{"id":694,"date":"2017-11-04T18:00:45","date_gmt":"2017-11-04T18:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/?p=694"},"modified":"2017-12-06T20:58:28","modified_gmt":"2017-12-06T20:58:28","slug":"students-never-have-to-step-foot-on-campus-with-new-online-degree-programs-at-guelph-humber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/?p=694","title":{"rendered":"Guelph-Humber introduces its first online degree programs"},"content":{"rendered":"

New this fall, online degree programs in Family and Community Social Services and Early Childhood Studies have attracted 80 students<\/h3>\nT<\/span>he University of Guelph-Humber has launched its first two fully online degree programs. The two bachelor of applied science programs are for Family and Community Social Services and Early Childhood Studies.<\/p>\n

Family and Community Social Services Program Head Paul Sherman said that the online degree program is designed to cater to those who are unable to attend school full-time \u201cbecause of family or social circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, the Ontario government began funding to offer fully online degree programs at universities and colleges.<\/p>\n

Both programs also offer a hybrid program which is a mix of online and on-campus courses. The only difference between the hybrid and fully online programs is that the online degree program is completely online.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything from the orientation, to taking courses, to doing final exams is totally online. Students never have to step foot on-campus\u2014if they don\u2019t want to,\u201d Sherman said. \u201cTheoretically students from all around the world could apply.\u201d<\/p>\n

But this raises a primary concern by some students who say that a degree obtained through online study degrades the purpose and value of a degree. Sherman said that the concerns are valid and that \u201cit depends on what value you place on getting your degree. If your primary objective is to use it for getting a job, then there\u2019s no difference. Once you have your degree, whether you get it online or on-campus, nobody\u2019s going to ask you where you got it\u2026 But if you value a learning environment that\u2019s more personal, more interactive\u2026then yes it\u2019s not going to be the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vice-Provost of Guelph-Humber John Walsh said that an online degree does not lower the value of a degree; rather, \u201cit enhances it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early Childhood Studies Program Head, Nikki Martyn said students in the early childhood program may find it a barrier to be in an online degree program \u201cbecause it is a very people-related profession.\u201d She said that to enhance the experience, emphasis is placed on interaction so that \u201cstudents don\u2019t just feel like they\u2019re on the other side of a computer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students are still required to complete their off-campus field placements as a part of the online degree programs. To further increase interaction and engagement, the programs have also integrated gamification with some courses. Early childhood students will use tools such as \u201cthe virtual family, which will go across different courses and allow the students to follow a family that we\u2019ve created,\u201d said Martyn.<\/p>\n

Sherman also said that the online degree programs are \u201cmore cost-effective. You don\u2019t have to build structures. For example, we\u2019re maxed-out in terms of rooms and seats at Guelph-Humber. We can\u2019t fit more people into the building.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if the motive behind the online degree programs was to direct student traffic off-campus, Walsh said it was \u201cnot so much\u201d a motive. He said, \u201coffering distance courses provides a great deal of flexibility for students.\u201d<\/p>\n

To those who have concerns with online degrees, Martyn said, \u201cin the past, certainly, online programs have been frowned upon. I think that times have changed and this is the way the world is going now.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the fully online degree programs begin their first year at Guelph-Humber, they remain a focus of discussion. \u201cMy worry is that the more we offer these things and make them the norm, people will just do it\u2026without realizing what you lose and the interpersonal relations that you gain in school. I think there\u2019s room for both as long as we make sure we know what our priorities are,\u201d said Sherman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The University of Guelph-Humber has launched its first two fully online degree programs. The two bachelor of applied science programs are for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[174,47,62],"tags":[194,193,66,195,192],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}