Online degrees. How do those in charge know the person "behind the computer/signed up for the class" is actually the person doing the work?

I think on-line education is great.   You can have a Skype portion of each class where you have to present yourself in person.   There are ways to talk for free on the internet and see the other person on the screen.  You have to present your signature over the internet (they have ways) and fraud is fraud.  You cannot represent yourself legally in some field where proof of classes taken is expected and you go show a fake representation.  You may slide by, but if you don't know the material, who have you really harmed?  You probably won't keep a job. 

I am very comfortable studying this way by internet.  

The only problem is if the computer doesn't download information correctly.  I am in the process of taking some exams online now and I am going nuts because I cannot get my password to be accepted and I have to keep trying.   That kind of thing SUCKS.

Besides that, it is very convenient.  I've had enough of school.  I've spent twice as much time in school as most people.   I've had it with classrooms as a way of life.  I've had it with driving.  I do, however,  like interaction with the teachers.

But the Skype idea may solve that issue.



This post was edited by WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH at February 27, 2018 7:02 PM MST

I did this with dental assisting, which seems really crazy when you think about it. It was mostly online, but we'd also send things back and forth in the mail and I received boxes of supplies to work with. For one module, they sent me x-rays I had to mount and mail back. For another, they sent me all the materials I needed to take impressions and make models at home. It was really intensive. However, throughout the program, I did have to go to the college for proctored tests. They'd check my ID before I could test. At the end, there were two weekends in which we all had to meet up to demonstrate what we had learned. Ultimately, they could not prove I was the one doing my work, but if it had not been me, I wouldn't have been able to pass my tests. I think that's no different than any other type of learning. I could pay someone to do my work for me or have my friends write my assignments, but when it comes down to demonstrating what I've learned during finals, the fact that I wasn't the one doing the work would become glaringly obvious. 

I did the dental assisting school online more than a decade ago, so it's not anything new. I'm also taking online classes now. It's absolutely essential for me. I'm a single mom with a career already. If I had to follow a traditional study model, I could not attend school. Period. Online learning not only works for me, but is my preferred model. 

they dont

There is nothing new in this, as it's essentially the Internet version of correspondence-courses.

This is similar to Britain's "Open University", which before the near-universality of the Internet enhanced its printed teaching material with weekly televised lectures & demonstrations. To the pleasant surprise of the OU and the BBC, these attracted a sizeable additional audience of people not taking a course, but having lay interests in particular subjects covered!

The OU still uses tutorials and (where applicable) field-trips or other practical sessions, in which lecturers and students meet in person. I don't know how it manages the exams - I imagine you take them along with full-time university students in the same subject.

I have a friend who gained his PhD in a geological topic as a retirement hobby - he met his supervisor from time to time but by and large worked on it at home and in field-trips he organised with friends having the same interest but not actually studying it formally.