Online Degree a Boon

Online degree courses can be described as a boon in today’s competitive world. Benefits of online degree are numerous. Online degrees are counted as realistic mode of improving the career profile. Benefits of online degree become even more time saving for those who are working full-time.

Advantages of online learning

• Mode of communication: One gets the opportunity to work synchronously as well as asynchronously with their group members.
• Flexibility: The online courses save your time. It gives the students the privilege to participate from any place, may be from their home or place of work.
• Access: Online courses serve those students who live in distant places and can not attend regular classes.
• Choice: Online courses offer the students varied choices regarding subjects and courses. online courses are very specific, task related courses catering to the working crowd
• Realization of the advantages of the web: It is only through the websites the study materials are provided to the students. Students interact and improve their understanding about the study material through websites. It is over the Internet the courses are taught to the students. This helps in broadening the horizon with internet
• Collaborative: The instructor and the students communicate online. The online degree courses enhance collaborative learning that uses the interactive style. This improves understanding and This makes learners responsible for their own learning

To sum up, online degree courses provides more scope regarding diversity of opinion as everyone gets a chance for interacting. In online courses, students get more time to think and present their comments unlike the traditional classes frame it differently. Online degrees have proven as a boon to employers of recent times as it gives them the opportunity to learn and work at the same time.

Link for online courses in India.

http://www.smartdegrees.com/

Concept mapping- A critical learning strategy

Concept mapping- A critical learning strategy

The term ‘Concept mapping’ has been known to all of us. But little do we know that their origin lies in David Ausubel's theories about the psychology of learning from the 1960s. Concept maps were born out of the constructivist theory of learning, which holds that the learner constructs or builds his/her own knowledge, as opposed to the previous notion of knowledge as something that was acquired through direct transfer from books or experts.

In the constructivist theory of learning, information can be acquired, but knowledge is pieced together only through the incorporation of new information or ideas into the framework of the learner’s existing knowledge (Cheek, 1992).

The objective of making a concept map is to represent the relationships between concepts. A visual map is created which helps students to understand the connections between concepts.

Joseph D. Novak describes concept maps as: "Tools for organizing and representing knowledge. They include concepts, usually enclosed in circles or boxes of some type, and relationships between concepts or propositions, indicated by a connecting line between two concepts".

The concept map is an effective teaching tool that can be fun, interactive, and effective. It can be used in a variety of settings. It is an innovative teaching and learning tool that engages the learner and prepares the learner for future decision-making in a complex and diverse environment.

Concept maps allow the learners to

(1) See the connections between ideas they already have,

(2) Connect new ideas to knowledge that they already have, and

(3) Organize ideas in a logical but not rigid structure that allows future information or viewpoints to be included.

Unless there is understanding, we may only commit unassimilated data to short-term memory and no meaningful learning will occur. Meaningful learning is most likely to occur when information is presented in a potentially meaningful way and the learner is encouraged to link new ideas to the old (All & Havens, 1997). Concept mapping is an effective teaching and learning method for promoting critical thinking. It is an excellent way to evaluate students' critical thinking because it is a visual representation of our thinking.

Following are some useful links which will help us in creating different concept maps.

• SmartDraw (http://www.smartdraw.com/specials/flowchart.asp)
• Concept Draw (http://www.conceptdraw.com/en/products/mindmap/main.php)
• SMART Ideas (http://www.smarttech.com/products/smartideas/index.asp)
• Inspiration (http://www.inspiration.com/productinfo/Inspiration/index.cfm)
• Knowledge Manager (http://www.knowledgemanager.us/KM-KnowledgeManager-eng.htm)