Online vs. traditional education...
In this module we addressed the attributes of quality online courses. Assume that you are a Controller. You have interviewed several candidates for the position of Bookkeeper, and are at the point when you have to choose between two candidates. One of these candidates received her academic credentials by attending traditional classroom sessions; the other by completing an online program. All other selection criteria being equal between these two candidates, would you hire the candidate who received her academic credentials through online learning? Justify your answer.
Dr. Francis,
Oh I so agree with this. Every student is as different as every instructor. We as instructors are given courses to teach based on our individual performances and abilities!
Shelly Crider
Hello Jane, I agree that accreditation should be an important factor in assessing educational standards.There are important principles the accreditation agencies require institutions to follow to enhance students' education. The same academic standards are not required. Here, I am referring to Regionally Accredited versus Nationally Accredited institutions. Degrees and certifications from regionally accredited online and regionally accredited traditional institution should be viewed the same.
In fact, the institution where a student obtained his or her degree should not be used as a criteria to selecting the best candidate for employment. Actually, I have taught at a traditional degree granting institution for fifteen years, and online degree granting institution for eleven years. With these experiences, I strongly believe that every student is different and excellence should be based on individual performances and abilities, without minding which institution the student obtained his or her degree.
Elie,
Many traditional students do not actually have hands on experience, but I am certainly all for it!!
Shelly Crider
This would be a very difficult hire for me as an employer. I think that a student getting all of their education online with no practical in the field experience would make it very difficult for me to hire them. I see the value in online education, but I think a student gets better skill sets in classroom interaction. They get better feed back from a person and they also get to interact with their class mates which gives them a better perspective as to how things work. So I guess I would hire the traditional educated student.
I still hear this in industry but certainly not as much as in the past. I think a lot has to do with traditional schools having online courses more.
Sloan,
I agree! To be a successful online student, you must be confident and a self-starter. That is just what we want in our work force!
Shelly Crider
I would definitely hire a person who took an online course and had an online degree. I feel that his competency level should not be questioned and would look at his background and experience
Patricia,
I so agree with you. In fact, a degree online shows that a person is very self-sufficent.
Shelly Crider
I would definitely hire a candidate who received her academic credentials through online learning, this has become a new way for alot of people who cannot attend traditional classroom learning. i would verity the program and the courses and make sure the degree is valid. I don't think candidates that are educated by online courses have less of an education.
Srabasti,
Oh so true! Teaching is a whole other monster at times! My husband is an awesome accountant, but could not...would not...teach!!
Shelly Crider
No, not necessarily. Just because someone got a degree from an online school does not mean that he/she would be very good in teaching/bookkeeping in an online position. His/her success will depend on their creativity, knowledge, hard-work, integrity, belief in the position (that they have applied for), etc. So, everything being equal, I will ask each candidate to solve a question about book-keeping and based on the result make my decision.
Thank You,
Srabasti Dutta
As has been mentioned previously, we would have to make some additional assumptions here to properly answer the question. With all else being equal, online is a valid format for learning. However, there are many "levels" and types of schools out there.
An interesting question to pose would be this: Suppose you had two candidates. Each graduated from the same college -- but one attained their degree through fully ground courses, while the other attended fully online. It would be interesting to know how potential employers would view this scenario. From my perspective, however, these candidates would be fully equal in their educational status.
Excellent point...online schools have proven themselves, but we still need to keep on our toes!
Hi David,
I would agree in general, however i believe at this point online schools have proved themselves and are now reliably rated. If all criteria are the same I might still look past some of the fluff an interviewer could through and look at the quality of the education.
I think it would depend on the reputation of the schools attended. You can make the same arguments for classroom setting as you can for on-line courses - self discipline, motivation etc.
I would consider someone who had received their degree from an online school, as long as the school was reputable and the candidate could demonstrate that the curriculum was appropriate to the work they are seeking. The candidate must also be able to demonstrate that they can integrate what they have learned in the classroom (online or traditional)into the work environment.
I work in career services and we work with students to market their online degree. It demonstrates a dedication to continuing education, an ability to work independently and a comprehension of learning technology.
We also work with students to prepare them for the fact that employers may have questions or seek more information about the online college and the student's degree, so the student needs to be able to answer those questions.
Anwar,
I agree, it is more an more accepted.
Jon
This is indeed a very interesting scenario. Yes, I would definitely hire the candidate who received her academic credentail through online learning, provided she meets all required qualifications for the position she is applying including the assessment test that all candidates has to take and pass.
Online learning is becoming more and more popular with everyone, especially with the younger generations. Therefore, we must accept the idea of online learning with open mind, equally, and without any precondition. Because online learning is here to stay.
Anwar
Houston, Texas
