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About Online Degrees - Glossary
24/7 - A service offered 24 hours per day, seven days a week.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | W
A
Academic Advisor - A faculty member who assists students with different types of academic-related information like selecting courses and major, development of degree plan or academic curriculum.
Accreditation - The formal certification offered to a university, college, higher education institution or online degree program by a regional or national accrediting agency to meet certain stringent standards or guidelines related to quality of education.
Applet - A small program or application embedded in a webpage (created in HTML) that is launched when the webpage is loaded. It runs on a browser and enables animation, video and audio playing to make the page more interesting.
Application - A software program that enables a user to execute tasks like word processing, email, accounting or database management.
Associate Degree - This degree is provided to students after completion of a two-year postsecondary program which involves about twenty classes or a minimum of 60 credit hours. Students can choose between a transfer-oriented program (if they are interested in getting a bachelor degree) and a career-oriented program (if they want a job immediately). It is offered through online degrees, community colleges, junior colleges and some colleges that offer bachelor degrees.
Asynchronous Communication - This involves various non-synchronous, two-way communications with delay between the time a message is sent and when it is received. This is quite common in distance education where there is time gap in email, voicemail and discussion boards.
Asynchronous Learning - Any form of learning that involves a delay in interactions. This enables students to participate according to their own schedule. This is quite common in the case of online degrees or correspondence courses. The interaction can range from threaded discussions, email, discussion groups or self-paced online courses or using CD-ROMs.
Audio Conferencing - Voice-only connection offered through telephone lines or internet between three or more locations; it is extensively used in online education.
B
Bachelor Degree - A degree granted to students by a four-year college or university after the completion of a postsecondary program comprising of about 120 credit hours. This course usually takes four years of full-time study.
Bandwidth - This refers to the capacity of the communication channel (internet connection) to carry information. It is usually measured in transfer speed (bits-per-second). The greater the bandwidth, the faster is the data transfer and it controls the amount of data sent or received.
Bulletin Board System (BBS) - A comprehensive system managed by a host computer for posting information, carrying on discussions, uploading and downloading files, chatting and other online services.
Blended Learning - This involves a combination of online and in-person learning.
Blog (web log) - A public website that can be updated regularly by the moderator with information of their choice including thoughts and comments by the readers. A public website and can be syndicated to enable the user to have subscribers and issue preferred content
Broadband - A transmission channel can enable the rapid transfer of large amounts of information due to being able to simultaneously carry multiple signals. It is recommended to have broadband connection when taking an online degree.
Browser - Software that enables people to interact on, access and view websites on the internet or created in HTML from their PC, laptop or handheld PDA. Some of the common browsers are Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Firefox, Mozilla, Opera, and Safari.
Byte - A character that can be a letter, number or symbol.
C
Certification - Recognition awarded in several fields to indicate proficiency in a particular knowledge and skills.
Chat - An online, real-time interactive communication method to send and receive instant messages between two or more users. This is used extensively for class discussion to clear doubts or ask questions to the instructor and get instant feedback.
CLEP (College Level Examination Program) - The various tests offered by The College Board to enable students to demonstrate college-level proficiency in a particular subject area, helping them reduce cost and time to degree completion.
Cohort - A group of students who move together through an educational program.
Cookies - Small text files placed on a computer by a website. They consist of information that is sent by the browsers to a web server and back. They are very useful as they have information about the website visited and help in loading the same website faster the next time. It is needed for logging in or having access to certain sites.
Course Management System (CMS) - This web-based software is used by colleges and universities to help in online education by consolidating the development, management and distribution of instructional-related information and materials. It acts as a tool for the students, instructor and fellow learners to interact using asynchronous discussion boards and live chat tools.
Courseware - Educational software that delivers course material and instruction via computer.
D
Diploma Mill or Degree Mill - Education institutions that are not recognized by authentic accrediting agencies. They grant academic degrees and diplomas for a specific amount of money with little or no learning. These degrees are not accepted by most organizations.
Discussion Forums - A place where students can exchange views and messages on a particular subject.
Distance Education - This form of education is provided to students where they and their instructors are in different locations.
Doctoral Degree - A degree obtained by students upon completion of a Ph.D. and the title received is of doctor. It is the highest academic degree and requires proficiency in a particular subject along with research.
E
e-Learning - Any form of learning that requires the use of the internet, a computer network (like LAN, WAN) for delivery, interaction or facilitation with the help of CD-ROM, interactive TV or satellite broadcast.
Enrollment Advisor (Enrollment Counselor) - An employee of a college who helps students in areas like management, recruitment and enrollment as well as registration procedures.
F
Face-to-Face (F2F) - A traditional form of learning when the instructor and student are located in the same place at the same time.
Facilitator - A person who assists, directs and stimulates learning during an online degree.
FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) - The official federal application provided to students to determine their eligibility for federal financial aid.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) - The most commonly asked questions on a specific topic, product or service.
Firewall - Specialized hardware or software developed to offer complete security to a computer or network from unauthorized access.
First-Professional Degree - The degree offered to students after completion of an academic program needed for professional practice which requires two years of college-level work prior to entering the program.
G
Graduate Student - A student who has completed a Bachelor or first-professional degree and is interested in obtaining a Master or Doctorate degree.
Graduate Studies - Coursework undertaken by students after completion of Bachelor degree that helps in acquiring a Master or Doctoral degree.
H
Hope Scholarship Tax Credit - A tax credit offered to students who are enrolled at least half-time in an eligible college degree or certificate program and are in their first or second year of undergraduate study. This can be claimed for qualified tuition and related expenses.
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) -The programming language or computer code used to create web pages with structure, text and images for viewing with a browser.
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) - An internet application protocol used by a web server and a web browser to transfer data over the internet.
Hybrid Instruction/Courses - These are educational programs that involve both online and traditional classroom instruction.
Hypertext - The highlighted text in a web page that connects to other additional information.
I
Instant Messenger (IM) - Software that involves real-time communication between two or more people who are online and using typed text exchanged through the computer.
Interactive Course - A course used in online education which includes a certain amount of interaction with the help of interactive components like active instructor feedback, communication between students and instructor as well as peer collaboration.
L
Lifetime Learning Tax Credit - This is offered to students who take at least one class from an accredited school programs (like undergraduate and graduate programs) or approved courses for acquiring or improving their job skills. It is usually taken by those who have completed the first two years of undergraduate studies, graduate students interested in improving or enhancing their skills.
M
Master Degree - This degree is an advanced degree obtained after completion of one to two years of full-time graduate-level study after completion of the Bachelor degree.
Multicasting - An audio, video, email or application broadcast over the web from one computer to many computers.
Multimedia - An amalgamation of text, graphics and audio to present information in an interesting manner.
N
Netiquette - These are the informal etiquette to be followed on the internet, especially in the case of sending mails, chatting, posting messages. For example, it is not polite to use all capital letters or bold text in an email sent to your instructor.
Newsgroup - An information exchange platform where notes about a specific topic are posted and shared.
O
Online Learning - A form of distance learning or e-Learning offered completely over the internet.
P
Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) - A process where students can earn academic credit for knowledge they have already acquired through informal or independent study, work experience or other means like life experience and community service.
Public Institution - A school or institution managed by publicly elected or appointed officials and gets its funding from public funds.
R
Real-time Communication - A form of communication that does not have any time lapse.
Rich Content - Content that is of very high quality for courses or web pages provided with the help of advanced or sophisticated design techniques.
S
Self-paced Learning - Asynchronous learning where students control the flow of information.
Streaming - A technique where audio and video are downloaded in a compressed form over the internet. It can be viewed as soon as it is received instead of waiting for all the information to be downloaded.
Syllabus - A document providing an overview of a course.
Synchronous Learning - Interaction takes place online in real-time. This can be done by having the instructor and the learners attend class at a scheduled time.
T
Threaded Discussion - This is quite common in online education where students interact with their peers and instructor through a series of messages on a particular topic posted in a discussion forum.
U
Undergraduate Student - A college student enrolled in a certificate, Associate degree or Bachelor degree program.
Upload - A file attached to a webpage that can be transferred from one computer to another.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator) - An address on the internet used to identify a page or file.
V
Video Conferencing - Synchronous, real-time video and audio communication taking place using a computer, web camera and the internet.
Virtual - Simulated, not physical, online learning. The virtual classroom refers to the area where the students and instructor interact online without the presence of a real classroom.
W
Web Based Training (WBT) - A form of training delivered over a network (like LAN, WAN or internet) done with the help of an instructor or computer based.
Whiteboard - The electronic equivalent of a blackboard and chalk on a computer screen which enables multiple users to add text, create drawings or diagrams in a shared electronic area that is visible to all participants.
