Have you graduated from, or will soon graduate from, a traditional or distance learning degree program? Do you know what you’re going to say in response to the interviewer’s questions? Here are a few ideas on what NOT to share with your prospective employer:

First, when asked why you left a previous position, or want to leave your current job, don’t talk about how much you dislike your work, the people with whom you work, and most especially, don’t diss your boss! Businesses are looking for employees who demonstrate respect for authority and management, and showing disloyalty to a former (or potential former) employer won’t endear you to them.

Alternatively, don’t tell your employer that you have no questions for him or her, or that you know nothing about the company to which you have applied. Employers prefer candidates who have done their homework and know a little bit about the business. Find out enough to ask a few intelligent questions just to demonstrate your interest if you do feel you already know all the answers to your questions.

Finally, be able to talk about what motivated you to complete your degree program, and the added benefits your college degree program can bring to your place of employment. If you graduated from an online degree university, share the motivation, dedication, and hard work that it took you to earn a degree online - these qualities are highly desirable in new and experienced employees.

Are you comfortable with the interviewing process, but unsure about what to include on your resume? Stay tuned . . .

The increasing popularity of distance degrees has resulted in the creation of many new words. Both learners and educators have coined new terms to communicate new concepts and ideas that are completely unique to online degree programs. How well can you speak the distance learning lingo?

Are you familiar with audiographics? This is an audio technology that utilizes phone lines to relay information contained in graphs and charts. Of course, you’ll need a line that can deliver information at a high enough rate of bauds per second to do this. (The standard dial-up modem offers about 56,000 bauds per second.)

Compressed video can also be sent over a phone line; unnecessary information is removed so that the information is transmitted more quickly. Don’t be surprised, though, if you experience lag while watching. (Lag is the time delay that often occurs when these images are being transmitted, making it look as though people in the video are stuttering or taking long pauses between words.)

Even if your online degree program doesn’t involve computer science or networking, you probably are familiar with the Internet and your modem, but you may not be aware that many modern machines operate through mechatronics. (This is the use of software and computer hardware to control a machine’s mechanical functions.)

Other terms you may encounter while working to earn a degree online include twinning, parallel-time coop, or audioconferencing. Does your online degree university use other terms to explain concepts used in its distance education degree program? Share them with our readers today!

Imagine a 12% return on your investment. In today’s struggling economy, that kind of return is something like financial wizardry. Distance learning degree programs, however, are continuing to experience that kind of phenomenal market growth.

The latest distance learning degree program surveys, conducted by the Sloan Consortium, however, concluded that enrollment in online degree courses throughout the country had in fact increased by 12 percent during the last year. As a result, more than 4 million people nationwide are enrolled in distance learning classes.

Increasing fuel costs, job losses and economic uncertainties have contributed to these rising figures, according to the survey. As more people struggle to replace lost jobs during this recession, they turn to online degree universities to find distance education degree programs to help them gain an educational edge over their competitors.

In addition, many people find themselves working harder, or working more than one job, in order to meet the financial demands of their family members. Graduating from a traditional college degree program is almost impossible for these people, who turn to distance degree programs to help them achieve these objectives. And in the end, those who are motivated and dedicated do find what they are looking for - undergraduate and graduate degree programs that provide family and job security.

In his last term of office, President Bush “blessed” our country with educational legislation designed to help American students keep pace with foreign degree students. But will “No Child Left Behind” actually help - or hurt future university degree program students?

One of the key goals of this legislation is to help offer students gain more access to educational programs. How? By advancing the right of any student to enroll in any degree course and to “learn” from that course. What this basically does, though, is to allow any student at any high school to decide that they want to enroll in any course - and be granted the right to take that class.

For example, even if Sally is one of the poorest math students in her high school, she can decide that she wants to take calculus, and enroll in that class. The teacher must teach the class so that Sally has a chance of succeeding in this class - no matter how much more every other student in the classroom understands about math.

The problem with “No Child Left Behind” is that it leaves every  student in every classroom in the United States at risk of being left behind. Because students like Sally can enroll in calculus, the professor has less opportunity to teach the other students, which means that they will learn less and do more poorly on entrance exams for college degree programs. Because American students do poorly on entrance exams, students from other countries have a greater opportunity to enroll in American degree programs.

Sure, other students from other countries have every right to enroll in American colleges and universities. Unfortunately, greater numbers of foreign students enrolling in top undergraduate and graduate degree programs throughout the country mean that fewer numbers of American students will benefit from the the nation’s best schools. This offers fewer educational and employment opportunities to American college graduates.

Congress wants to leave no child behind - instead every American student will be left behind. As the United States continues to lose ground in comparison to other countries with respect to education, perhaps one day government officials will wake up and take notice. This attempt to help more students get college degrees will actually help fewer students to succeed in the best traditional colleges, and possibly even the top online schools in the country.

Online degree programs sound attractive, convenient, and exciting. But how do you know whether you can make the grade? What kind of student does it take to succeed in distance learning degree programs?

Are you a stay at home mom? Do you have plenty of free time while the children are in preschool or taking their naps? If you’d like to advance your career with an online university degree program, you’re probably an ideal student. Of course, you have to stay motivated to succeed.

Military spouses often make excellent distance degree students. Furthermore, the challenges of moving from place to place with each new tour of duty can make traditional college degree programs difficult, which might give you even more motivation and determination to excel at an online degree university.

Do you have a choice? If you have no transportation, or cannot afford the additional costs of travel and childcare, you may find that distance education degree programs offer you your best chance to earn a college degree. If you don’t see any other alternatives, make the decision to make this option work for you.

If you’re a busy professiona with too little extra time for commuting to class, consider distance learning. But remember: even online degree programs require time and energy. If you don’t set aside some time to learn, you aren’t going to get your degree!

For more than a century, America has been referred to as a “melting pot” with regard to its cultural diversity. This diversity, however, is often not appreciated or understood. Now, a prominent legal organization is offering grants to primary and secondary school teachers interested in increasing their students knowledge of immigration and cultural issues.

The American Immigration Law Foundation has offered grants of up to $500 to teachers who develop projects designed to education students about current issues in immigration and cultural diversity. Distance learning secondary schools may be considered, but traditional classroom-based schools will receive the highest priority. The November 28 deadline for application submission is rapidly approaching.

Distance education programs are often a solution for many students who have difficulty dealing with issues related to ethnic diversity or interpersonal relationships. Distance degree programs in secondary education, however, don’t really resolve this issue, but rather help students who cannot at that moment confront the problems effectively.

Online degree programs for secondary students are an effective means of learning academics, but don’t often help students to resolve problems such as these. Although elementary and secondary teachers often face more conflict in traditional classrooms, this can be an effective venue for teaching about and helping to resolve issues of diversity.