The Other 85 Percent

Daniel A Michaud Says:

As a product of distance learning/alternative education, this area of education at the collegiate level is growing and will continue to grow in the near future as society continues to age especially among the baby boomers. Having earned a bachelors through Charter Oak State College, a masters through New York Institute of Technology and now pursuing a doctrate through Capella, I find that this alternate method of higher education is not for everyone but if one can organize the assignments and discussions around their busy lives, it can be done;I am a testament to what can be accomplished in the field of distance learning education. Today as society continues aging there are many individuals who could not attend a traditional university but now they can continue their education through many non traditional education facilities. My feelings are so strong regarding this field of alternate education, that I plan on doing my dissertation on this growing and important field of higher collegiate education. Immediate goals for myself are to be able to secure an online adjunct position at any of the many universities offering this wonderful method of education. This is my calling, to be able to spread the word and help others to embrace this new way of learning.

Daniel A Michaud
Capella PhD learning class of 2009 in Non Profit Management.

February 7th, 2008 at 9:31 am

Dave Balch Says:

What a great idea. This will join my bookmarks and I will check regularly.

I would like to see some information about completion rates for PhD candidates and between “traditional” and “non-traditional” learners.
Dave

February 7th, 2008 at 12:43 pm

Dr. Jackie Brewer Says:

I spent 10 years going part-time to get an associates degree the traditional way. Between work and family there was not any time left to pursue a bachelor’s degree the traditional way, so I stopped going to school. Ten years passed and I learned about a new online program at Ottawa University, so I started going to school in a program designed for adults. I finished my bachelor’s and master’s through their blended online program in four years and headed to Capella for a Ph.D.

Obtaining my doctorate at Capella was an incredible experience where I learned to combine real life experience with theory and practice to forge ahead to research a new and uncharted area of county government. It’s been my personal observation as a learner and a faculty member that Capella does a remarkable job of developing programs where learners can gain skills and knowledge needed in the workplace. They put into practice through projects rather than writing papers based only on theory.

Transparency by Design is a wonderful initiative that builds on the foundation Capella has already built into their programs across all the colleges. It reflects well on the fundamental belief that the design of the programs should help learners obtain a solid education that is practical and useful in the workplace. I certainly found that to be true by retiring from state government six months after receiving my doctorate from Capella and embarking on an entirely new career path in higher education that I had been working toward by teaching online part-time.
Thanks,
Jackie Brewer, Ph.D
2006 graduate

February 7th, 2008 at 12:56 pm

Margery Runyan Says:

At 58 years of age, I returned to higher education for my doctorate in Human Services. Given commuting between two homes, clinical practice, and volunteer work with addiction, on-line learning was the only practical possibility, and Capella was willing to transfer numerous credits from the MSW and MPA.

My background in human services ill-prepared me for the email and discussion world. The lack of body language has made misinterpretation more likely. The phone calls are heard one way by the Capella staff and another by myself. The sheer weight of faculty projection onto learners has reminded me powerfully that learners are still considered the underclass if not on skateboards, then at least presumed less competent. If I could meet these individuals face to face, the playing field would be leveled and the tone would be entirely different. On-line learning allows psychological distancing which is less effective in dealing with established professionals in the learner role.

Perhaps your faculty could be sensitized that the learners are not helpless before their superior power and prestige. The egotism that can accompany credentialism is passe in most professions. Servant leadership is the process that most of us over 25 have come to respect. Please do not interpret my comments as resistance, sarcasm, or disrespect. I am fully compliant with your program, administration and faculty.

Margery Runyan
Doctoral learner trying to finish in 2008 and told that given the process I will finish in 2009.

February 8th, 2008 at 10:28 am

Dr Geoffrey Laendner Says:

Hi, some thoughts on the article:

* The demand and therefore the market for training and education as described in the article has been experiencing an tremendous growth for at least the last ten to fifteen years. This demand will continue
to grow creating opportunities and challenges unheard of at present.

* The learners involved in the programs I teach in are moved by circumstances that are more personal in nature rather than global. It’s not that they do not appreciate the “global picture” but their focus is in the application of new learning to increase their chances of a raise, a new position or a new career.

* More even than costs of a degree or training. Being “time poor” is the greatest obstacle to a successful degree completion. Learners must continue to balance work, family, personal lives and education in a sometimes unstable and perhaps hostile environment.

* Learners in my experience expect more that just vocabulary and grammar of subject matter. For instance, they will seek professors or mentors that will guide them thru the assessment of an organization and the transfer, application, capitalization of new knowledge in their work environment. They will not tolerate for long its absence.

Dr. Geoff Laendner
Adjunct SOBT

February 8th, 2008 at 10:50 am

Dr. W. Sumner Davis Says:

I never started college until I was nearly 31. I attended “brick and mortar” colleges and grad schools for 12 years before starting my degree at Capella. As a graduate instructor myself, I know what makes for a good instructor- and what does not. Based on my three professors thus far at Capella, they are among the best. I may change my mind after the next course- but i very much doubt it. I am currently in the MS in Psychology program and very much enjoying the environment here.

February 9th, 2008 at 10:00 am

Sarah Williams-Tolliver Says:

As a community college educator I have observed firsthand the frustration and stress associated with traditional college methods. “The Other 85 Perscent” recognizes the need for an academic transformation in the way we define a traditional student, what their needs are, and how as educators of today can meet those needs.

February 11th, 2008 at 7:55 pm

Dr. Mark Ellis Says:

I think I will jump in on this.

My name is Dr. Mark Ellis and my dissertation was based almost entirely on organizational change within the confines of higher education. As such, I feel that Capella University has set the pace for high quality e-learning or on-line education. I come from a very traditional brick-and-mortar environment at both undergraduate and graduate levels. However, my Ph.D. was earned at Capella University.

The Ph.D. is primarily a research degree, therefore, I would have to suggest that Capella University is very similar to that of various cohort models at what would be categorized as traditional brick-and-mortar institutions. Doctoral students do not sit in a class eight hours a day as they are out and about doing the research required for the doctoral program.

The University, without a doubt, has given me the satisfaction of knowing that I completed a very rigorous Ph.D. journey. For those who are contemplating an online degree I encourage you to do so. Be warned, however… it will require more technical savvy and personal commitment to complete such a program beyond that of a traditional brick-and-mortar institution.

Regards,

Mark Ellis MBA, M.A., Ph.D.
Professor of business administration

February 15th, 2008 at 6:06 pm

Bill Frantz, Adjunct SOUS Says:

While the focus so far has been on personal stories, let me offer a perspective from a member of the “silent generation” who has observed a number of significant trends over the years. This perspective has been crystallized as I recently completed presenting a course in American History, “the American Experience since 1945″.

This course has allowed me and the learners to define strategic trend that have and are taking place. Let me jump to the most significant one that is currently changing the world that we live in (and will live in) that requires the best of the “other 85 percent” and can be satified through the approach that Capella University is taking for the future.

We can equate the creation and worldwide implementation of the Internet with the c1450 perfection of the printing press that allowed the subsequent literacy of the general population that changed the world at that time. I would consider the advent of the Internet an even greater event that offers a new literacy that will require significant national and international innovative efforts to stay abreast of a changing world. This can only be possible through the expansion of continuing education and making it possible to everyone including the other 85 percent!

Does anyone agree or are we whistling in the wind?

February 25th, 2008 at 8:42 am

Charlotte Babb Says:

The 85% of students attending a class through a college may include people who are only interested in training for a new career or upgrading skills, and not in a degree at all. Getting this training can lead to setting higher educational goals. Other students need the degree to move into management. In our C&CE division, classes range from half-day computer classes to 200 hour programs in advanced manufacturing, nursing and supervision.

We are developing courses than can be taken for credit while learing job skills, with programs that work with high school students through vocational education, continuing education, associate degrees, and transfer degrees.

As an adjunct for U. Phoenix, I see students who are in their thirties and forties catching up on a degree that they were not ready to pursue in their late teens. Many of them are much more successful than the traditional student because of their maturity and work experience. The delivery of the material online does not weaken the learning of the student, becuase it involves much more participation from the student. There is no back row in an online class.

February 26th, 2008 at 3:17 pm

Lisa Says:

I guess I am the opposite and only see this trend with 30 year olds and above. I regret not attending on campus for my PHD and sincerely wish I could transfer all my courses. I do not see a trend in online courses and many see it as a less challenging program. I consistently have to state its accreditted.
Many co-workers drive to the various campuses to complete their courses. I know value the time I spent earning my Master’s in the classroom. I met educators all over the state and we exchanged many new teaching innovative strategies. I think this was a fad that will soon pass because many online schools fail to keep their technology systems up to standards. I had a courses that the system was not allowing me to post and no it was not handled asap. It caused me to have a low grade and I went to several different computers so it was an in house system. Several of the people in my course could not even complete the end of the year evaluation. I thought to myself on campus this would not even be an issue.
I sent my son to a 4 year college on campus and its an experience I loved. I wanted my son to enjoy living away from home in a dorm and growing on his own. Keeping a senior home to work on a computer is something that most parents would not want for their child. So, this is something the 2nd degree parent, single mother, second or third career person would enjoy and thats it.
A people person such as myself this has been torture going to online school. If I could take all my classes and transfer I would leave today.

March 28th, 2008 at 3:11 pm