Distance Education Universities Are Becoming More and More Prevalent

With the internet, the world has become a much smaller place, and that certainly extends to the academic world. There are more distance education universities available to prospective students than at any other time in history. I currently have three friends who are taking advantage of the convenience of distance education universities and said they could not imagine getting their educations any other way. They have told me that while it does take discipline to complete their courses, they really enjoy this option.

The University of Phoenix is really the first of the distance education universities that I remember starting to advertise seriously for its services. I know a number of people who have decided to pursue a degree from this university and have been quite happy with the results. They have told me that they have received a great education and said they did not have a difficult time finding a job once they had graduated. They told me that they it was very convenient for them for a couple of reasons and said they were glad they made the decision to go that route.

One of the big things that I always hear about distance education universities is that they are very convenient for people who have a lot of time constraints. It allows them to work on their own when they have the time rather than feel constrained by a set schedule. A lot of people really like that idea. Another thing that I hear about such universities is that their students do not have to worry about a commute each day, which they would have to do if they were attending a traditional university.

I currently have three co-workers who attended distance education universities who said they were a bit concerned when they tried to hire on with our employer. They said they were not sure how a distance education school would be viewed in the eyes of our employer, but said they did not hear anything negative at all and said that they were offered jobs on their first interviews. That was when it really hit me that not only are distance education universities becoming more prevalent, but that they are also more respected than they once were.

Distance education universities appear to be the wave of the future. Even traditional universities are offering a lot more distance education plans. It's not that I think that the traditional university will ever go away entirely, but I do believe that distance education is a nice option to have. I know that a lot of my co-workers and friends agree with that.

What are the Foundations of Education?

When trying to determine what the building blocks of education actually are these days, people are going to have different opinions. When I was growing up, all I heard about were the three R's: reading, writing and arithmetic. I always found it humorous that only one of those three actually began with the letter R, especially since we were talking about a quality education, but there is a great point to this. The foundations of education are based on those three areas, and it is easy to see why.

I have always said that the most important aspect of a quality education is to have good reading skills. Reading is definitely one of the foundations of education, because it permeates every other aspect of learning. In other words, in order to be able to understand a difficult equation in math or to prove a really complicated scientific theorem, one has to have the ability to read. In order to learn about the history of the world and appreciate the arts and culture of various societies, one has to have solid reading skills.

Then there is math. Math is involved in practically every aspect of our lives and for that reason, it is one of the foundations of education that should be taught well. It does not matter if we are at the grocery store, if we are balancing our check books, or if we are trying to keep a score card at a ball game; math is necessary, and that is always what has struck me the most. We use math at work, in our leisure activities and in practically every other facet of our lives on a regular basis.

Of all of the foundations of education, writing is my probably my favorite. I have been writing since the age of 15 and it is something very near and dear to my heart. Writing, along with speaking, is how we communicate with others. I have found as I have continued to work that the ability to communicate with good writing skills is one of the keys to success. Strong writing skills should be cultivated early and nourished with frequent activities that include writing. If one can communicate effectively through the written word, the sky is the limit.

The foundations of education may be different for different people, but to me, the most important components are reading, math and writing. I truly believe that there is a reason that these have always been emphasized before anything else, and they are critical to a well-rounded education. While other subjects at school are certainly important, these three serve as the basis for everything else in school.