Guide to Online Education > Online Education In-Depth > Meet Real Online Students > Henry, B.S. in Business Administration
Has having an academic mentor benefited your academic experience? How?
Name: Henry White
Age: 58
Career Interests: Business
Current Location: Florida
Advice to Online Students: "If you don't have the motivation and self-discipline to take on this enormous responsibility, forget about distance learning entirely!"
School: Western Governors University
Target: B.S. in Business Administration, 2008
All Western Governors University students are assigned a mentor who has an advanced degrees in their chosen discipline. They represent a model of expertise, someone who has actually 'been there, done that' and is ready to help you through all your academic studies from learning how to learn, 'what' to learn, what is crucial, what is important, where to find things, as well as answering your questions about the course, offering counsel and advice, and perhaps more importantly than all of this being a prime source for encouragement.
At the beginning of each term, your mentor will work you to develop your individual 'academic action plan' recommend courses and other learning opportunities to help you progress through the program and refer you for the assessments when you are ready. (Many of these assessments also have a 'pre-assessment' which will give you an excellent idea of how well prepared you are for the real thing - as well as specific areas where you might need more study.)
As Dr. Robert Mendenhall, President of WGU, said in his 2003 PhD dissertation: “In today's era of almost unlimited information, the teaching of content knowledge has transitory value; the real value of education today is in learning to distinguish what's important, where to find it, and how to analyze and apply it.” WGU follows that model.
What technologies/tools are used to deliver your program?
The technology used in the curriculum is varied, but I would say that almost anyone with experience with the ubiquitous Microsoft® or Macintosh® multimedia applications will have no problem.
Depending on the option you choose, you may be mailed a set of CDs to study on your own, or you may take an online course which will require login to their variation on WebCT/Blackboard (the WGU student portal does, too), and you may have links to streaming audio and/or video, as well as teleconferences throughout the program.
My advice - for WGU or any distance learning institution - is a reasonably fast CPU, lots of RAM, and the fastest Internet connection you can afford. Actually, anything considered to be 'state-the-art' during the past three or four years will be more than adequate; there is no need to rush out to spend a couple of thousand dollars before you even take your first course!
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