by Ysolt Usigan
You’re ready for a new career. But, like most adults in the workforce, you don’t have the disposable income to quit your job and go back to school to get certified. Without the opportunity to do both, you feel like you’re at a standstill – you’ll be stuck at your current job with nowhere else to go.
If you think you’ve exhausted all of your options, consider Scott and Jennifer Finney-Ellison, a husband and wife learning team. For better or worse, the couple decided that becoming a teacher through an alternative certification route was the best way to achieve their career goals. They found that not only did an online nontraditional teacher preparation program enable them to earn a salary or stipend during their career transitions, their schedules were accommodated and earlier academic preparation and life experience were applied to their end goals.
In fact, they not only support each other in their life as a married couple, but as distance learning “classmates” as well.
Well, not quite. Scott Ellison received his master’s degree online from Walden University first. His wife, Jennifer Finney-Ellison, followed in his footsteps.
Scott realized the benefits of distance learning early on and encouraged his wife to try it out for herself. “I have and will continue to recommend the online medium to people looking to obtain master’s degrees who already have careers, families, and other obligations,” says the 37-year-old computer technology teacher. “The online model allows people with busy lives to continue their education for learning, monetary, and other gains.”
Looking back, both Scott and Jennifer could not have imagined a better method of learning. In fact, one of Scott’s first classes began while the couple was expecting their third child. “Although he had to devote a significant amount of time to studying, it was comforting and convenient to have him at home while he ‘attended’ classes,” the mother of three recalls.
Scott thinks back and reveals one disadvantage: lack of sleep. “I [did] my coursework at night after the kids were asleep. I lost a lot of sleep during the program,” he points out. “But, it was the best thing for my family.”
A year after Jennifer gave birth to their youngest son, she enrolled at Walden University. “The prospect of commuting to the local university on a weekly basis was unappealing to me,” she explains. “At the time, our three sons were ages 5, 3, and 1. The thought of all the preparations I’d have to make just to get out the door to attend classes was one of the reasons I pursued an online program.”
Jennifer, like most first-time online learners, felt anxious from time to time. Cyber learning is different than the traditional classroom experience most adults remember, and it can leave some students feeling lonely. Fortunately, Scott was there every step of the way to ease his wife’s online apprehension. “I was available to answer her questions and provide guidance, which helped her early on in the program when things were still fresh and new,” Scott says. It was like Jennifer had a peer classmate right in her own home.
With Scott’s help, Jennifer embraced the benefits of distance learning. “I could ‘attend’ video lectures at any time of the day. I could also post replies to class discussions at any time as long as I had Internet access,” she attests. “Seasonal breaks do not occur, so I could continue from one course to the next seamlessly and without interruption.”
While face-to-face interaction is not present in online learning, communication tends to be even more reliable than what traditional students are used to. Online, Jennifer found that she could easily access her instructors, leave replies for classmates, and generally receive timely, succinct responses. Her brick-and-mortar bachelor’s degree program experience, on the other hand, left something to be desired. “The experience was rather impersonal at times either due to large class sizes; infrequent opportunities to share, discuss, and refute ideas; or the aloof or preoccupied nature of some instructors or professors,” says the elementary school teacher. “My postgraduate experiences in the credential program at Walden, however, were different – classes consisted of a smaller group with similar goals, and I had more meaningful and frequent interaction and discourse with classmates, instructors, and professors.”
Cyber learning is also efficient, Jennifer says. “All expectations and policies are laid out up front, and they remain consistent throughout the program, regardless of the instructor,” she recalls. “The program at Walden left little room for vagueness.”
When asked to compare the online classroom to the traditional one, Scott replies, “There is very little to compare because the programs are so vastly different. I would have done poorly in the online program as an undergraduate because I was not focused enough to get what I needed from the online program.”
With that word of caution, before jumping into an online program – whether it’s for your education certification or anything else, for that matter – ask yourself, “Am I ready for this?” and “Will I excel in this type of program at this stage in my life?”
If the answer is yes, anticipate the advancements in store. “My online degree has [skyrocketed] me to the top of the salary placement schedule in my district, plus assisted in expanding the scope and depth of my state teaching credential,” Scott says.
Not to mention forging a new marital bond with his wife.
© 2006 Classes USA, Inc. All rights reserved.
You must be logged in to post a comment.