You’ve told us you’re happy with your degree from UWP. Here’s your chance to tell others. With an increasing number of online degree programs, potential students may have difficulty determining which program provides the education and services that will meet their needs.

Knowing what other students have experienced can encourage someone to learn more about UWP distance education. Interested in spreading the good word?

Go to GetEducated. com and rate your online degree:

• Go to GetEducated. com 
• Click “Search By School”
• Type University of Wisconsin and click “SEARCH”
• Scroll down and select View Degree Profile for your degree
• Select the tab “Grade This Degree”
• Click “Add A Comment” and rate your degree

By Bob Streff

UW-Platteville subscribes to RefWorks for all students. I have listened to debates on both sides regarding its usefulness. Some say that students don’t learn the proper manuscript style when RefWorks creates it for them. And sometimes, there are problems importing into word processors. On the upside, it can save students time by automatically filling in the information required by the different styles.

• There are some useful features of RefWorks that I never hear in the debate:
• You can open RefWorks and cut and paste portions of text into RefWorks; and you can place notes about the quote in another section. 

Refworks will also add the citations within the paper.

These can be very helpful tools during the research and writing phases. But during the final draft phase, there is no substitution for using the most current style manual.

By Charles Christison

Discussion assignments, whether whole class or group focused, are meant to be an interaction between all participants. The learning that takes place in a in a discussion forum is different than other types of learning. In a discussion, each student is exposed to the viewpoints of others and should be willing to share their viewpoint on the topic. In this light, discussions are interactive and support learning by participation.

Students should begin a discussion assignment after they have completed assigned readings and individual assignments. Without this preparation they enter the discussion without context. This leads to a poor learning experience.

One technique is to position students as teachers by evaluating the impact of how they have contributed to the learning of their classmates. A successful discussion does not mean that everyone agrees with everyone else, but that multiple viewpoints have been presented and discussed. Active discussions should lead to more critical thinking as reflected in questions and issues raised.

Discussions can be evaluated in terms of improved questions and the amount of engagement presented. Better responses will reflect Boom's higher level cognitive skills, such as analysis and synthesis. Poorest responses would be simple agreement or repeating of what others have stated.

Any behavior in a discussion that limits the amount of engagement, students dominating the discussion and otherwise restricting the flow of ideas should be corrected as soon as possible.

The bottom line is that discussions are meant to be an interaction between all participants to the benefit of all. Exposure to multiple viewpoints with active discussions should lead to a higher level of critical thinking.

By Clinton Nemitz

As a recruiter for UWP Distance Education, I am the first to hear students’ stories about their desire to further their education or get a much needed promotion. But lately, the stories have been a little different -- and not for the better. I don’t have enough toes or fingers to count how many times I have heard the words, “I just lost my job.” When the conversation starts, I have no emotional stock in a student, but when the story has been told and the conversation has ended, I am very close to the student.

We may have talked about how the loss of their job has affected them emotionally, physically, and put so much wear and tear on their family that it is almost unbearable to hear. Through all the emotions, we talk about options, because they called with a purpose: to turn a horrible situation into a positive one.

The biggest topic we discuss is money. How are they going to pay for school? We talk about financial aid and how it is available to all students in our program who take at least six credits per semester. I explain the scholarships our program has to offer. Finally, I give them the link to Fastweb.com. Based on students’ criteria, this website searches the United States for scholarships they are eligible to apply for. The awards range in value from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.

If you want something bad enough, you have to look for the resources to make it happen. Fastweb.com is just one of many resources that could help you finance your education.

By Christine Hawkinson

In the short time I’ve been with the Distance Learning Center, I have had the opportunity to talk with several graduates of our programs. Three observations stand out:

• They all agree that earning a degree online is worth every bit of the sacrifice.
• They all rave about the quality of instruction and the benefits of interacting with students across the country who work in various professions.
• There is no typical day in the life of an online student.

Most of our students are employed, many have families, and all juggle their lives to accommodate study time. I am still thinking about comments from two students you can read more about in the Spring 2009 PLEXUS.

Kelli Johnson earned her Master of Science in Engineering in 15 months, while substitute teaching and waitressing. Her success depended on lots of planning and study sessions at four in the morning. An extra challenge to Kelli’s schedule: she had to plan for time needed to download information and upload assignments with dial-up internet service!

Don Zurek worked full time while earning his Master of Science in Engineering. He has two children and a wife who also works full time. He credits the support of his wife and her willingness take on some of his responsibilities at home. Don was also creative when it came to squeezing 10-15 hours of study time into his already busy week. Rather than lunching with colleagues, he brown bagged it and read a chapter for class. And his wife took the wheel on trips to the mall so he could read on the way.

Every student offers a source of inspiration and encouragement for others. Send me your top hint for finding study time and I’ll share them in a future blog. E-mail me at hawkinsonc@uwplatt.edu.