EDUCATION REPORT - Foreign Student Series 4 >Online Educatio

EDUCATION REPORT – October 10, 2002: Foreign Student Series¹ #4 >Online Education

By Nancy Steinbach

This is the VOA Special English EDUCATION REPORT.

This week, we continue our series of reports about how people from foreign countries can attend a college or
university in the United² States. A copy of this report can be found on the Special English web³ site at www dot
voaspecialenglish dot com.

One way to earn a degree at an American college or university is to stay at home and use a computer. American
universities have been offering⁴ classes online for a number of years. Students who have taken online classes say
they like them. One reason is because they do not have to travel to a building at a set time to listen to a professor.
Professors say they have better communication with students through electronic⁵ mail notes than they do in many
traditional classes.

Some colleges offer academic degrees online. One is Jones International University in Englewood, Colorado. Its
web site says it is the first fully⁶ online accredited⁷ university. It offers both bachelor’s degrees and master’s
degrees.

The University of Phoenix⁸ in Arizona has been offering degrees online since nineteen-eighty-nine. University
officials say they try to provide students with a social experience as well as an educational one. For example, in
some programs, groups of the same six students progress through all their classes together. They communicate by
computer.

Another online school is Cardean (CAR-dee-an) University, near Chicago, Illinois. It began operations two years
ago. It is offering online classes leading to a Master’s of Business Administration⁹ degree. Cardean University
uses a problem-solving method of teaching¹⁰. Students attempt to solve real problems in their classes online instead
of reading information.

Anyone with a computer can find information on the Internet about these schools and others. You can use a
search engine such as Google or Yahoo. Type “online education,
”
and choose from a list of schools. Each will
provide information about its programs and costs.

However, experts say you should not send money to any school that says you can get a college degree without
doing any work. These are illegal¹¹ operations. Experts also say that you should find out if such college degrees are
recognized in your country before you decide to get an education online.

This VOA Special English EDUCATION REPORT was written by Nancy Steinbach.

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1 series   

n.连续；系列

参考例句：

• The students have put forward a series of questions.学生们提出了一系列问题。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

2 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

3 web   

n.网，蛛丝，蹼，织物，圈套，卷筒纸；vi.生蹼，形成网；vt.织蜘蛛网于，使落入圈套

参考例句：

• The spider weaves a web.蜘蛛织网。
• You mean the World Wide Web?你是说国际互联网？

4 offering   

n.提供，奉献物，牲礼

参考例句：

• What is your competition offering?你的竞争者提出的条件是什么？
• The police are offering a big reward for information about the robbery.警方出大笔赏金要求提供那起抢劫案的破案线索。

5 electronic   

adj.电子的；n.[-s]电子学，电子设备

参考例句：

• It is an electronic device with many uses.这是一部具有多种用途的电子仪器。
• Father needs a new electronic shaver.爸爸需要一个新的电子剃须刀。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 accredited   

adj.可接受的；可信任的；公认的；质量合格的v.相信( accredit的过去式和过去分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于

参考例句：

• The discovery of distillation is usually accredited to the Arabs of the 11th century. 通常认为，蒸馏法是阿拉伯人在11世纪发明的。
• Only accredited journalists were allowed entry. 只有正式认可的记者才获准入内。

8 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

9 administration   

n.经营，管理；行政，行政机关，管理部门

参考例句：

• Who is in charge of the administration of your company?你们公司的行政工作由谁负责？
• The teachers are responsible to the school administration.教师向学校行政负责。

10 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

11 illegal   

adj.不合法的，非法的，犯法的

参考例句：

• I don't want to get mixed up with any illegal organization.我不想与任何非法组织有牵连。
• It's illegal for people under 17 to drive a car in Britain.在英国，不满17岁的人驾驶车辆是违法的。