How online learners can cut costs

Publish date	2008-08-07
Employment	Career Advice
Available Articles	Full articles without membership

Many adults in full-time work, as well as mothers who wish to return to employment, are drawn to online education by the fact that is generally works out to be less expensive than taking a full-time programme.

A study by Capella University found more than half of US adults wanted to pursue further education, but were put off by cost factors.

The cost of education is even more of an issue when economic uncertainty arises, as is the case at the moment in the US and across much of Europe. But there are a number of ways you can keep your costs down if you are pursuing an online degree.

The most obvious way is to get your employer to pay your fees for you. Attracting sponsorship from your employer is the most common way of funding postgraduate study in the UK. If your employer says no, find out if you are eligible for any education grants.

The first port of call in this case is usually the government department responsible for education in your country (for example, www.ed.gov in the US). Failing this, you’ll have to fall back on savings or take out a loan. And this is when the cost savings you make on equipment could make life easier.

As a distance learner, there are two key areas where can save money: your computer, your internet connection, and the software you use.

If you are pursuing a degree while working full-time, it makes more sense to use a laptop. Portability and the growth of mobile broadband mean you can access your programme portal wherever you are.

The good news is that laptops are cheaper than ever. If you are on an extremely tight budget, the British company Elonex has just launched the first sub-£100 laptop, called the One. It can be used as a traditional notebook computer – or, if you detach the screen from the keypad, as a ‘tablet’. The internet is accessed wirelessly and there is 1GB of built-in memory. If you want more memory, USB sticks are inexpensive (a high-speed 4GB stick can be bought for £15 ($30)).

If you want a slightly higher spec laptop, perhaps with a bigger screen and more memory, the average laptop bought I the UK will set you back £477 ($1,000), according to analyst GfK. For this you’ll get at least 2GB of memory, 120GB of hard disk space, 802.11b/g wireless networking, and dedicated multimedia shortcut keys that let you watch DVDs or view documents without booting into Windows. The key is to shop around. Look out for offers – the economic slowdown should make the market more competitive.

There are lots of very small, cheap sub-notebooks on the market, including the Asus Eee and the Packard-Bell EasyNote XS. This category of computer usually has about the same memory, with an eight-inch screen. Be warned though – they are very small and prolonged use might leave you feeling a tad goggle-eyed.

How is the One so cheap? The computer runs on Linux (linux.com) open source software. This is a completely free (and perfectly legitimate) rival to Microsoft Windows, and is produced by collaborating software designers with a non-profit philosophy. Open source software works well on cheaper hardware.

Another useful piece of open source software is Open Office (openoffice.org), a free rival to Microsoft Office. OpenOffice is a free office suite of tools to install on your desktop to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations. It is compatible with MS Office so you can read and edit existing Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents in it. It works on PCs and Apple computers.

If you feel more comfortable sticking with Microsoft, it’s worth bearing in mind that the student and teacher edition of Microsoft Office is significantly cheaper (around £70 or $140) than the full version.

As for your internet connection, broadband is an absolute must, particularly if your programme involves downloading podcasts of lectures, watching streaming video or participating in real-time discussions. Make sure you use a laptop that is wireless enabled (you may have to buy a wireless card to slot into the machine), as this will enable you to get online if you are away from home.

Home broadband is very competitive in the UK, and deals are available from less than £10 a month. Surprisingly, mobile broadband is getting faster and cheaper. In some cases in the UK it is faster than home broadband. Mobile providers 3 and T-Mobile are to merge their networks to improve internet coverage to most of the UK, at speeds of up to 7MB.

The most basic mobile service is available from around £10 a month, rising to £25 a month. Some home services, such as BT Broadband, offer free OpenZone minutes each month. This could work to your advantage if you spend a lot of dead time at airports and railway stations.

Keywords: online education, working adults, tuition fees, costs.

Source:

back