Business leaders in all different industries are already integrating the technology into their working practices. In fact, 91.5% of leading businesses are investing in AI going forward, so teachers should feel confident embracing it themselves. 

Understanding how to get the most out of this technology will enable you to refresh your teaching methods and optimize performance in the digital classroom. This guide will explore some of the ways in which AI is revolutionizing the online education landscape for modern educators.  

Producing teaching materials 

When lessons take place online, it’s all the more important that the materials used are clear and impactful, since you’ll be relying less on your body language and style of delivery to engage the class. Unfortunately, bringing the key information to life can be a drawn-out process that takes teachers away from their core responsibilities. This is where generative AI can be so helpful. 

There are so many ways to leverage AI in this area. It could be something as simple as using it to design a more eye-catching presentation, utilizing AI-generated content and graphics to make the topic more engaging to students. Or, teachers also have the opportunity to gamify their lessons, using tools like ClassPoint AI or Quizziz to break up the lessons and check students’ progress. By leveraging AI effectively, teachers can create more interactive learning environments that not only maintain but also heighten student engagement, ultimately leading to improved educational outcomes.

Administrative tasks

Managing admin tasks can be an extremely time-consuming part of the job for teachers. From managing communications with students and parents to ordering supplies or learning materials to ensure your class runs smoothly, there is always something to think about. In the age of AI, educators are being afforded the opportunity to streamline these extra responsibilities, so they can focus more of their time on their primary role. 

For instance, when it comes to communications, natural language processing and generative AI has the potential to drastically reduce teachers’ workloads. AI-powered tools can automate routine correspondence, send reminders about deadlines or important dates, and even manage simple inquiries through a chatbot. In online education, where timely communication is imperative, AI could be a game-changer for teachers. 

Grading and assessment 

AI is already having a huge impact on the grading and assessment process. By adopting AI technologies, teachers can automate certain grading tasks to both save time and improve accuracy. From multiple-choice tests to essays, these tools are capable of analyzing assessments in a range of different formats by utilizing natural language processing and machine learning algorithms. These technologies ensure consistent and objective grading, minimizing human error and bias.

In addition, implementing useful AI tools into the assessment process provides greater scope for instant feedback, reducing wait times for students to understand their performance and progress. Receiving more timely insights through an instant feedback loop has the potential to greatly enhance the learning experience and could help to foster a more engaging educational environment. 

The future of AI in education 

As teachers become more familiar with AI, its prominence within the online education space is only set to grow. The task for educators is finding the balance between harnessing the power of these technologies and addressing the challenges to their use in the classroom. Get this right, and AI can be a highly influential tool in educating the next generation. 

Grand View Research states that In 2023, the global market for educational technology was estimated to be worth USD 142.37 billion. From 2024 to 2030, it is anticipated to grow at a noteworthy CAGR of 13.4%. 

EdTech refers to software and technology that enhances educational experiences and increases accessibility. Since they can be accessed from anywhere in the world, eBooks are becoming more and more popular among students.

As technology advances, instructors are discovering new ways to incorporate digital tools into their courses. This integration engages students while making discussions about complex environmental issues more accessible. 

Teachers can foster a deeper understanding of ecological concepts by leveraging technology. Ultimately, these efforts empower students to become informed stewards of the environment.

Adopting Interactive Learning Platforms

Many teachers emphasize the importance of interactive learning platforms in improving environmental literacy among students. These digital technologies allow instructors to design interesting and immersive learning experiences that appeal to today’s tech-savvy kids. 

McKinsey highlights that the use of technologies that promote connectivity, including virtual study groups and discussion boards influenced by social media, increased by 49%. 

The loss of in-person interactions is probably offset by this increase, which makes these technologies more useful than individualized choices like virtual reality. 67% of teachers still use classroom engagement technologies, such as polls, breakout room discussions, and real-time chat.

Platforms like Google Earth, virtual reality (VR) simulations, and online games allow students to explore ecosystems, track climate change, and visualize environmental data. 

For instance, educators can use VR to take students on virtual field trips to endangered habitats, providing a firsthand experience of environmental challenges. These platforms make environmental concepts more relatable by fostering curiosity and critical thinking, encouraging students to take an active interest in ecological issues.

Integrating Data-Driven Approaches

Teachers recognize the power of data-driven approaches in fostering environmental literacy. Educators can help students understand the importance of evidence-based decision-making in environmental science by integrating data collection and analysis into their lessons. Tools like citizen science apps enable students to contribute to real research projects by collecting data on local wildlife, pollution levels, or climate patterns. 

This hands-on experience reinforces scientific principles while allowing students to observe the actual effects of their activities on the environment. A key issue that may be addressed by data-driven education is the presence of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds) in our environment. These synthetic compounds are sometimes called “forever chemicals” because of their long-term presence in the environment and the human body. 

MDPI mentions that they carry serious health hazards, including cancer, liver damage, and hormone changes. Children and pregnant women are particularly susceptible to PFAS exposure. These harmful compounds can cross the placental barrier, potentially disrupting fetal development and leading to long-term health problems.

Educators can help students explore PFAS contamination by using data from environmental agencies and studies to analyze the sources and impacts of these substances. For instance, students can study the impact of PFAS on drinking water supplies and understand the implications for public health and safety. 

The legal ramifications surrounding PFAS have gained significant attention, particularly concerning firefighting foams known as AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam). AFFF contains high levels of PFAS, which have been linked to serious health issues and environmental contamination. Many municipalities and military bases have used AFFF extensively for training and firefighting, leading to widespread PFAS pollution in soil and groundwater. 

TorHoerman Law notes that lawsuits have emerged against manufacturers of AFFF, alleging negligence and seeking accountability for the damage caused by these toxic substances. Plaintiffs in these lawsuits often include local governments, water districts, and individuals who have suffered health effects due to PFAS exposure. These legal battles highlight the urgency of addressing PFAS contamination and the responsibility of corporations to ensure the safety of their products.

As per TIME Magazine, there are currently over 15,000 claims filed against major PFAS manufacturers in the U.S., including DuPont and 3M. Legal experts point out that several smaller PFAS companies are also facing lawsuits. So far, these companies have collectively paid nearly $11.5 billion in damages for PFAS contamination, but this figure could rise significantly. The PFAS lawsuit update emphasizes that it could surpass the tobacco settlement of over $200 billion paid by Big Tobacco in the 1990s.

Collaborating Through Online Communities

Collaboration is another key aspect of utilizing technology to enhance environmental literacy. Teachers often leverage online communities and social media platforms to connect with fellow educators, environmental organizations, and students globally. This collaborative approach allows educators to share resources, best practices, and innovative teaching strategies focused on environmental topics. 

For example, social media platforms offer opportunities for educators to participate in discussions and webinars hosted by environmental experts. Teachers can enrich their curriculum and inspire their students with real-world examples and expert insights by engaging in these online communities. This global collaboration enhances student learning while cultivating a sense of community and shared responsibility for environmental stewardship.

FAQs

How can technology promote global environmental awareness?

Technology can amplify global environmental awareness by connecting students with peers worldwide. This collaboration fosters discussions on shared ecological challenges, allowing for diverse perspectives. By leveraging online platforms, students can participate in global initiatives and contribute to collective environmental solutions.

What role does citizen science play in education?

Citizen science plays a crucial role in education by engaging students in real-world research. It empowers learners to contribute to scientific data collection, enhancing their understanding of environmental issues. This hands-on experience cultivates critical thinking and a sense of agency in tackling local ecological problems.

How can online communities support teacher collaboration?

Online communities can significantly support teacher collaboration by providing a space for resource sharing and mentorship. Educators can exchange innovative teaching strategies and engage in professional development opportunities. This collaboration enhances instructional practices, leading to improved student engagement and outcomes in environmental literacy.

Technology serves as a powerful ally for educators looking to boost environmental literacy among students. Data-driven methods, and online collaboration, teachers can craft engaging and impactful learning experiences by utilizing interactive platforms. These tactics improve students’ learning while enabling them to become effective environmental stewards.

As technology improves, instructors must accept new developments. By doing so, they may provide students with the information and skills necessary to address today’s serious environmental concerns.

Understanding Approaches to Data Reduction

Compression methods minimise the overall dimension of PDF records without notably sacrificing quality. This is particularly important when teachers need to distribute multiple assets simultaneously.

For example, when an instructor wishes to circulate a comprehensive lesson plan containing various multimedia components, the original document might be several megabytes. However, with a PDF compressor, the teacher can ensure all students receive the material promptly and without issues relating to size constraints.

Compressed documents are also less likely to encounter complications during upload and download processes, facilitating smoother communication within the educational environment.

The Importance of PDFs in Digital Classrooms

PDFs are critical in streamlining the circulation of lesson plans and student resources. Their benefits include:

• Preserved formatting: PDFs preserve their formatting across various devices, ensuring all users can view documents precisely as initially intended. This characteristic is essential in educational settings, where maintaining consistency in presentation is crucial for effective learning and communication.
• Device compatibility: When teachers generate a PDF to share a worksheet, pupils can easily open it on tablets, laptops, or even smartphones without concerns about layout issues. This flexibility is essential in diverse learning environments where students employ different devices.
• Versatile content support: PDFs can accommodate a wide range of content types, including text, images, graphics, and hyperlinks, making them an incredibly versatile and comprehensive option for creating and sharing educational materials effectively.

However, educating students has always involved sharing voluminous materials. While it is beneficial to distribute vast collections of knowledge, transferring unwieldy files across platforms has presented difficulties. Compacting digitised lessons expedites dissemination while retaining intricate specifics. It allows the distribution of reports crammed with complex imagery or multimedia in an easily absorbable format. Downloading and accessing compressed academic assets for demanding projects proceeds more efficiently.

Why Data Reduction Is Crucial in Pedagogy

Instructors routinely encounter impediments stemming from confined electronic storage, particularly within cloud-based educational environments. Many institutions implement strictures on permissible document magnitude, hampering the conveying of crucial information when uploads exceed allowed PDF file sizes.

For instance, a teacher endeavouring to transfer a detailed lesson incorporating high-definition visuals discovers it surpasses permitted dimensions. By streamlining these PDFs ahead of time, educators can smoothly navigate such obstructions while adhering to organisational guidelines.

In addition to bypassing size obstructions, condensing PDF documents is pivotal for maintaining an optimised workflow. The tremendous volume of materials shared among faculty and pupils makes proficient asset administration paramount. Streamlined PDFs facilitate swifter uploads and downloads, simplifying navigating files across diverse platforms. This increased productivity can notably enhance scholarly results as students access materials expeditiously, fostering more effective study and collaboration.

Tools for Trimming PDFs

Numerous programs are accessible for streamlining PDFs, mainly geared toward instructors. Many online services offer intuitively straightforward interfaces, letting educators transfer and streamline files without extensive specialised skills. Simple and intuitive options enable instructing staff to drag and drop documents, immediately streamlining them with just a few clicks. This ease of use benefits educators who may not consider themselves technologically proficient but still desire to employ technology to augment their teaching.

While exploring choices for condensing files, it is prudent to prioritise features supporting educators’ unique needs, such as:

• Capabilities batching numerous documents efficiently saves significant time versus manual handling individually.
• Compatibility with diverse formats allows for easily converting assorted documents into PDFs, guaranteeing accessible materials.

Optimising Classroom PDF Compression Tactics

To ensure compressing doesn’t undermine substance, some finer points deserve attention:

• Examine all elements closely and remove unnecessary portions, such as blank pages or graphics, that do not significantly contribute to the overall content. This process will help retain the document’s essential substance while reducing its file size.
• Before proceeding with the compression, consider adjusting the dimensions of photos or converting them to formats such as JPEG instead of PNG. This is important because images typically account for the largest portion of the file size.
• Utilise advanced techniques that eliminate unnecessary zeroes and ones while ensuring the original document remains perfectly intact. Maintaining clarity is imperative for all academic materials.

Grasping compression grades’ impact proves pivotal; higher grades potentially decrease size significantly, although they could compromise sharpness. The gold standard balances quality with achieving the desired size reduction.

How Compressed PDFs Augment Sharing Resources

The advantages of slighter file weights appear when circulating materials. Condensed PDFs attach to emails more workably, particularly with add-on magnitude barriers. Numerous email providers proscribe add-ons of around 25MB, and discovering lesson plans that exceed this could impede interaction. By condensing, teachers can ensure important substance reaches students promptly.

Compressing educational PDFs improves web-based platforms’ functionality, ensuring every pupil receives access to requisite materials promptly. Condensed files cut wait times and possible technical troubles when disseminating assets to many learners. In addition, utilising compressed PDFs in interactive studying platforms can enrich the academic experience, motivating learners to engage meaningfully with materials.

Safety and Privacy Considerations When Sharing Educational PDFs Digitally

In e-learning, security must be noticed. Shielding sensitive information is essential when squeezing and circulating PDFs electronically. For example, an educator may need to share papers containing pupil data or marks. Encryption and a password can protect such facts, confirming that only approved users can access the files. Numerous compression instruments offer such protection capabilities, allowing instructors to continue confidentiality whilst disseminating crucial sources.

Educators must also ensure the tools used for compression adhere to data confidentiality regulations. Schools often have precise rules for storing and sharing scholarly information; following these rules is crucial. Implementing best digital security practices protects educational material’s integrity and builds belief within the studying environment. Teachers can confidently share materials by taking these precautions, knowing they are doing so safely and responsibly.

So far AI job displacement has been relatively minimal. Perhaps some individuals have been replaced by artificial intelligence tools, but AI has not erased jobs from the map completely.

That said, it’s not hard to imagine a day when certain manual tasks that can easily be fully automated will no longer exist. Are our entry-level jobs safe? In this article, we will take a comprehensive look at the question of how AI will influence the future of the job market—particularly in the context of tech careers. 

Are Entry-level Jobs Safe?

It depends on the job. Customer service is a great example of a career path that is primarily entry-level and could be fully automated by artificial intelligence. At the most basic level, customer service agents are there to relay company policies and assist with returns and exchanges. This job, though important, is not necessarily something that companies need a human to be doing.

AI-powered chat platforms have been doing similar tasks even before generative AI witnessed its most recent developments.

Customer service departments still exist, and most likely will for the foreseeable future.

Why? Because smart companies don’t just use customer service as a way of communicating policy. They use it as a tool to form lasting connections. 

Some brands even use it as a way of generating revenue. For example, let’s say that you own an e-commerce fashion brand. You sell high-end clothing that people would historically have purchased in person at the store. 

Some of your customers are apprehensive about spending a lot of money on a shirt that they can’t physically see. They might reach out to a customer service agent to get their input and receive more personalized product recommendations.

CX agents upsell. They forge legitimate relationships with customers that turn into repeat business. Some companies, most famously Zappos use CX as part of their branding.

You can’t do that if you are laying off your CX department and replacing it with some boilerplate ChatGPT-powered program.

So Entry-level Positions are Safe?

We didn’t say that either. Let’s instead imagine a data entry job that involves taking information that has been input into multiple servers and compiling it in a single database. 

Jobs like this have existed over the years, but they don’t really make sense in a world where technology integrates and algorithms can do the same task quicker and with greater accuracy. There is no need for a personal touch. There is no reason to keep this person on the payroll.

The permanence of entry-level positions ultimately depends on the value that they provide the company. CX agents make a contribution to the brand that extends beyond the sum of parts. Data entry specialists don’t.

That means that they may be replaced. This is not unique to AI. Companies are constantly looking for ways to replace paid labor with automation or more efficient processes.

For example, grocery stores have been working on reducing their number of cashiers for years. They do this with self-checkout lines.

However, the experiment has been met with mixed results. Target recently announced an effort to roll back its self-checkout experience citing both reduced customer service and higher incidents of theft. In this case, an entry-level position had value beyond the context of its job description.

On the other hand, grocery stores are also replacing human labor with machines in the form of robots that can do inventory and other basic manual tasks.

No one is terribly worried about rolling back because it doesn’t influence the company’s bottom line in a negative way.

Entry-level employees who are worried about the future of their jobs may need to think long and hard about the value that they bring to the position. Do they offer something that is truly irreplaceable? Will the company value that contribution more than they value saving money?

If the answer is no, don’t panic. Lean into the value of upskilling and continuing education. 

Upskilling

AI is not ready to replace software engineers. It may replace the people who support their efforts with low-level manual tasks. If you fall into that category of employment look for ways you can develop new skills that will make yourself more useful. 

Upskilling does not always require getting a new degree. In certain cases, you will be able to expand your credentials through “skill boot camp”. These programs help you learn new things in a controlled timeline. For example, you might learn a new computer language in six weeks instead of getting an entirely new degree over four years.

The value of skill boot camp opportunities will depend at least in part on what your credentials were going in. 

Tech companies do prioritize skill over academic accomplishment, but some positions will still require you to have at least a bachelor’s degree. This will be particularly useful to have if you are concerned about hanging onto an entry-level job.

Conclusion

Are entry-level tech jobs going away? Probably not today. At least not all of them. Still, the writing is on the wall. AI isn’t the only problem. The workplace changes constantly. If you want enduring relevance, you need to continue growing, learning, and expanding your skill sets. It is only through this process of constant improvement that you can guarantee each job, security tech, and other industries.

The story made news not just because it was one of the first major potential incidents of artificial intelligence-related cheating, but because it was also incorrect. It turns out the professor had come to his conclusion by feeding student essays to ChatGPT, asking the AI if it had written the assignments itself.

Chat, GPT of course, said that it had because incorrect answers are a hobby of its.

The story, though both amusing and absurd, hints at a larger problem. Artificial intelligence is here. Students really can use it to cheat. Detecting this fraud actually is difficult. What does this mean for students and for teachers?

In this article, we take a look at the pros and cons of artificial intelligence in the classroom.

Industries that Will Suffer

In the sections below we will take a look at specific problems that AI poses in the classroom. For now, let’s think about how this technology could influence employment sectors of the future. 

AI could eliminate the need for students to:

• Write
• Think critically
• Research
• Understand basic math, grammar, and other core academic concepts

Understand that we are not of the mind that any of the above skills are going away. Students simply now have a way to mimic them artificially. What job wouldn’t be affected by a roster of candidates who don’t know how to think on their own?

Nursing. Business. Education. These are all careers that depend on professionals who can think on their feet. 

And what about the future of college education? Will students who got through high school with a lot of help from ChatGPT be prepared for college or even graduate school success? We simply don’t know—yet. 

Below, we take a look at some specific problems that AI creates, and how teachers can work around them. 

It’s Difficult to Detect

One of the major risk factors is that detecting AI use is very difficult. Yes, there are programs that you can use to run essays through. This software can say with some degree of accuracy whether or not AI was used to write an essay. 

The issue is that a positive hit does not necessarily definitively prove that AI was used. It merely reflects that patterns common to generative AI were detected within the essay.

These patterns tend to be present in mediocre writing. Over-reliance on transitory phrases. Sentences without variance in length or content. Long, incoherent lists.

So while AI detectors can be used to identify suspicious behavior in students, it is difficult to issue consequences strictly based on a positive result.

A potential solution would be for teachers to identify criteria that they deem unacceptable in essays. Ideally, these guidelines would encourage content that would be difficult to produce through artificial intelligence. 

The teacher could then use these criteria to judge essays. Not only will this make it harder for students to use artificial intelligence in class, but it also may produce stronger writers.

Naturally, determining what these criteria should be will be easier said than done. Still, educators have developed similar policies to control new technologies in the past. 

The same way college professors had to create stricter rules around what sources were acceptable to cite in the internet era, teachers will now need to determine what an essay should look like when AI is able to generate hundreds of words a minute.

Clear citation guidelines could be effective in this capacity as well. While AI can generate citations, the student will need to double-check their work to avoid errors (artificial intelligence has been known to invent links when unable to find appropriate existing ones).

Other solutions could include:

• Requiring essays to pass AI detection. 
• Including a presentation component to essays to ensure students are actually familiar with the material they submit.
• Heavy consequences that deter AI cheating.

With careful effort, educators can help ensure that their students complete work honestly. 

Bad Research

Artificial intelligence can be used as a way to research topics more quickly. This is a more honest application of services like ChatGPT. Instead of spending hours in the library or trying your luck with search terms, you can simply ask a question and use its answer as a reference point for your essay. Sounds great, right?

Well, it would be great if generative AI was a reliable source of information. Anyone who has used ChatGPT or similar services extensively knows that this is not the case. Artificial intelligence applications have a reasonable degree of accuracy. However, they are not nearly dependable enough to build an essay upon. 

For an AI-generated fact, to be worthy of inclusion essay, it would need to be confirmed by a secondary source, thus eliminating the time-saving factor of using AI in the first place.

Students who try to cut corners may wind up, making significantly more mistakes than they otherwise would have.

The citation guidelines that most universities use more or less nullify this concern. The majority of college professors require essays to come from pre-approved sources. ChatGPT certainly would not make that list. Grade school and high school students are not always held to high research standards.

For them, generative AI could have a negative influence on their research habits.

What Math Homework?

Admittedly, this is not a problem exclusive to generative AI. You can already cheat on math homework to a reasonably high extent just by using Google. AI just makes it a little bit easier than it already was.

Any student can now feed their math homework into a generative AI platform and receive not only the answer itself but any work that they would be required to show on the homework sheet.

Naturally, for a culture that is trying very hard to emphasize math and science in the classroom, this could be a considerable step backward.

It is also very difficult to control. Educators may get a good sense of which students are cheating with AI based on who has disproportionately high homework scores compared to their test results but even this is an imperfect science. 

You can’t accuse a student of cheating just because they get good grades on their homework. What is the teacher to do? Unfortunately, there isn’t a good answer to that yet.

Are There Any Positive Applications of AI in the Classroom?

Sure. Adaptive learning is not a bad thing in its own right. Taken in moderation it can help students learn in a way that is most natural to them. Modern students already spend a significant amount of time in front of screens. 

Often they will learn through interactive games and applications. One teacher can’t create different lesson plans to accommodate the needs of every one of their students. An AI platform potentially could. 

AI could even be used to a productive end in the context of research. We highlighted earlier what bad AI-generated research looks like. But what about the college student who uses AI to generate a list of journal articles related to the topic they are writing about?

Instead of combing, endlessly through academic journals, they could have a list of high-quality, peer-reviewed sources in a matter of seconds. They would still need to read the articles themselves, but they may accelerate the research process.

With most things relating to AI moderation is key.

It’s been said that you can think of artificial intelligence as a reasonably intelligent assistant. It does make mistakes. It can sometimes be unreliable. However, it is affordable. Fast. Generally accurate.

When used sensibly and with a degree of caution, AI can accelerate education workflows, and help people learn in a way that makes the most sense to them.

Is that how it will be used? Time will tell.

The mechanics of online education for nurses have changed a lot over the last five years or so. Universities everywhere have done a lot to build up their online curriculums. You can now experience many of the same resources you would benefit from in the classroom right from the comfort of your home. 

In this article, we will take a look at why it is now easier than ever to pursue a nursing degree online. 

Can You Do Everything Online?

While the majority of nursing degree requirements can be met online, there are some things you will need to do in person. Most notably, you will have to get clinical experience at a cooperating hospital. 

The school you choose should be able to communicate and coordinate this requirement with hospitals in your community. Still, it is a good idea to find out where this clinical experience would take place before you sign up for a program. You don’t want to choose an online school only to find that you will need to commute an hour to the clinics each day. 

Why Now is a Great Time to Get a Nursing Degree Online

What is it about the present that will appeal to people hoping to get their nursing degree online? In the next few headings, we take a look at factors that should be particularly appealing. 

Remote Communication has Never Been Better

Perhaps the most obvious factor is that many schools are now very set up to support remote education. During the pandemic, every university had to build up a remote tech stack that would allow people to learn from home. 

Virtually all major schools now have robust online degree programs that allow students to learn from anywhere. Through video conferencing technology, remote students have almost the exact same classroom experience as those who are physically attending lectures. 

Support Materials are Excellent

Virtual learning resources have also never been better. Most online schools will utilize platforms that make it easy to communicate and collaborate with other students. They will feature organized resource banks that will give you easy access to study materials, virtual libraries, and other resources that will help you in your academic career. 

There are also applications that further aid in the online learning experience. For example, if you want to experience some of the pressures of nursing in a low-stakes environment, you might pursue those experiences in a virtual setting. Some applications simulate hospital emergencies. 

These tools may not reflect the same pressure, but they can at least help you develop a crisis-ready mindset. 

There are also great study aids that will help you prepare for coursework, and, eventually, the NCLEX. 

Cost Effective

Online-only universities also tend to cost less money than those that offer primarily classroom learning. The reason behind this is simple—online schools have WAY less overhead. College campuses are basically small cities, and they have the expenses to reflect that. 

They are expensive to run, and therefore, cripplingly expensive to attend. By comparison, some online schools are as little as half the cost per credit hour. 

The bargain proposition tapers off a little when you choose schools that have a physical campus. In these cases, you may still wind up paying for all of that infrastructure—even if you never get to experience it. 

Credible

Online degrees weren’t always taken very seriously. That changed dramatically circa 2020 when virtually every college student in the country became a virtual learner. Now most people do not recognize any significant difference in pursuing a degree online versus in-person. The stigma surrounding virtual learning has all but disappeared, making this a great time to pursue a degree in a way that makes sense to you.

Strike While the Iron is Hot

It’s also worth noting that now is an outstanding time to become a nurse—regardless of how you get your degree. Healthcare shortages are real, giving new nurses in every field—from E.R. to midwifery—ample opportunity to work where they please while commanding competitive salaries. 

The work is difficult. Certainly, it requires a special type of person to do it. Still, if you fall into that category, it is safe to say there has never been a better time to consider a healthcare career. 

Are There Any Reasons Not to Get Your Degree Online?

Sure. There are distinct benefits to having an on-campus college experience. Some of these benefits are a matter of perception—many people strongly associate college not just with learning but also with dorm food and long walks in the quad. You can’t get that experience from behind a computer screen. 

College campuses also have resources that can’t be replicated online. Virtual databases are great, but they don’t quite capture the incredible scope of an extensive collegiate library. And phone/computer applications are outstanding, but they don’t quite match the power of an awesome simulated lab environment. 

Some people also just learn better on campus. You have to be self-driven in order to succeed with remote learning. If you are the type of person who procrastinates or simply works better in the more sensory environment of a classroom, getting an online degree might not be right for you. 

One final consideration? Support. At a physical campus, there are many easily accessible ways to get extra help. There are tutoring programs. Special offices for test prep or writing advisement. Office hours. Physical places you can go for real-time help. 

Many online schools will have resources that are comparable, but they often lack the same sense of urgency. You aren’t sitting across a desk from another human. You are writing an email. That difference can be very meaningful for some people.

The problem is that new careers often require new training. What’s the best way to get certified in a job that you will love?

Remote learning and accelerated certification programs are great ways to learn job-ready skills quickly. In this article. We take a look at the benefits of both opportunities.

What are Accelerated Programs? 

Accelerated programs are an excellent way to pivot into a new career that requires a special certification.

Let’s say you’ve already graduated from college. You majored in marketing. You’ve been at it for 10 years, but your current job does not give you the sense of purpose that you were hoping for.

You want a job that lets you give back to your community. You’re interested in nursing. Maybe education. Possibly even social work.

One thing you know you don’t want to do is enroll in college again. Certainly not as a freshman.

Accelerated programs are the answer to your problem.

Because you already have a bachelor’s degree, you are able to skip all of the general education requirements and focus only on the areas that are of interest to you.

This can allow you to become certified in a new career in his little as 18 months.

Nursing, education, and social work are common examples of career pivots, but other jobs may have similar certification routes available.

These programs are always quicker and generally more affordable than re-enrolling in college.

Are There Any Downsides?

The biggest con that you should be aware of is that accelerated programs are well. Accelerated. If you’re going to learn an entire new profession in 18 months, you can expect that the curriculum will be fast-paced and comprehensive. These qualities are what make accelerated accreditation so beneficial, but they also make them time-consuming.

You may need to be willing to pause other aspects of your life during the program. This will mean working late hours. Juggling responsibilities. Probably forgetting about vacations for a year or two.

Is the sacrifice worth it? Many people find that the answer is yes. The goal is to reset your professional as quickly as possible there is no better alternative.

Is There Anything Else I Should Know?

Yes. Many of the careers that await you on the other side of an accelerated program are strictly regulated by the government. Education. Healthcare. Social work.

Not only are there federally mandated requirements for any approved program, but there are also state-specific program requirements that need to be met.

As you are researching your options, it is important to look not just for accredited programs, but also for certification paths that are approved in your state.

For example, there may be 60 approved accelerated education programs in the country, but the state of Illinois might only recognize five of them. This means that if you’re hoping to gain an Illinois teacher’s license, you will need to enroll in a program from their preapproved list.

What About Online Learning?

Online learning is a good way to pick up new skills in a flexible environment that makes sense to you.

It is worth pointing out that many accelerated programs can be completed online. Remote education is also good for people who are willing to take their time earning their degree but want to do it in a way that allows them to balance other responsibilities.

For example, a busy mother of two who knows they want to get their master’s degree but are OK with completing it in five years instead of the traditional two or three.

Online learning allows them to be present in their children’s lives while completing assignments from the comfort of the dining room table.

Online programs are also generally more affordable than traditional classroom learning environments. In some cases, you may pay as little as half as much per credit.

Naturally, the price you pay will vary from program to program. If you are interested in using an online program as a way to save money, be sure to give yourself at least three months to research all of your options. It’s best not to make a hasty decision when it comes to higher learning.

Note also that online programs are similar to accelerated certifications and that you need to find a fully accredited college that is recognized in the state you plan on working in.

Are There Downsides to Remote Learning?

There are, but they are primarily subjective. The biggest and most concrete issue that most people have with remote learning is that it excludes a major aspect of college life from the experience. You don’t get to interact face-to-face with peers. Late nights on the quad. College parties. 

Granted, most people who are making a career pivot are probably past the “college parties,” phase of their life. Still, this critique is worth considering.

College is not only an investment. It is also a personal milestone. Many people want social experiences just as badly as they want their degrees.

Remote students also don’t have access to the same level of resources that traditional students do. No libraries. No fancy labs. No 3-D printers or VR machines. You are limited pretty much to the resources that were already in your own home. It’s fair to consider this unfortunate. The question is how unfortunate do you find it? 

Some people would argue that borrowing $40,000 is unfortunate. You’ll have to decide for yourself which aspect of college is more important to you: high-quality learning at an affordable price, or a degree, that comes with a memorable experience as well.

Online learning provides students with a diverse range of options. A person considering a career in nursing or education now has more choices than ever. Do they want to get a full degree, or would they rather get a certification? 

Both paths have their pros and cons. In this article, we will thoroughly explore both options to help you decide what education path is right for you. Read on to learn more about if you would like to get a degree or certification in your chosen field. 

When You Should Consider a Degree

Degrees are optimal for people who have never been to college before. In this case, you are starting from the very beginning, taking not just classes that complement your area of interest, but also gen-eds and other university requirements that everyone has to take.

In this case, certification options are usually not available to you in the first place, and you will be best off looking for a full degree program. 

These usually take four years to complete but there are ways to either accelerate the process or maximize the impact of your education. For example:

• Work with your guidance counselor. While the four-year timeline is pretty set in stone, you may be able to accelerate your education if you already have college credits from relevant high school classes, and are willing to fully pack your semesters. Your guidance counselor may be able to work with you on what to take and when so you can shave a semester or so off of your degree completion timeline. 
• Consider a direct-to-hire degree. Alternatively, you can consider a degree path that bundles your undergraduate and graduate studies. These options allow you to graduate in 4-5 years with an undergraduate AND master’s degree. They are really intense courses of study, but they have the benefit of allowing you to make more money right out of the gate. 

Degrees take longer to complete than certification programs. That said, they also have more flexibility. If you want to change your educational path, or maybe take your foot off the gas for a semester and lighten your courseload, these options will be easily available through a traditional four-year degree program. It won’t be possible for students seeking alternative certification paths. 

When You Should Consider Certification

Certification is the right choice for people who already have a four-year degree and are interested in either pivoting into a new career field or enhancing their existing credentials. For example, let’s say you majored in English ten years ago when you completed your college degree. Now you are interested in becoming a teacher, or perhaps a nurse.

There are certification programs available for both career paths. In this case, you will be able to get certified in 1-2 years without needing to take classes that are unrelated to your area of interest. Naturally, the opportunity to skip gen-eds and speed up the completion timeline is very appealing to many people. Certification pathways, though not cheap, are also much more affordable than a traditional four-year degree. 

Where completing undergraduate coursework may cost $100K all totaled, many certification programs range in price from $10K-20K. Still nothing to sneeze at, but much more affordable than alternative options.

Certification programs are extremely fast-paced. You may only be learning for 3-4 semesters, but they are jam-packed with work. This can make these programs difficult for people with current jobs or families. The programs are generally arranged to accommodate the fact that many people are using them to pivot into a new career path—night classes, summer sessions, etc.—but there is no getting around the fact that they are intense courses of study. 

Is There a Third Way?

Some people who would like to work in a field that requires specialty certification—some administrative healthcare careers, social work, education, etc.—will decide that neither path appeals to them. They don’t want to spend four years getting their undergraduate degree. They also don’t want to put their life on pause for twelve months and focus all of their attention on a certification pathway. What else can they do?

In certain cases, getting a graduate degree will be the next step. Graduate programs allow you to take classes at your own pace, like traditional four-year degrees. If you want to take a few classes at a time, you can do it. While most people finish within 2-3 years, there is no hard and fast rule saying that you have to. 

Graduate degrees provide students with an advanced level of understanding of their subject area. They also make them eligible for higher base pay right out the gate. 

Are there downsides? A few. Naturally, graduate programs tend to be a little bit harder than undergraduate programs. This may make it difficult for someone who does not have a background in the discipline they are trying to learn. 

Graduate degrees can also make it a little harder for someone without work experience to get hired. Let’s say you were certified as a teacher. Thanks to your graduate degree, the school legally cannot hire you at an entry-level pay grade. Nevertheless, you are—no offense—an entry-level teacher. 

This issue is less prominent now than it used to be. Healthcare, social work, and education have all experienced massive staffing shortages over the last decade. The odds that you won’t be able to find a job because you have an advanced degree are low. 

Online Learning Makes it Easier

The good news is that virtually all of these certifications or degrees can be attained online. Online learning adds flexibility to any educational curriculum. If you are interested in exploring a new professional degree or certification and feel that you are self-motivated enough to work effectively from home, consider the convenience and ease of an online degree. 

Resources for Success in Test Taking 

The age-old adage of “practice makes perfect” applies to many situations, test taking is one of them. Studying is a sure fire way to become better prepared for taking a test, though familiarizing oneself with the material that has been covered is a logical way to presume preparing for an exam, sadly, sometimes the material covered is not necessarily what ends up being on the test. In that case, just plain ‘ol studying may not always be the best way to prepare.

Luckily, depending on the subject matter— and the mountain of information available online— there are people out there who have shared tips as to how to prepare for specific tests. As a result, one of the more common test prep features, “practice tests”, has also been made available online. There are plenty of popular, effective practice test websites like Khan Academy and Quizlet, that offer a slew of practice tests in hundreds of different subject matters. Depending on the nature of the test and the seriousness of the necessity for certification— as in the situation of needing to pass the LSAT to become a lawyer, or the NCLEX to become an RN.

There are also accredited organizations that can provide test prep materials for some of the more serious, professional standardized tests. 

Online Test Learning Platforms

Most people may know and remember someone from high school who was studious and perhaps a bit of an overachiever who, when it came time to take the ACT or SAT, actually went out of there way (on top of hours of schooling and homework) to spend their free time visiting a test prep center. These schools specialize in teaching tips, tricks, and summarizing materials that would be very likely to be on some of these standardized tests. The services, which are arguably helpful, are not just found in stores, but in online platforms now.

So, regardless of what test someone may be studying for, there is likely a person or service that has gone ahead and is willing to share their knowledge of how best to prepare for and take a test successfully. 

Strategies for Online Test Taking

Read the Instructions!

This may be one of the first suggestions that people are taught in elementary school, but the advice is around for a reason: it works. There is important information that can be found (or overlooked) when taking a test and reading the instructions may be the only thing keeping someone from acing a section versus narrowly passing. Sounds simple and somewhat trite, but it never hurts to revisit the basics. Time Management

While not every test is going to be time sensitive, many are. Learning how to be aware of and manage the time allotted accordingly can help when making the decision to work through a complex problem or to just guess and move on. While that is not ideal, neither is running out of time on a section having missed a quarter of the questions. Another benefit of this strategy is that, if there is enough time left over, time can be spent double checking answers.

Regardless, the research and visible evidence as to this country’s rate of health is unsettling. Thus, the importance of staying active cannot be overstated when it comes to being an employee. 

Not only does regular physical activity benefit your physical health, but it also has a profound impact on your mental well-being. Strangely, while there has been a great amount of discussion over the years about maintaining a healthy work-life balance in careers, there is less of a conversation and imperative that seems to be encouraged among student populations, especially online students engaging in education technology tools. No matter, the same rules, consequences, and benefits apply whether someone is sitting in an office, a classroom, or living room. Here are some reasons why it is important to stay active while pursuing an online degree.

Physical Benefits of Being Active
Physical activity has been proven and documented as being a wonderful way to maintain and even improve physical well-being. There are a list of ways in which extracurricular activities benefit the body, and even more choices available for how to engage in physical activity. The following are some examples of the benefits of physical activity for anyone, including online students.

Improves Cardiovascular Health

Americans have a stunningly bad track record or cardiovascular health. While there are a number of reasons for this such as the SAD American diet, easy access to starchy and sugary foods, or just too large portion sizes, that is just a part of poor national cardiovascular health. The good news is that there are plenty of activities that can easily be engaged in which benefit cardio health.

Running, swimming, hiking, or cycling are more intense, proven ways to strengthen your heart and improve circulation, reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke. If those are a bit too strenuous or intimidating to start out with though, walking, yoga, and Tai Chi are gentle alternatives.

Helping to Maintain a Healthy Weight

Sitting just does not burn as many calories as being physically active. That’s a big reason as to why workers and students tend to gain weight while involved in their responsibilities. Luckily, just like cardio, regular exercise easily and quickly burns calories and builds muscle. In this way staying physically active helps to maintain a healthy weight and reduce the risk of obesity in the present and future.

Boosts Immune System

According to the Mayo Clinic, about 1 billion people worldwide suffer from a vitamin D deficiency, 35% of those are American adults. As one of the most important vitamins to maintain a healthy immune system— as well as balancing calcium levels in the blood for stronger bones— getting enough vitamin D is important.

The good news is that one of the most effective ways to up vitamin D levels is to simply go outside and get some sunlight. Bonus points if that can be involved in physical activity which boosts the immune system, making you less susceptible to illnesses and infections.

Mental Well-being Benefits of Staying Active

According to the American Psychological Association the rate of stress and anxiety amongst students is alarmingly high. Over 75% of students aged 13-17 have reported a variety of symptoms as a result of stress from the demands imposed by their school students. If that number seems bad then college student numbers are even worse, with stress levels and course loads, effective sleep quality, grades, and emotional health overall. The good news is that mental health workers maintain that physical activity demonstrates itself as being a deterrent to poor mental health no matter the age.

Exercise reduces levels of stress and anxiety, helps to establish a sense of calm and well-being. It also stimulates the release of various healthy hormones like dopamine and serotonin, neurotransmitters that contribute to feelings of happiness. Additionally, exercise improves cognitive function, helping with focus, memory, and test taking.