You know you're onto something hot when you look over your
shoulder and see Donald Trump smiling with the same idea. I could not have been happier.
Ah, but wait, I'm getting ahead of my story.
A hundred years ago school was serious
stuff. Everything had to be memorized. Students wrote on stone slates with slate pencils.
In one-room schoolhouses they were seated by grade; boys on one side, girls on the other.
Discipline was strict and punishments prompt. All students walked home or in rare cases,
rode horses.
Today, children go to school by bus to
modern buildings. Every class has a different teacher who is stationary in their own
classrooms. Discipline is slack and laws make punishment nearly void. The only serious
concern students have is their threads and popularity. The dropout rate is blamed on
indifference or pregnancy, not the old reason of "needed on the farm"
Three years ago, a pilot program
implemented by a school district in Salem, Oregon created a new vehicle for learning in
their community. This online high school served an eclectic group of teenagers from
dropouts to brainiacs, and of course the popular "home schoolers". All students
accessed courses on the Internet, submitted their homework assignments via email and
communicated with their teachers by phone as needed.
This is one example of providing
alternative learning options for kids today and is a great safety net for at-risk
students. Allowed to work at their own pace, they are closely supervised to make sure they
attend their cyber classes on a regular basis. Real benefits include attending classes at
any time of the day, seven days a week.
This a excellent opportunity for teen
parents or medically challenged students when traditional learning options haven't worked.
When the kids finish high school and begin planning their continued education a new idea
is coming into fruition: Webucation!
Most new terms beginning with Web- have
been short lived but Webucation is showing signs of survival. Distance Learning is an idea
seen to have great potential and has the close attention of nearly all educational
institutions. Everyone is clamoring to be in the right place at the right time.
It would seem that the the one-room
schoolhouse has been reborn. These days it is in the dining room, upstairs guest-room, or
the converted garage. Some of the students are teen parents but there are an increasing
number of stay-at-home moms and jobless dads. Add to this the thousands of nine-to-fivers
who feel their jobs are shaky at best.
If you saw this trend coming, as did Donald
Trump publishing Trump University online, you would definitely be in the right place at
the right time. Public education needs a lot of help and this may well be in the form of
web-based education. I can think of fifty reasons why this would be advantageous for
primary and high school grades, but in this case it still has miles to go.
Career courses are exploding as this trend
matures and becomes the next billion-dollar industry. Villanova, Tulane, Notre Dame are
only a few offering degrees online boasting: "accelerated, affordable, accredited,
anytime training, anywhere knowledge". Streaming video lectures - just watch and
listen to Professors on CDs and review as many times as desired. Learning doesn't get any
easier than this.
Fortunes were made selling shovels to the
gold rush miners. Obviously you don't have to have quality material that would make online
courses worth publishing... sell the shovels, or in this case sell the courses. Hard to
sell? Not at all! On-the-job experience doesn't go half the distance of a degree or
certificate. Demand for skilled professionals has never been greater than it is today.
The idea of Webucation appeals to busy
adults. It is perfect because unlike conventional courses with set time schedules they
will be buying courses the other way around; adjusting them to fit their spare time. And
all from the comfort of home or on the go. With a degree or certificate in hand they will
be a much sought-after skilled professional and their earning potential increased tenfold.
Here's a bonus: sell these educational
courses and take advantage of that by getting certified yourself. While you certainly can
make a fortune selling the "shovels" it doesn't hurt to arm yourself with new
wisdom on how to use this new wealth. A degree in Financial Planning, Tax Preparation or
Real Estate will make you the person to see in a crowded room.
And if money talks you'll make great
conversation.
© Esther Smith 2005
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