How to Start Your Own Online College

Developing Majors

You do not need to reinvent the wheel. Established colleges have been developing curriculums andcourses for years and some for centuries. And since most colleges and universities place their Majorand cirriculm descriptions online, you can simply go to any school's site to get an idea how todevelop courses and majors. Understand the differences between: Associates, Bachelors, Masters,and Doctorates Degrees.

From my research, I have not found one state that has mandates on how colleges and universitiesshould organize programs, but despite this remember these rules:

Offer 3 unit courses- At traditional schools 3 units/credits represent how many hours spent in classper week. In terms of online courses, developers organize assignements and activities that wouldreflect 3 hours per week of online activity.

Here are some suggestions of how to set up your degree programs. Associates and Bachelorsdegrees are somewhat similar in that they both have General Education and Major related courses,but they are different in terms of the number of courses. Masters and PhD programs focus heavily onresearch.

Associate http://www.thedesigntrust.co.uk/what-is-niche-marketing/ Degrees- These are usually 63units. Completed within 1-2 years

Bachelors Degrees- These are 120 units. Be aware that in order to make degrees competitive anduphold standards, you may need to have certain program meet certain accreditation guidelines--though this may not be nessesary. These degress are usually finished within 2-4 years.

Masters Degrees- Research related degree that shows mastery of knowledge. Are usually 36 units.

PhD or Doctorates- Between 51-81 depending upon whether or not the college will accept Master'sLevel courses. Since Doctorates are intensely specialized, there is not really a definite template. Ifyou do plan to offer doctorates, look at other colleges web pages to see how the school hasstructured their courses.

Associate Degree Template

General Studies- Every Associate and Bachelors degree program has a general education or studiescomponent. The ideas behind this, is the need for students to have general knowledge of the world apart from their career endeavors. College Level Math, English, Science, and the Social Sciences areexamples of General Studies courses. General Studies is what separates college Internet MarketingTools Reviews and universities from trade schools. Below is a general idea of how general educationshould be distributed,

Basic Skills: 6 Units

College English: 3

Critical Thinking: 3

Math Science: 9 Units

College Level Math: 3

Physical Science: 3

Life Science: 3

Arts Humanities: 9 Units

Arts Appreciation: 3

Humanities: 3

Research Writing: 3

Social Sciences: 9 Units

Human Nature: 3

History: 3

Social Issues: 3

Cultural Diversity: 6

Major Requirements- These courses emphasize major/career courses.

Lower Division Major Courses: 12

Fundamentals: 6

Practices: 6

Research Project Courses: 3

Total Units= 66

Bachelor Degrees Template

General Studies

Basic Skills: 3 Units

College English: 3

Critical Thinking: 3

Math Science: 9 Units

College Level Math: 3

Physical Science: 3

Life Science: 3

Arts Humanities: 9 Units

Arts Appreciation: 3

Humanities: 3

Research Writing: 3

Social Sciences: 9 Units

Human Nature: 3

History: 3

Social Issues: 3

Cultural Diversity: 12

Major Courses: 49

Core Courses: 24

Theory Courses: 15

Practical Application: 18

Research Project: 3

Electives: 15

Total= 120 Units

Masters Degrees Template

Foundation: 3 Units

Emphasis: 18 Units

Research: 9 Units

Electives: 6 Units

Total Units= 36

When deciding to place course in these template simple use another universities example. You andyour partner should comb different university web pages and decide which courses to plug in.

It Is Time To Develop Your Courses And Learn How To Teach Online

Simply posting a syllabus online and having students complete assignments does not constitute anonline class. Many students who have taken online courses will tell you that they had received thebest learning experience from an online course where they had interactive teachers and a userfriendly web site. Online instructors do not have the luxury of looking at a lecture hall and determinethe interest level of the students nor can they easily determine if students are actually learning thematerial. Attentiveness and comprehension are top concerns of online instructors.

Keep Teaching Simple At First

I would keep it simple at first and have students turn in assigments and communicate through e-mail, and as time goes by, you can update your delivery systems. Also allow students to call you ifnessesary.

Create Student Files

As students, turn in assignment, keep records of everthing; e-mails, tests, quizzes, and papers.Create word document folders for all students that contain the above items Continued

Create A Basic Webpage

If you have taken online courses, you may have noticed, a main web page, with a message boardfunction, your instructors contact information, a place where you can upload your assignments/files,and updates. This is not nessesary at first, your basic web page should consist of five pages:

Introduction Page: This shows you mission and goal statements, a basic outline of your majors, thetypes of degrees, your goals for the student

Course Catalog Page- After you and your partners search for courses to plug in your templates fromvarious web pages, create a word document, cut and paste course descriptions on the document. Besure to re word each course entry to avoid copyright infringement.

You may also want to look and possibly copy a similar online university's policy and procedures tothink about establishing similar polices and procedures. Discuss this fully with your partners. Thisprocess may take days or weeks depending on how many majors and courses you are going offer.

This page should also explain and outline your programs and majors

This document is amorphous. It can constantly change. Once you have established admissions,recruitment, grading procedures, place these in the catalog. Think for your school's catalog as anintruction manual to your school.

Contact- This page lists all of the instructors and contact information.

Accreditation- This page explains where you are at in the accreditation process, and which agencyyou are focuisng on. State cleary, that your accreditation is pending. State clearly that your school isstate approved. I would provide a link to your potential accreditor.

Apply Page. This page will have an interactive application form for your students to fill out andsubmit. Your web page should have this functionality, if not call your Web Service Provider.