Distance Education Possibilities

If you want to study with me, but you're unable to attend school as a traditional student, there's a chance we'll be able to work together through distance education. 

Note: this FAQ is for students wanting to work with me as a non-traditional, semi-autodidactic student. If you've already signed up for one of my online courses at a university that uses a structured learning environment (particularly one with discussion forums), you might find valuable information here or in one of the other prospective student FAQs. 

From Which School Would I Study?

Currently, I don't have any formal relationships with any schools in this regard. However, I would be more than willing to supervise you through any regionally accredited (or it equivalent) school that offers history degrees (or similar: i.e. American Studies, Cultural Studies) online. Some of those schools may allow you to choose your own adviser and hire externally. If that's the case, let me know and we can discuss the idea further.

Below I have listed a few schools that I think would hire me on as a mentor/reviewer/etc. since I have worked with them in some capacity in the past (again, I don't have a formal relationship with any of these institutions, yet, so you'll have to check with them, first). Some others that I can think of that might work with me are Excelsior College, Thomas Edison State College, Western Governors University, and Union Institute and University.

Charter Oak State College

As an alumnus, I have a fairly cordial (if only nominal) relationship with the staff at Charter Oak State College; so if you wanted to complete your degree through their bachelor's completion program, there's a chance I can supervise you as your capstone mentor or as an independent study mentor. COSC has concentrations in history and American Studies, both of which I can mentor. Also, COSC offers an independent design option which I could probably help you with as well.

However, at this time, I have no formal arrangement with COSC nor am I employed by them. You'll have to ask them before registering if you'd be able to request me as a mentor. If my relationship with COSC changes and becomes more formalized (of if they just start to hate me for some reason), I'll update this FAQ.

Prescott College

I should be able to accept students at Prescott College as a graduate adviser through either their adult degree, limited-residency bachelor's program or their low-residency Master of Arts program if you concentrate in humanities with a history option.

If you're interested in one of these options, please research my scholarly interests page to see if my interests coincide with yours. If you're interested in the latter, please contact me and/or read my prospective graduate student FAQ.

So, does this mean I would be able to work on a graduate-level, distance-education program in history via Prescott College?

Yes. The program isn't strictly a fully on-line degree, but it is a distance-education program. The MAP program is individualized, so you could define the program in any way you wish. Please note that PC has a limited residency requirement that you'll have to fulfill (this was posted in February 2012 and is current as of that month).

How would the Prescott program differ from another on-line master's program?

The Prescott program would work closer to the Oxbridge tutorial system rather than a standard (if there is such a thing) distance education course using web-based discussion forums/boards.

Which is better?

As a self-directed learner, I found that I performed best in distance education using (in order): tutorial-based courses, correspondence courses, and, in last place, web-based discussion forum courses. For me, the Oxbridge tutorial system worked the best of all. I recall more from those courses, I read more closely in those courses (you have to since you're working one-on-one with a professor), and I believe that those courses better prepared me for comprehensive examinations and further research than did my web discussion/forum classes at the same university. However, I, as a learner, benefit more from this type of close interaction than I do from web discussion/forum classes, which I found to be of rather limited value at the graduate (and undergraduate) level. Since I have taken on-line courses (using web discussions), correspondence courses, tutorial-based courses, and in-classroom-based seminars, I have had a chance to weigh the benefits of each. Suffice to say, I consider myself very lucky and fortunate to have had an opportunity to take courses using the tutorial system.

In summary, the reason tutorial-based courses worked better for me (in no particular order) was:

1. More student-professor interaction.
2. My professor pushed me quite a bit harder than students in my web/discussion classes who I felt often just posted things in the discussion forums simply to fulfill their daily/weekly posting requirement.
3. Because of the greater personal attention, I was able to gear those classes towards my interests more than classes I took using other methods.
   
4. I couldn't hide using the tutorial system; if I didn't read a particular week's readings very closely, my professor picked up on it very quickly (so, basically, I always did my readings).
5. I was forced to write more carefully, particularly since my professor was solely focused on me; again, I couldn't hide very easily.
6. I wrote more academically-appropriate pieces such as critical book reviews.
7. The information I gleaned was more valuable when it came time to take my comprehensive examinations both at the master's and doctoral levels (this is directly related to #2, I believe).
8. The information I took away from the classes prepared me better for research, particularly in topics of direct interest to me (this is directly related to #3, I believe).
   

Each learner is different, however, and you'll have to weigh the pluses and minuses of these types of systems for yourself. I am not aware of any studies that conclusively demonstrate which is better, and my guess is that since few colleges and universities have the resources and money to offer classes using the tutorial system, we never will see any. If you want, there are myriad on-line discussion boards and forums where people debate these types of questions ad nauseam.