You've probably heard from many of your friends that going to a traditional college was the "experience of a lifetime," or that it was "the best years of their lives." Of course, there's nothing that can quite compare to those three or four years when you are in your late teens and/or early twenties, and, for the first time, you live on your own without your parents. The experience of living and learning alongside others your own age creates memories that you recall decades after the fact. But what to do if you are enrolled in an online degree program? How does one recreate that "unforgettable" experience? If you want to pursue an online degree but you still don't want to miss out on the social aspects of a brick-and-mortar school, here are a few tips.

Make an effort to meet fellow students who may reside in your town or city.

Even though you take classes completely online, which does not necessitate face-to-face interaction, it is likely that you have contact information of fellow students who are taking classes with you. Use this information to form study or social groups with local classmates to recreate that collegiate atmosphere.

Study at a local or university library.

If there is one symbol that stands for what the academic experience is for traditional college students, it's most likely the school library. As an online student, you probably do most of your studying at home, which can easily lead to a feeling of isolation, a sense that you are doing all this hard work on your own. Going to a local public library, or better yet, a local college or university library, can provide you with a quiet place to study with others who are going through the same thing that you are.

Join informal sports leagues.

Most traditional colleges provide students with ready-made options for social interaction, like fraternities, sororities, student clubs, and sports leagues. These are all great outlets for socializing and exercising that many online students miss out on. However, most cities and towns offer informal sports leagues for adults who are interested in meeting new people and getting some exercise. For more information, check out this article.

Audit a class at a local college.

If you simply want to get to know more students from all walks of life, including those who attend traditional schools, consider auditing a class at a local college. Although you may have to pay a modest fee, you basically take almost any class you want and you won't receive a grade. It's basically taking a class just for fun. It will enable you to get a feel for what the college experience is like without having to do (and pay for) it 24/7.

Author Bio:

This is a guest post by Nadia Jones who blogs at accredited online colleges about education, college, student, teacher, money saving, movie related topics. You can reach her at nadia.jones5 @ gmail.com.

Why do you like to go for online education? – When I asked my students the same, most of them answered that it is a convenient and easier way to learn. However, the answer did not satisfy me, because online education program is bigger than the terms “easier and better”. Yes, in this current age, where getting success is a mandatory requirement for all, who can afford to give such an important part of life behind mere learning without thinking about the growth? Let us discuss the matter in a better way.

Earning and learning are correlated

Yes, now-a-days, learning and earning comes together in life and both depend upon each other. If you focus to learn without thinking about earning, you would not be able to continue to it for a longer period, because the basic necessities of life would not be fulfilled. Whereas, if you want to earn without learning anything, you would not be able to do it in reality, because in this competitive world one is better than the other and to stabilize your position, you need better knowledge, skills and expertise.

Well, distance learning supports the matter of earning and learning in its best form. Yes, in this way of receiving education, you get to continue to earn along with your studies. Therefore, you get financial independence and degrees at the same time.

Saving time along with online education

After being 18, you will surely want financial freedom to enjoy your life. At this point of time, if you continue to your studies in the traditional way, you remain involved with too many restrictions and therefore, you need to depend upon your parents to get financial help. Moreover, you need to wait till the time; you finish your studies and get a job, just to make yourself financially independent.

However, when you go for distance learning, you get to earn along with your studies, which bring financial freedom to your life faster.

Moreover, the job experience you acquire along with your studies, faster your career growth, when supported by a valid degree.

Better advancement in life

With the help of distance education, students get advancement in life from too many prospects, such as:

·         It helps them in technological advancement. They can study using all the latest gadgets, such as: I-pads, notebooks, tablets, laptops, etc, which increases their acquaintance with these gadgets and makes them technologically sound.

·         It makes them socially advance, because they get to stay connected with their friends, who live in the other parts of the world.

·         Online MBA helps them in getting a better career, in the growing business and technologic fields.

·         It also helps them to have a better lifestyle, because of the good job and good education.

Well, in this current age, denying the effect of online education for making our lives better is quite not possible. Therefore, you can surely go for distance learning without doubting about its ability, because it makes you live and grow better.

Author Bio: Robert Williams has in-depth knowledge in the field of education and in this content he examines the benefits of distance learning to make the students aware of it. Since, sharing knowledge is good, this content will help you to know about online education in a better way.

Since their launch in 2004, Facebook has been changing and they have no plans of stopping now. The newest update is one of Facebook’s largest facelifts and it’s called Timeline. Your whole profile page changes, it almost looks more like a personal website. Instead of reading wall posts, pictures and status updates from top to bottom, it’s now takes on a newspaper like shape. Timeline acts as your life scrap book starting from when you first joined Facebook; any and all posts, comments, photos are now brought to the forefront. Users are able to scroll to any year, month or day to see what happened at that time. Here are a few of your questions answered:

Do I have to use Timeline format?

As of this moment, Facebook Timeline is not mandatory for users. But don’t hold on to that for too long. Facebook has recently announced that Timeline will become the new profile layout for ALL users. Expect to see notifications and messages of the change in a matter of weeks.

How to change to Timeline?

The easiest and most informative way to change to Timeline is by typing ‘Timeline’ in to your search bar at the top of your news feed or home page. There is a video tutorial to give you a better idea about Timeline. Once you have added Timeline you have 7 days to modify, add and change your Timeline before it goes ‘live’. If you want to publish before 7 days you can, just hit ‘publish now’.

What about my privacy?

Probably the biggest upset with Timeline right now is that privacy seems to be not as good as it was on the previous profile. Rest assured that Facebook has listened to complaints and is working on the issue now. Just be aware before changing to Timeline that your settings will change. It is best to go under the privacy tab and to reevaluate and check all your settings once you have made the crossover.

What about Fan Pages?

As of right now you cannot get Facebook Timeline for business or fan pages. Facebook wants to concentrate on individuals before the fan pages. Be on the lookout for the update for fan pages in the future.

I don’t want Timeline anymore, can I change back?

Unfortunately you do not have that capability to revert to the old profile once you have made the switch. As discussed earlier this seems to be the direction that Facebook wants to go in. So think long and hard before you make the switch over. But keep in mind it will only be time before all of Facebook profiles will be using Timeline and only Timeline.

Facebook Timeline is here to stay. Stay patient with all of the changes going on. Happy Facebooking!

Author  Bio : Coleen Torres, blogger at phone internet, Save money on home phone, digital TV, and high-speed Internet by comparing prices from providers in your area for standalone service or phone TV Internet bundles.

Many people consider academia a dying field. When they picture the professorial world, they usually envision old men with glasses and a beard, sitting behind a large desk and rifling through a collection of dusty books. Academia is not for the young, this belief goes, and those who preach its virtues are simply tenured and out-of-touch professors who have little grasp of the modern job market and of the many grants and Discover school loans that are required to gain a foothold in the profession.

This belief is far from the truth. While it is true that the overall discipline of academia is a highly competitive one, and although the nature of the profession allows people to work in a teaching environment long past a typical retirement age, academia is in fact a vibrant, dynamic, and growing field. Moreover, much of this growth is taking place far away from the dusty libraries and large, wooden desks of academia’s envisioned past. It is instead taking place online, at online colleges, where the demand for new professors, researchers, and lecturers remains high and growing.

So for those thinking of becoming an academic, there are certainly ample possibilities in the virtual world. But is being an online professor or lecturer right for you? Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons:

Pros Of Being An Online Academic

-You have flexibility to set your own schedule.

-There is ample time to pursue outside research opportunities.

-You have the ability to instruct students who are highly motivated to get a degree in a specific field.

-The students you teach will likely come from a more diverse and varied background.

-You can work anywhere and travel freely whenever you’d like.

-In many cases, you can teach without a Ph.D.

Cons Of Being An Online Academic

-Salaries are generally lower than in traditional academic disciplines.

-You may need to teach with a vocational rather than a theoretical approach.

-It is more difficult to build relationships with students.

-You’ll have a harder time interacting and collaborating with colleagues.

-Many research endeavors are more difficult, especially when laboratory or archival sources are needed.

These are some of the major pros and cons of being an online academic. While the career certainly isn’t for everyone, it offers a range of possibilities for those who desire to pursue it. Just make sure that it aligns with your intentions and goals going in.

Learning Management software (LMS) is a type of training software that allows companies to save time and reduce training costs by providing education and training to their employees on the web. The advantage of LMS is that they customizable, portable, convenient, and cost effective. Companies can use LMSs to send training material and procedures to their employees quickly regardless of their physical location instantly. This saves money by eliminating the usual costs of training such as publishing materials and stopping work for training meetings.

With an LMS, you can take control of employee education and training by leveraging the powerful analytic features of this software. With a properly configured LMS, you can measure all aspects of employee training such as individual progress, aptitude, failures, learning barriers, and successes. Never before have you had so much feedback for your training efforts at your fingertips. Use this power to target weaknesses and build upon successes to keep your workforce up to date and working smoothly without interrupting your regular workflow.

LMSs also empower your employees by letting them tackle the training and on the job learning at a time and place that fits their busy schedule. Anywhere that has internet access can be a classroom with an LMS. Employees will appreciate being able to save and return to their training when they have the time, instead of being forced to complete it all in one session. LMSs also provide more interesting content as they can be configured with rich multimedia presentations and include interactive demos and tests. This keeps your employees interested in the material and improves performance and learning.

Beyond offering better, faster control over your employee education, LMSs also eliminate many of the costs associated with employee training. No more printing and waiting for expensive training materials to ship, no more employee travel and hotel accommodations, no more lost productivity.

So if you want a quick, cheap, and highly customizable way to take control of educating and training your employees using the power of the web, you need to look into a Learning Management System. This powerful software puts you in control of your company’s training and education efforts, and gives you the speed and flexibility to compete in today’s fast moving marketplace. Your employees will be more informed, better trained, more engaged, and more productive while you save money and make smarter decisions.

By: Zach Ball is a freelance writer for www.Coggno.com and writes articles on the topics teaching and education.

Laptops are considered to be a vital tool in the life of people from different walks of life including the student’s life. In fact a majority of students cannot imagine functioning without a laptop in their daily lives. However, people including the students in their sixties and seventies have lived without having a laptop and computer. Today, the presence of laptops in student’s life is a must considering a number of functionality which makes their life easy and fast. Students pursuing a number of degree courses in various universities enjoy the portability factor by having the laptops. This has therefore helped the students to a great extent while dealing with their school work on time and that too with perfection.

The laptop makes the student’s life easy and organized: The students nowadays instead of carrying a number of books and notebooks simply have a laptop and enjoy a number of benefits from it. They can now use the laptop to complete their school or college assignments anywhere they go. Their life has become pretty organized and structured as compared to the previous students who didn’t own the laptops. The students can now complete their course work in just one single unit laptops instead of dealing with a number of books and copies and in this way the fear of losing any goes away.

Easy to carry and transport: The laptops these days are light weight. Hence you will find a number of extremely light weight machines available in the market. Students can therefore enjoy the freedom of carrying light weight and portable machine encompassing their research or school work anywhere they want. The college libraries these days have embarked with wi-fi which makes the students to access the internet on their laptops to start their research or school work at any point of time, rather than waiting for any computer access. Moreover, a student having a laptop has hardly to worry about the library timings, since he or she can get all the required data and information over the machine and work from anywhere. This saves their time and thus can help them to use it for their studies and other academic activities. So with so much ease in use and portability, laptops are becoming a good substitute to heavy weight books.

Laptops in classrooms: The students when carry their laptops in their classroom can take down the notes of any lecture. They can quickly and easily record a number of important points as delivered in the lecture without facing problems like breaking the pencil lead or the ink or paper shortage. Hence you do not have to worry about your pen’s ink and also about the hand cramp. The students can now have a tailor made features over their laptop as per their requirements to allow them for efficient and optimum level of files and information management. As compared to the hard copy files, papers and folders, the students evident an organized student life with the presence of laptops. Apart from these things, the students find this tool handy in preparing various presentations which they require for their project and school assignments.

The laptop is a great tool for students; it not only makes their life easy but also organized. Hence considering the number of benefits the students enjoy, you will find more and more colleges and schools incorporating laptops in their classrooms. The importance and significance of laptops will always remain for the students as you can now see computers governing all the walks of life including the education to a great extent. So students need laptops.

About the author: Brianne is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on technology and luxury. Beside this she is fond of gadgets. Recently an article on designer baby clothes attracted her attention. These days she is busy in writing an article on teeth whitening kits.

Earlier going to the universities carrying a bag full of books was considered as modern however, the situation has changed in the current age. In today’s modern world, where everybody is searching for the easy means to get success in life, the term modern cannot refer to the traditional way of learning. Rather, the faster, better and technologically approved distance learning is getting eyed by the students, who cannot sacrifice their freedoms or dreams in order to fulfill the requirements of life.

Well, the role of distance education in today’s modern world is undeniable and as a part of this modern world, you must know about it.

Distance learning-speeding up the growth of the students

Financial freedom

If it is online education, students can earn while learn. In this way, they can bear their own education expenses without depending upon their parents. Even, they get financial hold upon their lives, along with continuing to their studies.

Being a part of the virtual world

When the modern world is getting built based upon the internet facilities, education is also taking part in it. Everybody is becoming a part of the virtual world and distance education is supporting this in a better way. Yes, in this mode of distance education, students are staying connected with their friends, who may live in some other part of the world. They get to share their lessons, discuss their problems and can chat for fun using these online facilities.

Modern facilities

Earlier the students were dependent upon the booksellers, now they can download their study materials online. Even, in distance learning, the students get to receive their study materials online.

Students growing as techno buffs

Distance learning is making the students affluent with the technological improvements. Instead of pen and papers, when they are using laptop and notebooks, they get to spend a good amount of time with these gadgets. It is even facilitating them to pursue a technical career.

Distance is shortened

Earlier, the students need to leave their parents and home to go to the abroad University for learning. Through online education, the students get to learn from the comfort of their homes without going to the university.

Online education creating another identity of the students

The students of distance learning can be distinguished in a better way due to certain common characteristic, such as:

·         They all carry a laptop all the time.

·         They have technically improved minds.

·         They are social networking wizards.

·         They are fast in life and able to take quick decision.

·         They are self dependent.

·         They all dream to grow in life.

Well, all these are making them a growing part of this modern world and distance learning fuelling their growth in a better way.

Author Bio: Robert Williams is a keen observer of the changes that are coming along during the improvements of the education system in the modern world. Here, he depicts the role of distance learning in today’s modern world, so that the students can understand the benefits of online education in a better way.

We all know that learning a new language is one of the best things we can do with our lives but it’s just a little bit boring, isn’t it? Those never ending evening classes and dull text books just seem like too much hard work for most of us if we are being honest.

Thankfully this is no longer the issue it once was, as modern ways of picking up a second language are a lot more exciting than the old fashioned ones. If the thought of going back to school sends a shudder down your spine then you will be pleased to see there are now modern ways of doing so as well. Here is the pick of the best approaches for you to look over.

Ditch the Classroom

What about studying at home or in your office? This method of learning immediately gives you a lot more flexibility in arranging your classes and could turn out to be just what you need to keep your interest going. If you decide to do this then you can find teachers easily enough online and in most cases they will be native speakers who are fully qualified as teachers. A good example of this approach is with the Alexis Sheldon run Language Trainers.

Ditch the Teacher

So you don’t want to deal with a teacher, even at home or in your place of work? This is a brave way of learning a foreign tongue but that doesn’t mean that it is impossible. Lots of people have managed to pick up a language on their own through watching television, reading books and making friends on the internet. This approach is better if you do it after a few formal lessons but if you want to dive in and give it a go straight away then there is nothing to stop you.

Leave the Country

If you really want to get to know a language then the best thing you can do is immerse yourself in it. This is ideally done after the previous steps. For example, if you take some of the French lessons Edinburgh teachers provide you can then carry out some further learning on your own before heading off to Paris, Algeria, Canada or anywhere else where it is spoken. You could then find yourself mixing with native French speakers and feel comfortable with the language without even having set foot in a classroom.    

The past year has been a busy one for online education, one that has seen several developments that only continue to dismantle the barriers between a traditional college degree and an online one.

First, Ashworth College, a major online institution, introduced the Ashworth College Student Community. This online forum and gathering place allows students to talk to each other about anything from classes and homework to entertainment and politics. It further allows for communication between students and professors, career counselors, and Ashworth alum. Part Facebook and part student union, the online community was met with widespread acclaim. This month, it won the 2011 SNCR Commendation of Merit for academic innovation.

Also this year, a growing number of traditional universities – including some of the biggest and most prestigious names in the country – ventured into the world of online education for the first time. Perhaps the most recent and notable example is that of the University of California, Berkeley, which announced this month the creation of an online master’s programs for a degree in public health. The program, which will start in the spring, has a tuition tag of $6,000 per semester and will hand out degrees indistinguishable from those offered by Berkeley’s more traditional School of Public Health.

Taken together, these two developments hint at the growing popularity of online education. Although online programs have been popular for years, the moves of traditional schools into online arenas and of online school towards the promotion of a “campus culture” have coalesced to put virtual education degrees firmly into the mainstream. Experts predict that an increasing number of traditional schools will offer online community forums and online degrees in the next few years.

So what does this mean for those of us in the online education field? On the one hand, it gives online educators greater latitudes for instructing students in fields where there are few schools and professionals are in short supply. Public health is one such field. Medical billing and coding is another. At the same time, however, it means increased competition from a wide array of degree providers.

For the student, though, the benefits are almost universally positive. Less disparities between traditional and virtual schools means more opportunities, more programs, and more post-graduate possibilities for qualified students. And the line only stands to blur further in the future; with people forced to work full-time to pay for their education, and with technology permeating every aspect of our lives, the progression seems almost inevitable – and natural.