All Degrees Created Equal?

"Busy at work and with family?  Want to further your education online??  Click now and expand your knowledge!"

How many times a day do you see these ads pop-up when surfing the web?  It seems that we are surrounded and immersed in one of the newest and most popular forms of distance education... online degrees.  Whether seeking a bachelor's degree or a MBA, achieving a degree online has become a popular way to receive an education while still keeping up with the hustle and bustle of everyday life.  It has made it easier on single parents, full-time working teens, and those with families to get the degree he or she desires.  However, how does our society really look at online degrees?  Many agree that online education and traditional education create two different experiences for students.  Ultimately, the question arises, when it comes to distance learning versus traditional learning, are all degrees created equal?

According to an article from universities.com, in 2000 most corporate managers felt that earning a graduate degree online was equivalent to earning a degree through traditional education.  This was a leap from when only half of corporate managers thought that the degrees were equal in 1989.  Basically, I think this shows how the negative stigmas and stereotypes of online degrees are fading from society.  As society becomes more technologically savvy, there is more acceptance for what is achieved through this technology.  Since the Internet is such an integral part of many Americans' lives, we have become trusting of it.  As our trust grows, so does our trust of the learning devices that are offered.  Gradually our trust has turned into a kind of respect.  We respect those who know how to use the Internet efficiently, because we realize that the Internet is not some fad that is going to disappear.  The Internet is here to stay and as our trust grows, we become more aware of the opportunities it offers.  We also become more respectful of those who pursue the opportunities available.  In effect, the popularity, attainability and respectability of online degrees has increased.

Growing up in a rural area, with a high school that had limited classes that used the Internet as a tool for curriculum, I think I've become prejudice against online degrees.  The few people I know who do cyber-schooling often comment on how easy their schoolwork is to complete. Even when talking in my electronic communications class recently, a student pointed out that when taking a test online, a person could simply look up answers in his or her books and receive high marks.  This had led me to believe that online degrees are not as valuable as ones achieved in a traditional sense.  However, as we began discussing and learning about online degrees in my electronic communications class, I've realized that it is not so much the method of achieving the degree, but more so the person working to achieve it.

Different people work different ways.  To take classes online, a person needs to be more self driven than a person who goes to a class daily and is driven by professors to complete work.  If a person is introverted, they may feel more comfortable responding to a professor's question online because he or she has time to contemplate an answer.  However, if a student prefers verbal communication over written, he or she may struggle with an online class.

Are all degrees created equal?  In reality, that is a question of opinion.  Although, if the facts are examined, I think it is intelligent to say that whether a degree is achieved online or on-campus, there are challenges that a student has to overcome.  Honestly, there are a lot of aspects that factor into which is better, but as our world becomes more and more reliant on the Internet, it will also become more and more accepting of the online education offered.

Faceless Bullies

Cyberbulling.  I bet that many people have never even heard of the word or know what it means.  I never paid much attention to it myself until it was recently being discussed in my electronic communications class.  I am almost 20 years-old, so I guess I figured that cyberbulling will most likely never affect me.  I have privacy settings on all of my online networks, I don't IM or chat with people I don't know and I'm cautious about who I give my online information out to.  I restrict my online information and am mature enough not to respond to bullying on the internet.  I never thought that cyberbulling would affect me until I read this article.

Ryan Patrick Halligan was a 13 year-old boy, an average 13 year-old boy who was affected by online bullying.  I think it is pretty impossible to read this mother's story without being touched.  She loved her son and knew he was bullied, but had no idea as to the extent of the online torture he endured.  In the end, this cruelty coupled with his depression led him to end his life.  

We watched a video or two in class about cyberbullying, but the victims who told their stories or talked about the effects of the bullying, in my opinion, did not seem overly traumatized by what had happened.  The shock of Ryan's story, along with other similar stories, is what really opened my eyes to the horror of this kind of bullying.

I have a younger sister, she's in high school and one of the most sincere people I know.  If anyone asked I would definitely say that we are close, but I'm not naive enough to think that she tells me everything.  What I do know is that she gets picked on at school sometimes.  People make fun of her for being a bookworm and an athlete, or mistake her shyness for being stuck-up.  I also know that she has AIM, she has a MySpace, that she spends a decent amount of time on the computer, and that she is a vulnerable adolescent.  After reading Ryan's story and his mother's lack of knowledge about cyberbullies previous to his death, it made me realize cyberbulling could still play a prevalent role in my life.  According to the video we watched in my class a large percent of kids say that they have been bullied online.  It is a strong possibility that my sister could be one of those victims, and if she is, who is to say that something similar couldn't happen to her like it did to Ryan.

I'm not saying, in any way shape or form, that I think my younger sister is about to end her life, but I am saying that I don't know that she isn't bullied online.  I'm saying that those cheesy safety rules you hear about when it comes to being safe online, really aren't so cheesy when you realize that they're smart to follow.  I'm saying that you don't know how someone will react if they are harassed online.  What I am saying is, that cyberbulling affects everyone, whether they know it or not, and it has to stop.  Gone are the days where kids are beat up for their lunch money.  Let's not waste our time saying hello to the faceless cyberbullies making kids fear the technology our society is infatuated with.  Let us, instead focus our efforts on saying goodbye to this new and maybe most harmful form of bullying.

what r u doin/What are you doing?

Right now and for the rest of this blog I will be using my best grammar.  There are commas, capitalized letters, and hopefully no misspelled words.  However, no less than 15 seconds ago I sent a text message that had multiple sentences using no capitalization and abbreviated words that my grandpa would probably refer to as a bunch of garbage that makes no sense.  I don't think I am an unintelligent person, so why do I naturally use incorrect grammar when social networking?

Recently, I read an article in USA Today called Plugging in, tuning out.  Like many professors, Don Campbell, the writer, has fear for how social networking is affecting my generation.  I wasn't surprised to find his concern over students' lack of thirst for knowledge, or how he feels that they are less educated and prefer not to read.  What did awaken my interest was another point he made.  Basically, he said that people my age don't feel the need to use proper grammar in most situations.  Unless a student is writing for a class, he or she is most likely not checking or caring how written work is composed. Campbell also claims that youth craves the structure and "rewards of good writing."    If this is all true, which comparing it to my life I'd say it is, then why don't people take the few extra seconds on facebook or texting to construct a proper sentence?  I don't like to be considered a stupid person, but typing "what r u doin" in a text message can not possibly make me sound intelligent.  Am I really that concerned with time that I can't add the five extra letters to make the latter sentence constructive?  And if it is not a time issue, then what is stopping me from writing like I was taught to?

When I was in fifth grade, people started using AIM.  I don't even remember what my first screen name was, but I do remember that I thought I was ridiculously cool for having one.  Eventually my buddy list grew and I became obsessed with talking to friends.  I was at a new school and I wanted more than anything to fit in.  When people started IMing me, I imitated how and what they typed.  My intention isn't to be dramatic about my childhood and how I was peer pressured into bad grammar, but in a small way it is true.  I wanted to be like the cool kids and if the cool kids were typing "sup" or "ttyl" online, I was typing it too.  I would have to say this is where my social networking grammar came from.  It came from peer pressure and after a while it became more of a habit.  Now that I'm a little older and don't care as much what people think, I could probably switch to using proper grammar, but I have to admit that habits are hard to break.

What strikes me as somewhat amusing is how I felt that I was peer pressured into my abbreviations and terrible spelling, when in my electronic communications class we have been discussing how most people have more confidence when social networking.  Then I realized that this is because we were talking about people who are only communicating through computer mediated communication.  When I was IMing my new friends at my new school it was computer mediated communication, but there was also face-to-face communication.  The mixture of both types of communication created an odd balance between my confidence level at school and my confidence level when talking to someone I only knew on an online basis.  I still felt pressure to fit in, the grammar I use being an example of that, but it was also easier to get to know people better.  I wasn't afraid to say what I thought or what I liked.  The fact that I couldn't see a person's reaction gave me more confidence to be honest.

In the end, Plugging in, tuning out gave me some interesting food for thought.  I try not to go around speaking like someone who doesn't know what they're talking about, so maybe I should start using this technique for typing too.  If I want people to take me seriously, then I seriously need to start typing like a grown up.  Secondly, it gave me a way to directly relate to my electronic communication class.  All week we've been talking about differences between CMC and face-to-face communication.  Now I have a personal example to relate to and can realize how they both affect me, sometimes at the same time.

Buffy and the Internet

Everyday millions of people click open a browser and explore the world of online social networking.  Checking e-mails, facebook, MySpace, and online dating websites have become routine for many, especially the young technologically savvy generation.  It is not uncommon to have the ability to google a person and find out where they live, how old they are, what they look like and what they're interested in.  Although a great deal of this newfound power is beneficial, how much danger comes with it?

Recently in class we viewed an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which had a story line that centered around the dangers of social networking on the Internet.  Although it is beyond farfetched that a horrible monster, who escaped from a book and is wreaking havoc on vulnerable minds  through the school's computer network, is in existence, there is a valid point behind the plot.  The show's writers and producers make viewers question their online choices.  For example, during this particular episode the character Willow becomes involved with a boy named Malcolm over the Internet.  Buffy becomes wary of Malcolm and worries he is not who he says he is.  In the end it turns out that Malcolm is actually a demon who was playing on Willow's insecurities and vulnerabilities to manipulate her for his own benefit.  Naturally, Buffy saves the day and Willow realizes how susceptible one can be when online.  She assumed that since she was telling the truth about herself online, others were doing the same.

This episode of Buffy shows how playing with the Internet is like playing with fire.  There is no proof that a person in a chat room for dog lovers really loves dogs, or that a profile picture on someone's MySpace is actually that person.  Hence a major flaw in the security of the internet and the danger of not having face-to-face communication.  A predator may not be able to steal someone's identity online, but it would not be hard for a predator to lie and manipulate in order to gain power over someone unsuspecting.

Using the Internet is like everything else in life, there are pros and cons.  What is scary is the severity of each.  The Internet is an easy trap for predators to use, and for those not watching their step it is an easy place to become prey.