I have been considering graduate school. The University of Georgia system offers a WebMBA program that is supposed to be one of the best distance learning master’s degrees in the nation, but I think I might decide to complement my online Bachelor’s degree with brick and mortar graduate school experience similar to my Associate Degree. I think that would round things off perfectly and give me a change of venue for a bit. If I ever get through midterm exams without having an absolute heart attack!

I am always impatient when it comes to midterm exam grades! I love the teachers who grade your exams the moment you take them. Please! Let me know NOW! That is my opinion. I have made an “F” in community college before – it destroys your GPA, and you can just withdraw before the deadline. The “F” was for not coming to class and not studying, but I know how negatively they can affect your GPA. So, I am always nervous when it comes to exam time. The life of a student can be so annoying. I have yet to learn that patience is a virtue. Sometimes I need a giant stress ball…

• WEBBSIT, BSIT at Clayton State University Clayton State University, as well as Georgia Southern University, and other universities in the University of Georgia system offer an online Bachelor of Science Degree in Information Technology via the WEBBSIT program. This is a great, accredited, trustworthy online college degree program offered online. The catch is that some......
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My university’s structure runs something like this:

1. Read
2. Quizzes
3. Homework and Essays
4. Projects
5. Mostly proctored (supervised) exams.

We were discussing the different structure just the other day. Also, she has just taken this one class so far, and her book was made especially for Ashford University. I hope you’ve enjoyed your peek into our online University structures.

• Online College Courses and What to Expect This is screenshot of the online college courses I am taking this semester at Clayton State University in order to complete my fully accredited, online Bachelor’s of Science in Information Technology. The blue tacks mean that a discussion is due. The yellow pages with the clock in front mean......
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My cousin has three children and a G.I. Bill that runs out in like 6 months. She has applied to Ashford University. This is how she tells me that it works:

1. You can take classes one at a time. Once you finish one class, you can go onto the next class.
2. There are lots of military discounts.
3. There is a Bachelor’s degree there that you can get that is the precursor to teaching grades K-3.
4. Disbursements work on a monthly or yearly basis.
5. The school is accredited!
6. Her G.I. Bill pays for the first 2 classes.

This all sounds excellent, but I am always skeptical of online college and bachelor’s degrees. While this school is fully accredited, you should watch out and make sure that you are getting the best degree. For instance, the online Bachelor’s Degree for Early Childhood Education only allows you to teach in Arizona. Just make sure and read the fine print!

Ashford University does have some online Bachelor’s Degrees that I think would be very useful such as Accounting and Criminal Justice, which always seem to be hiring. Criminal Justice is especially great for people that have a background in the military.

You will probably hear more about Ashford University and my cousin’s experiences as time progresses… Stay tuned! I can’t wait to see how it works out for her!

Meanwhile, you can read more real reviews about Ashford University here:
http://www.viewpoints.com/Ashford-University-All-programs-reviews

Coincidentally, the WEBBSIT program that I attend online is also a favorite for the military.

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Online college students can also find scholarships online. The process is much the same as the scholarship finding process for traditional students. There are millions of scholarships and grants out there that may help to fund your college education. Knowing where to look and what to look for can help. This is a pretty decent financial aid site: http://www.finaid.org/.

Scholarships and grants can be found at Students.gov, which is a pretty reliable site. I like this site because it is funded by the government and not some corporation mainly after your email address. You can search for all kinds of grants and scholarships here. I hope you find one that suits you.

Here are some more sites for those of you who would like to search and apply for everything:

• http://www.fedmoney.org/
• http://www.fastweb.com/
• http://www.collegeboard.com/
• http://www.scholarships.com/
• http://www.college-scholarships.com/

I am sure that there are more online sites for scholarships out there, but they all probably regurgitate the same information that these 5 sites display.

Happy scholarship hunting!

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Ever thought that you would like to file taxes from home for other people maybe for extra cash or something. Need to file your own taxes like I do?

Jackson Hewitt offers an inexpensive tax class online. Click here for an online demo! All you need is a computer, a calculator and an Internet connection. You can prepare taxes for others for extra money, and you may also be able to acquire college credit if you attend the University of Phoenix Online. In any case, it is a nice addition to any resume, and is perfect for an online student pursuing degrees in accounting or business. Jackson Hewitt requires these classes of their seasonal tax prepares. If you’re looking for additional, part-time (or full-time if you prefer) / seasonal income to supplement any home based business you may be operating in the post-Christmas shopping season, preparing taxes for others may be a great idea. The season lasts from somewhere around the end of January to about April 15th.

H&R Block also offers a tax class online that you might want to look into. I have always filed taxes with Jackson Hewitt and do not feel qualified to give a personal recommendation for their services or online tax classes.

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Some of these sites claim to take real world experience in lieu of classes for printing out your “pirate” degree. The degree looks legit and just might pass without a thorough inspection. You can buy anything from a Bachelor’s Degree to a Doctoral degree online. In Oregon these types of degrees are illegal, but hey, who lives in Oregon anyway? Elearners.com offers a quick quiz and checklist to determine if your online school is merely a “diploma mill”, but for those of you out there who think it might be something you could be interested in, you might want to check out these sites:

• SpeedyDegrees.com offers life experience degrees.
• BelfordUniversity.org claims to be accredited and offers life experience degrees as well.
• Instantdegrees.com offers “legal” life experience degrees with “real foil” seals.
• Ashwood University – sounds legit
• Diploma Center – purchase an authentic looking totally illegal degree from the university of your choice.

Just perform a search for “life experience degrees”, and you’ll pull up tons of online degrees that you can order for around $250 ( doctoral degrees are higher ). Why waste all the time going to the University? These kinds of degrees probably require the gift of B.S. and I do not mean Bachelor of Science, but doesn’t any real degree require a full heap of B.S. anyway? I mean do you really retain much of the information that you learned in college anyway? Are you really employed in your field? Sometimes the temptation is almost too much. Think of the time and money you would save. Not to mention the exams you would not have to study for, and the teacher you could forget existed…

I know that I should have a life degree in waiting tables if you really want to know the truth… I might just order a Bachelor’s Degree in business and go on to manage some other waitresses. Given the current state of the economy and my luck with stellar jobs offers, it is probably where I end up anyway, and the “diploma mill” degree might not be that far-fetched or even such a bad idea, hmmm…. Just kidding… Really.

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Final Grades are unofficially in! It always seems to take forever for final grades to be published, and I’m always nervous around exam time because exams can sometimes surprise you. For example, sometimes you think the exam was a breeze and super easy, only come to find out that you bombed it! I did all right this semester with three B’s and two A’s.

I have about a year and a half to go, and I was thinking of online graduate school or regular graduate school as well. It would take so long, but I noticed on Facebook that one of my friends has recently graduated with an MBA from Phoenix online. I usually am not so excited about online degrees that are so obvious, but I thought that Phoenix might do for a Master’s Degree. The Master’s of Information Systems degree would suit my other degrees. I am also thinking about a Master’s Degree that UGA offers in Artificial Intelligence, but that one is so competitive.

I try to take things step by step. I really have to finish this degree first before I think of anything else. Degrees are funny that way. Anything can go wrong. That is one of the benefits of an online degree. No car problems to really worry about and you can take your work almost anywhere on your laptop. The convenience and the peace of mind really are worth the extra cost.

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This is the in-between time for semesters right now and is the end of the Fall Semester and the beginning of the Spring Semester. This is the time when we choose classes. I attend college online at Clayton State University via WEBBSIT, and sometimes I really ask myself if I have made the right choice when it comes to my education. When I first began, I had a full-time job. The classes were ultra-convenient and the only way to attend school was to attend online. Now, I am only attending school full-time, and attending college via a regular campus oriented program would be a lot cheaper.

The pros still lie in the fact that if I do get a job, it is much more convenient. Also, financial aide and student loans may not cover my applicable expenses if tuition were 3 times less expensive. I think that loans and Pell still apply, but I do need to check with my financial aid advisor. I am in the process of consulting with my regular advisor to determine how the classes transfer.

The cons are that my classes might not transfer completely. I would also need to either move or drive for 2 hours each way each day that classes are held. I would also have to sit in classes. This means around 8-16 hours each week that would have to be devoted to sitting in class (which has always made me fall asleep).

In any case, why would college on campus be cheaper??? Should it be less expensive? No heating or electricity costs. No student meals. Instead, it is more expensive, and I get charged an extra fee for going to school online! My tuition is 3 times as much and my “Online Course Fee” is $175. Still, I love the convenience.

This is one of those moments in life when you wonder if you have made a huge mistake. I really like going to college online, and it is so convenient. Alas, it is much more expensive, and I really need a new car. Well, I can live without a new one for the moment, and I do have a job interview soon! Wish me luck. 

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*Microsoft Windows 2007 Template

We are often required to write term papers for online college courses. Some of my term papers have been over things like VRML and Windows 7. I enjoy writing papers because it can prove very interesting. There are some resources on the web that can help you tremendously when it comes to writing papers for your online college courses.

For instance, I hate the tedious task of citation. Citing all your work for your online college course term paper can prove very time consuming and repetitive with room for lots of error. CitationCenter.net offers a great citation generator for free. Plug in the values for your source in 3 or four easy to follow steps and a citation will be generated for you. This is a great, time-saving tool that all online college students should be able to utilize to their advantage.

Next, Microsoft Word offers some great professional looking templates that offer pre-formed quotations, titles, and  sub-titles to really make your paper look like a winner even if the content is weak. There is nothing like a great template to distract your teacher from content! In any case, it at least makes the paper appear professional. Microsoft Word templates can be downloaded for free and are excellent tools for Microsoft Office users. OpenOffice.org also has a few templates available for online college students.

Finally, another great resource for your online course term paper information is Internet Search Engines. Google, Dogpile, and Bing offer great search engine results for reliable content. Google searches for reliable content for your online college paper can be performed using the “Advanced Search” option to the right of the Google input box. You can filter your search results by date and only include files in .pdf format for some reliable results that can be paraphrased and cited for your online college paper. I use dogpile.com for searching sites that are not .com sites. This provides more reliable, less biased results. Once again, use the “Advanced Search” link right below the input box and specify that you would like to exclude the .com domain. Many relevant, unsponsored search results should appear. Bing  is also great for previewing search results. Instead of following all the links to see the content, you can preview a small portion of the content before viewing the entire page saving you tons of time in preparing your online coursework.

Using all of these great online resources should help you to produce a great paper for your online college course that meets your professor’s specifications. 

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I routinely Google my answers to online college homework. Sometimes Google provides you with tutorials, hints, and even direct answers. The temptation is definitely there to recreate the answer as your own. Is this illegal? Some college guidelines say so. At Clayton State University, the guidelines are as follows:

Academic Conduct Defined

Only cases involving misconduct are adjudicated as violations of the Student Conduct Code.  Cases in which a student questions a grade assignment and raises questions regarding objectivity, competence, judgement, etc. are handled via the Grade and Academic Appeal Policy.

Any type of activity that is considered dishonest by reasonable standards may constitute academic misconduct. The most common forms of academic misconduct are cheating and plagiarism.  Examples include:

1. Submitting material as original when it is, in fact, copied from another person or from another source, without properly acknowledging that source.
2. Using information or devices that are not authorized by faculty such as formulas or data from a computer program, calculators, or unauthorized material for an out-of-class exam or project.
3. Obtaining or using unauthorized material such as a copy of an examination before it is given.
4. Fabricating information such as data for a laboratory report.
5. Collaborating with others on an assignment without faculty consent.
6. Cooperating with or helping another student to cheat.
7. Having another person take an examination or altering exam answers and requesting an exam be re-evaluated.

Click for Source

So, at Clayton State University, my solution is to cite my sources and paraphrase the answer. This seems to be legal. You must be careful. To me, this is a very tough online college dilemma. Most online college courses are on the computer anyway, why not Google?

Cheating in the college classroom is quite common.

“Who’s Who Among American High School Students found that 80% of a recent group of 700,000 top students admitted to cheating.”

Cheating ranges from writing on body parts during exams to turning in full papers written by someone else. One method cites that two students should tag team, and while one raises his or hand, the other pulls out their crib sheets and gets to work.

Click here for source.

Still, is Googling the answer cheating? Shouldn’t Google and the Web be considered fair game. Even if the answers to your teaching material are published online? Often one professor publishes the answers to another professor’s assignment. Is this any different than copying straight from the textbook? To Google or not to Google…

Here is the answer from the viewpoint of one of my professors (keep in mind that you may want to ask your professor if you have any questions concerning individual assignments as different professors and colleges often have differing viewpoints):

“Well, my first thought is that you should not be able to find an exact answer for an open-book assignment by simplying searching the web. If you can just google the web to find an answer, it implies that the problems did not force you to think/apply/calculate/articulate in order to get the answers.

On the issue of whether or not an action of obtaining an answer from the web is considered cheating, I would say it depends on whether the assigned work is open-book or close-book. If it is an open-book assignment, quiz, or exam, then everything is fair game, otherwise you should only be able to use whatever that is already in your memory.

While citation (of the Internet sources) makes sure that you should not be accused of plagiarizing, it can be overdone in many cases if you are not careful. I believe most (if not all) assignments are meant to foster your thought and/or creativity. Thus, looking for info on the web is ok, but you should digest the info and synthesize your answer and put it in your own words. Simply paraphasing the info and citing the sources are akin to regurgitation of a baby hearing the words "dada" from his/her dad. It doesn’t show that you learned anything.

Anyhow, that is just my two cents on this off-topic stuff. There are official guidelines about this somewhere. You can ask an advisor at your school for more info. “

I hope this helps you to get  a good feel of the guidelines and ethics of Googling answers.

Have you been caught cheating or accused of plagiarism? Check out this article for how to protect yourself from plagiarism charges:
http://plagiarism-defence.tripod.com/

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