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Students Benefit From Distance Learning Courses

It used to be the fodder of comedies about the country kid coming to the big city to make his future. What many may not realize is it underscored something that is endemic of the 20th Century, i.e., rural settings have struggled for years to provide career opportunities for their children. Unless they are going into agriculture, when country kids graduate from high school they can't find jobs around their home towns. Many times they have to move even to go to college, which also tends to center in metropolitan areas. Some demographic experts call this out-migration. This is changing and a student can now earn anything up to and including a distance learning phd.

That was the 20th century, this is the 21st. There is now a solution: online education. Rural students are choosing to earn their associates degree online through online universities. This solution comes with a side benefit; graduates greatly improve their employment prospects while they stay in the comforts of their home environment.

Considerable research has been published showing college graduates have a leg up when entering the work force. Further, human resource directors testify online graduates come with honed skills that set them up to be exemplary employees. These skills include an understanding of time management, refined self-motivation skills and considerable technological experience.

A part of the problem is that a lot of rural areas just don't have access to high speed Internet. The essential communications infrastructure hasn't moved beyond dial-up modems. Online education requires at least DSL, T-Line or similar to work effectively. Broadband also allows students to hookup from anywhere within district limits, whether it's home, the library or a laundromat. Going broadband also allows students real-time communications with their teachers and fellow classmates. If that isn't enough, many companies who need personnel in these areas want personnel who can stay in their district, but report through telecommuting.

There is another factor making virtual education attractive: cost. Virtual schools, on the average, cost much less than their on campus counterparts, even if advanced education is still expensive. This can be tough for rural areas, which are more likely to be economically challenged than their suburban and urban students. At the same time, there are other cost-saving factors such as not having to pay for a dormitory room, commuting back and forth from school and eating at home.

Going to an online college is a way to drive that cost down, since these students also have financial difficulties that force them to choose between work and school. Many online students can continue to work at their jobs by day and take classes over computers at night.

This does leave one last challenge. A final obstacle for new users, especially rural ones, may not have the physical tools necessary for online bachelor degree programs. Many rural kids are not accustomed to communicating with peers and teachers they aren't within eyesight of. That picture is changing though. More and more kids are finding e-learning as a fact of life. Millions of kids between kindergarten and high school today are either fully online or taking blended online/in person classes.

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It can even mean that going to the big city is a road that doesn't need be taken. Many will go on in their education into distance learning programs, allowing them basically global employment. Whether associate or bachelors degree, online education is a large part of the future.

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