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In the context of education, certification is the term used to describe the, “Program and process where a learner completes prescribed training and passes an assessment with a minimum acceptable score. To increase validity and assure authentication, the certification process should be proctored by an independent agent.�? (www.neiu.edu/~dbehrlic/hrd408/glossary.htm , 2005) A degree has similar features in that the student is also examinable on the content they have been exposed to and there are minimum requirements before a student can be awarded a degree. A degree can be further defined as, “The certificate or title awarded by a college or university to show completion of a course of study. Colleges and universities sometimes give honorary degrees to recognize outstanding achievement (Colorado Council on High School/College Relations, 2005.)
Though not traditionally thought to be achievable via online communications, the emergence of certification and degrees in the virtual classroom has become a reality.
Knowledge that a person acquires in the physical learning environment can attract recognition in the form of certification and degrees. Therefore, when E-Learning came into practice, within the virtual classroom, it raised the issues of how to recognise knowledge that is acquired through online courses (The Virtual Classroom – Online Courses) and also should it be done in this same way.
As with any new development in society, this practice has its critics and its advocates. Some who argue its destructive influence on professionalism will also argue that the virtual classroom, as a whole, has many imperfections that prevent it from being as beneficial as the traditional classroom environment. This then leads them to the conclusion that the certification and degrees that are attributed to these online courses should not be compared to its traditional surrogate and in some cases is not even valid. A survey conducted by Vault.com found that of the 239 professionals surveyed only 37% viewed an on-line degree as being “as credible�? as a traditional degree. Three of the most frequent reasons that were given for feeling this way was that; "students don't socially interact with peers," "too new to gauge effectiveness," and "loss of real-time pedagogical exchange." (Glover, 2005) Glover argues that the “virtual nature�? of this learning environment increases social interaction as students can converse all hours of the day and are not constrained by location. She goes on to say that communication in the form of e-mails, discussion boards and chat rooms is often graded and can contribute to the degree. (2005) Developments in live, audio-visual technologies have increased the potential for peer interaction, yet some critics still maintain its insufficiency.
The introduction of on-line certification and degrees has inspired some to introduce commercialisation to the virtual classroom. As a traditional institution may charge its students to attend its classes and use its resources in order to gain a degree or certificate, the virtual classroom can adopt the same procedure. Some maintain that there is large potential for online courses in the virtual classroom, whether or not this is accurate, only time will tell.
• The Virtual Classroom – Synchronous Communication
• The Virtual Classroom – Asynchronous Communication
• The Virtual Classroom – Advantages
• The Virtual Classroom – Disadvantages
• The Virtual Classroom – Learner-centred Teaching
• The Virtual Classroom – Pedagogy
• The Virtual Classroom – Angragogy
• The Virtual Classroom – Collaborative Learning
• The Virtual Classroom – Independent Learning
• The Virtual Classroom – Online Education Support Systems
• The Virtual Classroom – Online Resource-Based Learning
• The Virtual Classroom – The Teacher
• The Virtual Classroom – The Student
• The Virtual Classroom – Online Assessment Advantages and Disadvantages
• The Virtual Classroom – Online Courses
• The Virtual Classroom – Global Virtual Classroom (GVC)
• The Virtual Classroom – University of Kansas Medical Center
• The Virtual Classroom - Commercialisation
• The Virtual Classroom – Social Implications
• E-Learning
Colorado Council on High School/College Relations. 2005. Glossary- Degree. http://www.collegeincolorado.org/Expert/glossary.asp (accessed 16th October, 2005)
Glossary of Terms: Certification. 2005. http://www.neiu.edu/~dbehrlic/hrd408/glossary.htm(accessed 16th October, 2005)
Glover, K. 2005. Don’t Discredit My Online Degree. In LibraryJournal.com. http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6269436.html (accessed 16th October, 2005)
Contributors to This Entry Include: User:Debbie Butler
Debbie Butler 15:48, 27 Oct 2005 (EST)
