As roads begin to clog up with traffic and new TSA procedures at the airports make us blush, it can only mean one thing—the holiday season is upon us.

It makes you realize that online students have quite a bit to be thankful for this holiday season. Don’t worry—we know you’ve got family to entertain and turkeys to baste, so we kept our list short–though we know that you probably will have more reasons to add to the list:

1. You’re already home. Yes, we know some of you might be hitting the road to see relatives, but as an online student, you don’t have to worry about getting home in the first place—like all those poor, tired students who are cramming onto trains, planes, and buses as you read this.

2. No forgotten assignments. Ask any student whose home is far away from campus—it is NOT fun to realize that you’ve forgotten to turn in that term paper that is sitting on your dorm room desk. With online education, all you need to do is resend an assignment to a professor and be on your way.

3. No (or at least less) awkwardness with the family. For many traditional students living away at college, coming home for Thanksgiving is often the longest time they’ve been home in months. Family members might have to get used to having them around again. But for online students, well—you’ve been home.

4. No need to rush your time with family. As an online student, chances are you’ve already got a good schedule of school vs. family time. So consider the extra time you now have away from your computer as a bonus and enjoy!

5. Thanksgiving leftovers are within reach. Need we say more?

Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

–Barbara Bellesi

Online learning can be appealing because of the flexibility and options available. If that’s not enough for you, here are five cool things you can do as an online student, whether you’re a newcomer to online learning or been doing it for years.

1. Be involved in campus organizations
Just because you’re not on campus for class, it doesn’t mean you can’t participate in school organizations, clubs, or activities. Honors societies, organizations related to your degree or subject area, ethnic organizations, religious groups, and more all provide opportunities to feel more tied to the college while being an online student, if you live in the same town or nearby. Or if you don’t live nearby or want to stick with the online option, you can be involved in online student clubs, which are springing up as students desire to create a stronger connection with each other and enhance the learning experience. Or you can create a club yourself.

2. Get away from an annoying classmate
Hooray! You no longer have to deal with classmate who constantly clicks their pen, crunches chips throughout class, or corners you with their list of why they’re so busy. They’re safely a virtual world away, allowing them to continue their annoying habits without pestering you in person.

3. Learn while exercising
Your workouts don’t have to suffer because you can position your computer, iPad or phone on the treadmill or stationary bike and get in some cardio while watching or listening to a lecture or podcast, or even being part of a chat with classmates and the professor.

4. Save on parking
Instead of doling out hundreds of dollars for a spot on campus, you can save that money for your mortgage, food, holiday gifts, or other items that, let’s face it, are so much more worthwhile than securing a spot near your class. It’s just one of the benefits of being able to log on and learn.

5. Get participation credit for a class.
Earning points for participating in an online course is more than just logging on and being in attendance online, author Diane Hamilton writes in “The Online Student’s User Manual.” She points out that professors usually provide guidelines as to what counts as participation in their online class, in terms of the number of words or the types of thoughtful answers they’re expecting when posting a question online.

-Lori Johnston

Despite critics, naysayers, and predictions, online learning is not a passing fad… it’s a growing trend that doesn’t seem to be fading anytime soon. So say the latest statistics as reported by the Sloan Consortium, a group of institutions and organizations committed to quality online learning. Take a look at the numbers:

* Enrollment in online courses grew by over one million students last year (a 21% growth rate, as compare to the overall 2% growth of the higher education population)
* Approximately 5.6 million students were enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2009
* Almost two-thirds of for-profit institutions say online learning is part of their long term strategy
* Nearly 30 percent of higher education students now take at least one course online
* Even traditional campus students are taking online courses in record numbers

(Download the complete survey, “Class Differences: Online Education in the United States, 2010,” here.)

A recent New York Times article presents a thought-provoking twist on the classic online vs. classroom debate – the effectiveness of online courses for traditional, on-campus students. Though some resident students are taking advantage of online lectures to save themselves the hassle of hoofing it to class, the exponential increase of on-campus students taking online courses is attributed to economics. In many courses, more students are enrolled than could fit into a lecture hall. With budget cuts across the board, colleges and universities are turning to online classes to keep enrollment up and costs down.

Online Learning: Who’s Doing It?
According to the most recent Sloan Survey of Online Learning, of the 4.6 million students who took a college-level online course during fall 2008, about three million were simultaneously enrolled in face-to-face courses. Many of these students attended community colleges, but online courses have been making their way into undergrad programs at large public universities as well:

• University of Florida: Resident students are earning 12 percent of their credit hours online this semester, a figure expected to grow to 25 percent in five years.
• University of Iowa: Ten percent of 14,000 liberal arts undergrads take an online course each semester.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: First-year Spanish students now receive all their instruction online.

The Effectiveness of Online Education
Most higher education officials would agree that advances in technology create exciting and effective learning opportunities. But online courses that offer streamed lectures alone do not take advantage of the interactivity inherent to the education format.

Plus, it seems unfair to require resident students to take online classes, whether they are ill-suited for the format or are simply reluctant to lose classroom face time. After all, online courses are really not what students are going away to college for.

Eventually, all of this makes its way back to the “Is online learning as effective as face-to-face learning” question. A companion New York Times article does present positive stats for online education: “An analysis of 99 studies by the federal Department of Education concluded last year that online instruction, on average, was more effective than face-to-face learning by a modest amount.”

But the article goes on to state the fairly obvious conclusion that some students, perhaps even entire populations, will fare better with online education than others. A recent study reported by the National Bureau of Economic Research revealed that Hispanic students watching online lectures in a University of Florida microeconomics course earned a full grade lower, on average, than Hispanics who attended the lectures, and all male students who watched online earned about a half-grade lower than their classroom counterparts.

In my mind, online classes can be effective whether you’re on campus or off – but requiring students to learn online is where the problem lies.

What do you think? Is it wrong to require resident students to take courses online?

–Robyn Tellefsen

Today is the day to honor our brave service men and women who work every day to secure our freedom. One of the ways in which the U.S. gives back to members of the military is through the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which offers tuition benefits to those who have served their country.

According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs website, “The Post-9/11 GI Bill provides financial support for education and housing to individuals with at least 90 days of aggregate service on or after September 11, 2001, or individuals discharged with a service-connected disability after 30 days. You must have received an honorable discharge to be eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill.”

The Post-9/11 GI Bill is available for eligible students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees, as well as vocational and technical training. The schools, colleges, or universities at which a student enrolls must be approved for GI Bill benefits—a school noted as an Institution for Higher Learning (IHL)–so you must also check for this when you are checking for a school’s accreditation. Under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, tutoring and licensing or certification tests are also reimbursed.

So how much tuition money are we talking about? The tuition and fees covered by the Post-9/11 GI Bill are determined by the highest in-state tuition at a public college or university, though the actual financial support granted depends on where the person lives and what field of study they will be pursuing. Should the tuition at a student’s chosen school go above the indicated in-state level, the Yellow Ribbon Program can help to cover the difference in cost.

The one benefit of the Post-9/11 GI Bill that is NOT available to online students is the Basic Allowance for Housing, as online programs have no campus or dorms for students.

It’s exciting to know that the GI Bill has evolved to benefit service men and women looking to further their education in a modern world. They are a pride to our country today and always.

–Barbara Bellesi