My Adventure in Online Learning Continues!

Yesterday marked the beginning of my second term at University of the People, an online school that bills itself as the “world’s first tuition-free online university”. My first term, in which I took the two mandatory introductory courses, was a great experience and I’m excited to continue this adventure.

Just for some background, I’ll explain my journey up to this point. My higher learning experience has been a long and arduous one – I was accepted into Brigham Young University after graduating high school and only attended one semester in Provo before returning home to start a family. Several years went by before I enrolled in Penn State World Campus, a similar online learning program. I took classes at Penn State for three semesters before dropping out to run for public office. I don’t regret what I did, but it probably wasn’t the best decision and I wound up owing a lot of money. Then UoP entered the picture. The idea of free online education seemed to good to be true and, in some ways, it is. UoP is not accredited so there is a chance that by the time I’m done, this will have just been a fun exercise and nothing more. But as I’ve grown older I have realized that learning shouldn’t be all about getting that dream job or making more money – learning should be continual and fun, and that’s what UoP offers at an extremely low cost. There is no tuition, but there is a registration fee and testing fees for final exams. When all is said and done I will have spent about $3,600 for four years of education – about 1/2 of what one semester at Penn State costs.

Anyway, I filled out the application (which was actually quite extensive) and had to wait for several months before finding out that I had been accepted. Students are only accepted into UoP if they have adequate English language skills, so the acceptance rate is fairly low. During my first term I completed the two introductory courses – one in Online Learning, and another in English Composition. I passed both with an A, of course

During my second term I will be studying Principles of Business Management and Business English, both of which are required for the Business Management degree program. I logged in this morning and was amazed at the diversity of students in the classes. For example, students in my Principles of Business Management class hail from countries like Pakistan, Albania, Singapore, Laos, Ghana, Cameroon, Japan, Canada, Haiti, and the United States. The instructor lives in France. Interacting with people from all over the world only makes the education better, in my opinion, as you get so many different perspectives.

Here’s hoping for another great term, and maybe some accreditation!

Look, I’m on Youtube!

Out here in the real world I have a job running student transportation for my local school district. So why not take this opportunity to show you all what a good job I’m doing! Seriously, watch this video and get a better idea about what I do and how important it is to run a safe and efficient transportation system. It ain’t easy.

Idea: Education Transformation Must Come First

Here in Pennsylvania, much of the General Assembly’s current focus is on education funding. As is usual, politics has become mingled with our students’ learning and individuals are finding themselves being drawn to one side of the debate or the other.

On one side, many Democrats see an increase in taxation and spending as the solution to the education funding problem.

On the other side, many Republicans see a decrease in taxation and spending – along with a voucher system – as the solution.

I won’t get into the finer details of either side’s argument, but what I would like to point out is that Pennsylvanians seem to be putting the proverbial cart before the horse when it comes to “fixing” our public schools. They see the symptoms – increasing violence, higher student/teacher ratios, falling test scores, higher drop-out rates, etc. – and they think that the system either needs more money or less money to get back on track.