, diploma mills can often be difficult to distinguish from online schools, as they are designed to appear – at first glance – exactly the same.

To avoid diploma mills, start your search for online education with the online learning portals of well-known, accredited institutions. When looking elsewhere, be sure to confirm the institution’s validity on the following websites:

• This U.S. Department of Education offers a search engine for accredited institutions. They also confirm the soundness of the accrediting agencies.

• Diploma Mill News: This blog covers diploma mill news. In the page’s right-hand column there are helpful lists of “known diploma mills,” “articles” about diploma mills, “known accreditation mills,” and more.

• The U.S. Federal Trade Commission: This is a handy Consumer Alert by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that lists common slogans of diploma mills.

1. Red flags for diploma mills include:
2. An extreme use of pop-up adds
3. Names that sound similar to well-known institutions
4. A listing of fake accrediting agencies or no accrediting agencies at all
5. No professor-student interaction
6. No Federal financial aid options
7. No alumni network
8. An extremely short degree program
9. Hidden fees
10. “Life credits,” or credits given to students for previous  experience
11. A P.O. Box for the address of the college, or a constantly changing address
12. No phone numbers listed to contact the school
13. The written materials presented by the school include many grammatical errors
14. No selectivity in admissions
15. Degree requirements are incredibly vague

If you are searching for online learning, then good luck! Be sure to follow the above advice in order not to be scammed by a diploma mill.

How to Spot and Avoid a Diploma Mill is a post from Learning Online Info, a blog dedicated to the world of e-learning and the new learning technologies.

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Students as Web 2.0 authors: Implications for assessment design and conduct by Kathleen Gray, Celia Thompson, Judithe Sheard, Rosemary Clerehan, Margaret Hamilton, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 26, 105-122 (2010). Abstract: Students now have at their disposal a range of Web 2.0 authoring forms such as audio and video podcasting, blogging, social bookmarking, social networking, virtual world activities and wiki writing. Many university educators are interested in enabling students to demonstrate their learning by creating content in these forms. However, the design and conduct of assessment for such student-created content is not straightforward. Based upon a review of current literature and examples in the public domain, this paper identifies key challenges for academic assessment that arise from students’ use of Web 2.0 authoring forms. We describe and analyse selected cases where academics have set assessable student Web 2.0 activities in a range of fields of study, noting especially the inter-relationship of learning objectives, assessment tasks and marking criteria. We make recommendations for practice, research and understanding to strengthen educational quality and academic integrity in the use of Web 2.0 authoring forms for assessable student learning.

From the conclusion: Advancing the assessment of student Web 2.0 authoring requires a degree of collegial consensus and a level of academic peer review that are not yet in place. Attempts at assessing student Web 2.0 authoring in higher education may founder if they merely replicate existing practices in new forms. Suggestions for using specific Web 2.0 authoring forms innovatively for assessment purposes are scattered too widely across refereed and ephemeral literature, and may be tied too closely to an individual educator’s style or experience, to be helpful to an academic community or institution trying to achieve system-wide improvements. A project currently in progress aims to address this situation by sharing academics’ approaches to educational effectiveness and principled conduct in this area of assessment. Continue reading this interesting article.

Assessment of Students Web 2.0 Authoring is a post from Learning Online Info, a blog dedicated to the world of e-learning and the new learning technologies.

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Ready or Not: Next-Gen Students’ Technology Expectations Surpass Students’ Today, Annual CDW-G Survey Finds. Campus IT Professionals Highlight Need for Infrastructure Upgrades to Support “Always On” Access. From the press release: CDW Government LLC (CDW-G), a leading source of Information Technology (IT) solutions to educators and government, today announced the results of its third annual 21st-Century Campus Report, a national survey of more than 1,000 college students, faculty and IT staff members. The 2010 survey found that many institutions have increased their campus technology offerings to meet the demands of college students today – and tomorrow. Campus IT professionals noted that back-end infrastructure must continue to evolve to support increasing demands for 21st-century learning tools.

Sixty-three percent of today’s college students said technology was important in their college selection criteria and, as an indication of the ever-increasing importance of technology among younger generations, 93 percent of current high school students said it is important, according to the recently released 21st-Century Classroom Report, which examined technology use at the high school level.

Anticipating future students’ technology needs, many campuses are successfully integrating new technology tools, including digital content (70 percent), virtual learning (61 percent) and online collaboration software (58 percent), CDW-G found. Three-quarters of college students reported that their institutions understand how they want to use technology as a learning tool.

College students are using social media – including Facebook, Twitter, blogs and wikis – as a learning tool. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of students use social media to connect with classmates to study or work on class assignments. Even more high-school students (76 percent) use social media as an educational tool. Read the full press release here.

21st-Century Campus Report: Campus 2.0. Now in its third year, the CDW-G 21st-Century Campus Report examines the role of technology in higher education. CDW-G surveyed more than 1,000 college students, faculty and IT staff to understand their perceptions of campus technology.

While the 2008 report provided a baseline for campus technology use, and the 2009 study examined how student needs are changing, the 2010 report focuses on what colleges are getting right, and how they are incorporating new tools into interactive learning experiences.

21st-Century Classroom Report: Preparing Students for the Future or the Past? The 21st-century classroom leverages technology to engage and empower teachers and students. To understand how close we are to that goal, CDW-G surveyed more than 1,000 high school students, high school faculty and district IT staff members from around the country – representing rural, suburban and urban schools of all sizes – about how technology is used in their schools.

[To download these reports and the respective assessment tools a (free) registration is needed]

Two Interesting Reports from CDW-G: 21st-Century Campus Report and 21st-Century Classroom Report is a post from Learning Online Info, a blog dedicated to the world of e-learning and the new learning technologies.

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