"Going the Distance-Learning" by Kenan Spruill

 

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

Everyone has more education than you do. Everyone has more credentials than you have. Everyone is more qualified than you are. Welcome to your post-graduation job market.

This is You. Afraid and Alone

An unfortunate reality is that between the national recovery from the Great Recession, the automatization of many jobs, the outsourcing of many others, and the influx of equally talented people vying for the same job you want, there is not much wiggle room for you to not be absolutely exceptional. Given the gloomy job situation, there is however hope. Distance-learning opportunities are a resource that for the most part are either going untapped or not used to their full potential, which can help a person gain an edge in becoming a more appealing job candidate. Employers are searching for certain qualities in their future employees and distance education nourishes those qualities. Being successful in real life is quite different from success at a traditional college, but the two are more closely molded in the online environment. At the same time, self-actualization is very important when selecting a career, and distance-education can logistically do a better job in helping people find what they want from life than their Brick and Mortar alternative. Granted, to reap these benefits one must first pay the price in becoming this type of student, but with much of those values already having to be developed in order to succeed down the line anyway, the distance-education learning style provides much more of an incentive to make the switch. Distance-learning is not for everyone, but those who can master its nuances will carry a hefty advantage when walking into the interview of YOUR dream job.

The Struggle is Real

Let’s think about the quote above. Is there actually a difference between schooling and education? To draw a basic inference, education implies self-improvement whereas schooling denotes a physical entity. It’s no secret that the buildings, books and bureaucracy of the Brick and Mortar style of schooling, in and of themselves, have little to do with the personal progress one makes in becoming truly educated, but one cannot undervalue the contribution a degree has in total lifetime earnings. A recent Georgetown study determined that someone with a bachelor’s degree will earn 70% more money over their lifetime than someone with just a high school diploma. Twain muses that schooling gets in the way of education, but it has been proven as the most effective method to add some digits on the end of that paycheck. This is why that framed piece of paper is so necessary, whether it come in the traditional fashion or through the online venues. But with that being stated, how does one account for the recent trend of college grads’ inability to acquire good jobs? This is a paradox, and it carries severe economic implications. An understanding of the reasons why this occurs, is probably at the heart of Mark Twain’s quote above and must be understood in order to establish a basis for the argument in favor of distance-learning.


A possible explanation of the haves and the have-nots comes from famed social scientist Steven Covey. Covey stated, “The character ethic taught that there are basic principles of effective living, and that people can only experience true success and enduring happiness as they learn and integrate these principles [and habits] into their basic character.” (Covey, 8). This means that success (and happiness in general) is not generated simply because a seventy-thousand dollar framed piece of paper is hanging on your wall, but it is the result of habits developed within. Higher education exists for the purpose of carrying out this intrapersonal transfusion, which is why employers hire college grads over high school dropouts, even though both are capable of accomplishing work.



However given these facts, Forbes estimates that half of college graduates are working jobs that don’t require degrees, which means the present-day hang-up is a market saturated with people who already have these good habits. The gap the modern day student must bridge is not from bad to good, but from good to stellar. A college degree is no longer an advantage, it is now the price of admission. Without adjustment and experience beyond the base degree, today’s college students will enter tomorrows intensely competitive work environment completely underprepared, and this is where distance education steps in to save the day. With the time, effort, and excellence required within the traditional university framework, an adjustment within the Brick and Mortar system would probably do the average student more harm than good, but with the versatility of a distance education the same student can multiply his appeal to future employers while improving himself and pursuing certain opportunities only he can realistically take advantage of, but first this student must become a distance-education student.

I Wanna Be An Adult

Becoming a distance education student is a lot like taking the full on plunge in becoming a responsible adult, and the good-news is that employers want to hire responsible adults. The name of the game is basically time management, and if the effort is displayed to develop the habits necessary to play the game, then such a student is INSTANTLY a more appealing job candidate. In this chart listed below, taken from a study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, we can see what employers really want.

 

Isn’t it interesting that it would be quite a rare thing to find a university class directly related to the development of any of these skills, yet they are so vital to post-academic success? This is probably because none of these things could effectively be taught in a classroom setting, for they are life skills. They can, however, be learned, for they are habits, and can be adopted through consistent effort. A US News article described four habits necessary for success in online classes, and all of these steps translate into these skills that employers want to see.




The first suggestion, “Make a Plan” is perhaps the skill developed out of distance learning which would ring deepest with future employers. While everyone else in the job queue would have spent their four years Netflixing, cramming, and occasionally taking notes, you would have had to discipline yourself into living a higher law, based on personal preparedness and productivity. No employer would be able to doubt this aspect of your occupational range, with all the known student efficacy difficulties emerging from the distance-education framework (Artino, 4). Obviously, this is not an easy change to make, but it is a change that could be made now at the employer’s chagrin or later at the employer’s expense, as detailed in this clip from Central West Youth Transition Services, which works in helping youth acquire working opportunities and job-skills.

The second suggestion “Checking in Daily” and third suggestion “Looking Ahead” are correlated. They are about awareness, consistency and crisis management; knowing what you have to get done and when you have to get it done, all while responding to today’s external stimuli and adjusting your priorities accordingly. These correspond directly to alleviating the burden sitting on the shoulders of your would-be superiors Employers will especially want these students, because they and foresee the crisis on the horizon and respond to it in parts while communicating the unseen obstacles before timing becomes critical. One study stated “Our findings suggest that the importance of how an organization communicates internally is even more vital than the question what is being communicated.” (Smidts, 19)


The fourth suggestion is “Speaking Up”, or effectively communicating misunderstandings. Pure distance-education students would know how to ask for help, and also know where to go for help. They know the holes they can dig themselves out of, and they know when they are truly sunk. In an interview, distance education students should have employers recognize that their education has equipped them with resourcefulness in navigating solutions to potential setbacks. They know the terrain they are sitting in when they get stuck and there will be less overhead involved in getting them back up to speed. These habits are significant appeals to an employer’s desire for competent help, and while there might be a couple skill development drawbacks a distance-ed student faces, these skill deficiencies can be easily compensated through the flexibility distance-education carries.

I Can’t Hear You over How Loud My Education Is

Studies have shown that the great obstacle facing distance education students is acquiring the communications skills employers want (Adams 10). These students are not at a complete loss, because they are gaining technical communication skills, which are becoming more and more desirable, but it is true that their face-to-face communication skills would not get as many opportunities for development as a traditional college student. However, traditional education students have fixed time commitments which they must attend to and also timing difficulties due to the inability to accelerate or slow down the presentation of lecture material. Distance education student do not face these challenges and can relieve employer concerns through the development of their repertoire of communications skills during the open blocks of time they naturally have access to any time they want.

That's Right... anytime they want.

For example, my school, Brigham Young University, offers many career workshops throughout the week which I know would greatly benefit my potential appeal to employers, but due to time constraints of classes, due-dates, recitation sessions, and fatigue, I am unlikely to attend one unless timing is absolutely perfect. A distance education student would still face these constraints, but they will come on his timing if he has developed the habits necessary to sustain his educational success. The flexibility of distance education would allow students to fit almost any self-improvement opportunity into their schedules, and whether it be a job, workshop, potential networking opportunity, local internship or even a non-local internship, the possibilities for resume padding are endless.

Ground Control to Major Me

Along with the practical availability of self-improvement opportunities, a distance education student also allows for the freedom and space to enact an in-depth exploration of self, and beyond all academic and economic implications, this self-actualization is the true key to prospective success. In the working world, productivity is the lifeblood of success and requires incentives to be maintained. CEO Frank C. Hudetz claims, “Self-actualization and self-esteem are the highest order of incentives.”


A distance education with its flexibility in implication and necessity in degree provision, opens up the door for this exploration process. Being able to find your calling in life and the pursuing of such is an imposing effectiveness multiplier for employers and a sure happiness multiplier for employees. Perhaps contrary towards the common “do-as-told” outlook, the productivity gains from an employee doing what he is passionate about, provides for the greatest economic good of each.

Your Boss

I’ll demonstrate the appeal of distance education in regards to self-actualization with an illustration. Picture yourself in a library. Your laptop ablaze with the latest netflix craze, and your stomach bulging due to the all-too-typical over-consumption that comes with having a freshman meal plan. You have a considerable amount of homework (most likely busy-work) due the next day for your boring classes, and no motivation whatsoever to actually start it. Your mind is full of “why” questions and “woe” answers, as in “woe is me”, and these qualms are distracting you from the task at hand. They echo throughout your head probing, “Why am I here?” “Why do I have to do this?” “What am I doing with my life?” “Mom and Dad, said this…” “Money this…. success that…” “Job satisfaction… blah, blah, blah.” The real issue at hand is that you have no idea what you want to do with your life, and the real dilemma with this issue is that you are just waiting for a light-bulb moment to tell you where the heck to go. All of this occurring from within the walls of the multi-million dollar library of your multi-bajillion dollar university (which you happen to be paying for), while surrounded by peers who are just as confused as you are. So, at which point is the self-realization actually supposed to occur?


Now, picture yourself on a greyhound bus, just traveling through time and space as a wanderer. A vagabond on your way to another exercise in self-exploration. You still face the same qualms and fears as you did in the previous example, but where are you? You are in the state of doing-something-about-it. You crack open your laptop, and what do you see? It’s all of the coursework from those boring classes mentioned previously. Only now, you are infused with some much needed motivation. Where are you going? What should you do? The answers to these questions aren’t so much important as the journey you face in answering them. With your freedom in availability, these questions aren’t just queries, they are realities. Realities you’re doing something about. Maybe there is no closure in this trip, but this is not just a one-time all-or-nothing investment. This is a process, and employers will love you for it. You may be skeptical about the economic feasibility of such an exploration, but when we consider it as part of the college experience and not separate, it is quite feasible when factored into the college cost equation. The good news is that distance education programs are significantly cheaper than their brick and mortar counterparts, and with per credit costs within the traditional method reaching multiple hundreds of dollars, these “trips” are quite feasible, especially when coupled with more networking opportunities like help exchanges, house sitting, or even couch surfing.

Wayne Gretzky > Clubber Lang

For clarification, this post has not been geared towards the working moms and dads of the world with eighteen kids and seven crappy jobs, to encourage them to get back in the game and finish what they started, blah blah blah. This article is for you, young college student with willing heart and able mind. I want you to succeed. I don’t want you to become the eighteen kidded, seven jobbed zombie we talked about earlier, ravenously clawing in the wilderness for a shot at the big time like Clubber Lang in Rocky III. You face enormous competition in the world of tomorrow, but the good news is you will probably be fine once you get your foot in the right door, but lifting that foot and getting it in that door could be the hardest path you crawl in this modern world, because you and everyone else are basically clones of what it took to be successful 20 years ago. The game has changed, and if you don’t change with it, than you will inherit the 20 year old results, i.e. making 11 dollars an hour coming out of college. The perspective of degree=success is outdated. Nowadays success requires so much more, with a degree only being the price of admission. In an intensely competitive job market, strategically utilized distance-education programs are a way to get a leg up on the stiff competition, because it allows for maneuverability and self-improvement opportunities which are unfeasible in the brick and mortar system. Right now, everyone is skating to where the puck lies in Brick-and-Mortar-dom, but if we expend all our resources trying to get to that point, when we get there we will find that crowding has forced the puck to move on.