How to succeed as an on-line student!

About.com recently posted a great article entitled, "How to suceed as an on-line student." We hope you enjoy the article.

Online campus details seven deadly cyber sins!

More than three million adult learners will study online this fall. Maybe you'll be one of them. Perhaps you're unsure of the eClassroom or of your chances for earning a degree. Wondering how you can successfully attend Web courses and earn your degree without committing eLearning trespasses? Read on about seven deadly cyber-school sins and what online learning experts suggest to escape these common perils.

What are the wages of various careers?

Our focus as a company is to provide top quality career training via colleges and universities. Many of our students wonder what the wage ranges are for the career fields in their market. We have found this great web site, Top Career Wages.com, that will help you find the wage ranges for the career you are considering. We hope you like their web site!

Gatlin Education releases Modern Automotive Service Technician Program.

Gatlin Education Services is pleased to announce our new, "Modern Automotive Service Technician" online program. This new program teaches the construction, operation, diagnosis, service, and repair of late-model automobiles and light trucks. This comprehensive program uses a building-block approach that starts with the fundamental principles of system operation and progresses gradually to complex diagnostic and service procedures. To learn more about this program and to be notified when the course goes live please visit Gatlin Education Services: Online Career Training Courses.

Paralegal Students Benefit Through Gatlin Education Services Partnership With CASA.

Gatlin Education Services announced today that they have partnered with the National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association to encourage Gatlin paralegal students to volunteer as advocates for abused and neglected children. To read the entire article from News Wire Today click here.

Gatlin Education releases Business Marketing Design program.

Gatlin Education Services is pleased to announce the release of our new Business Marketing Design program which focuses on developing the visual identity, advertising, and marketing design skills required for a corporate or small business environment. Students learn professional applications for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator or equivalent digital imaging and vector drawing tools. Course projects include marketing concept development, critique, retouching, compositing, illustration, print and Web advertising, identity design, direct mail, marketing communication, company branding, and business startup scenarios. Available now!

Gatlin Education releases new Forensic Computer Examiner course.

Due to surging demand Gatlin Education Services has created a Forensic Computer Examiner Program. This comprehensive online Forensic Computer Examiner program prepares individuals for a career as a forensic computer examiner. Through this training, students learn to retrieve evidence and prepare reports, based on that evidence, which will stand up in a court of law. The ethics of computer forensics and the preparation and analysis of investigation results is also covered. The primary certification for civilian forensic computer examiners is the Certified Computer Examiner (CCE®) certification. This online Forensic Computer Examiner program is an authorized CCE training course and thoroughly prepares students to take the CCE certification exam. This program is available now!

Gatlin Education Services attending LERN in Las Vegas, Nov. 17 AND 18th.

Gatlin Education Services will be one of the exhibitors at this year's annual LERN conference being held at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas from November 16 - 18th, 2005.

http://www.lern.org

Stephen Gatlin the President of Gatlin Education Services and Daryl Clark the Director of Special Markets will be representing our organization. Stephen and Daryl look forward to thanking you for your support this year and telling you about a few of our exciting new initiatives for 2006.

Certified National Pharmaceutical Sales Representative online training course is now available!

The Certified National Pharmaceutical Sales Representative (CNPR) online program is ready for enrollments! This course is available at many of the partners colleges and universities of Gatlin Education Services. If you are seeking a career in this field, you can now become certified at your own pace in the comfort of your home. Detailed course information is available at Certified National Pharmaceutical Sales Representative.

To find a college or university near you offering this exciting new course you can also visit our web site at Gatlin Education Services: online career training courses.

Funding Sources for Global Education

Ed Stoessel the Executive Director for Resource Development and International and Governmental Relations at Eastern Iowa Community College District has written a great article we would like to share with you! The article is titled, "Funding sources for Global Education."

Gatlin Education Services: Online Career Training Courses

Community Colleges and Workforce Investment: A Necessary Partnership

A few years ago, Senator Tom Harkin wrote a superb article about Community Colleges and Workforce Investment partnerships. We would like to share this great article with you today. Here is a link to the article entitled, "Community Colleges and Workforce Investment: A Necessary Partnership"

16th Annual American Marketing Assoc. Symposium on Marketing in Higher Education.

The American Marketing Association just announced the dates of their 16th annual symposium on "Marketing in Higher Education", it will be held in Chicago, Illinois on Nov. 13 - 16, 2005. The Symposium brings together more than 40 marketing presentations in a three-day event. Sessions typically address branding, web marketing, integrated marketing communications, market research, strategic planning, and competitive positioning through practical campus case studies. In order to provide a forum to discuss the marketing challenges institutions face, the program selects speakers who represent a variety of colleges and universities, as well as span across various levels of leadership within higher education. The Symposium is an excellent opportunity for administrators to network and return back to their campus, better prepared to advance the benefits of higher education marketing for their students, staff, and faculty.

A regional and an international education conference we recommend.

Here are two more great education conferences we recommend attending this year!

1. UCEA Mid-Atlantic Annual Conference at The Conference Center at Penn State Great Valley Malvern, Pennsylvania on October 5-7, 2005.

2. On-line Education Berlin 2005 is being held on November 30 - December 2nd, 2005. This conference attracts over 1700 participants from more than 66 countries representing all continents, and thus is the world's largest international e-learning conference.

Information provided by:

Gatlin Education Services: Online career training courses

Education conferences we recommend attending this fall.

We recommend the attending following education conferences this fall.

The National Council for Continuing Education and Training Annual Convention - Oct. 16th - 19th in Jacksonville, Florida.

The League for Innovation Conference - Oct. 23rd - Oct. 26th in Dallas, Texas.

The Association for Continuing Higher Education - Oct. 29th - Nov. 1st in Madison, Wisconsin.

Representatives from Gatlin Education Services: Online Career Training Courses will be attending all three conferences.

Online higher education market to exceed $6B in 2005.

The online distance education market is heating up, with enrollment expected to exceed 1 million students in 2005, representing a market of more than $6 billion, according to a recent report by Eduventures, an independent research firm. The study, Online Distance Education Market Update: A Nascent Market Matures, analyzes the development and maturation of the market, identifying the key causes of growth. Excerpts of this report are provided in an article by The Westchester County Business Journal.

Corporate blogging made simple.

Today we are changing our focus a little and discussing why and how companies are using blogging. We use our blog to keep our partners and their students informed of on-line and off line continuing education trends. We also use our blog to let partners and students know about new Gatlin Education Services course offerings, without sending everyone an intrusive email. The American Marketing Association recently published a great article entitled, "Corporate Blogging Made Simple". This article demonstrates how other companies are using blogging to their advantage. It might give you some ideas how to use blogging to your advantage too.

Department of Education & National Institute on Disabilities and Rehab. grant opportunities.

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and the Department of Education have announced grant opportunities in the following services areas for 2005.

*National Institute on Disability & Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) -- Rehabilitation Research & Training Centers (RRTC) -- CFDA# 84.133B-1

*National Institute on Disability & Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) -- Disability Rehabilitation Research Projects (DRRP) -- CFDA# 84.133A-1

*National Assistive Technology Training & Technical Assistance Program -- CFDA# 84.224B-1

*Rehabilitation Long-Term Training -- Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling -- CFDA# 84.129B

For more information on these grant opportunities and for grant applications visit the United States Department of Education grant page. Feel free to contact us for more details too.

California Workforce Development gets funds for training nurses.

The Governor of California's 2005/06 budget gives the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) the necessary tools and resources it needs to spearhead major efforts to increase capacity for nurse education programs, as well as to go after the bad guys in the California underground economy via the Economic Employment Enforcement Coalition (EEEC). Learn more by reading the article, "Labor and Workforce Development Agency's Budget is Victorious; Governor's Nurse Education Initiative and EEEC are a Go!"

New Human Resources for Healthcare professionals online course.

Gatlin Education Services is pleased to announce the first certification program of it's kind for human resource professionals in the healthcare industry. The new certificate program, "Human Resources for the Healthcare professional". Is available online from colleges and universities in the Unites States and abroad.

This certificate program is designed to provide the aspiring Healthcare Human Resources professional with a comprehensive human resource management foundation, grounded in practice, for those who intend to work or are working in healthcare settings. All of the modules in this program instill a solid foundation in both human resources and healthcare administrative practices.

Marketing online programs free online workshop starts July 20th.

The Sloan Consortium announced an online seminar focused on the important aspects of marketing online programs to potential students. In this seminar, they will provide information from two companies that are highly involved in understanding the rigors of higher education marketing, as well as two successful institutions that deal with these issues on a daily basis. The seminar will address many of the challenges of marketing online programs in today’s higher education.

The Marketing Online Programs in Higher Education online seminar is free and panel workshops start on July 20, 2005.

Leadership training and team building courses in-demand online.

Business people are searching more and more for cutting edge courses on leadership and how to build effective teams. More organizations than ever realize that high level performance is related to effective team building.

Gatlin Education Services is proud to announce a new one of kind on-line team building and leadership course that will be available this fall. This on-line leadership training course has been written by Tom Whitaker. Tom was the first disabled person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world's tallest peak. This course teaches students some of the guiding principles that Tom used in his ascent and with his team.

This course will soon be available on-line from Community Colleges and Universities worldwide.

Gatlin Education Services awarded exclusive education contract in China.

We are plased to announce that we have been awarded an exclusive contract by Chinese National Publications Import Export Corporation (CNPIEC), a Chinese government corporation, to aggregate all the major online course providers to supply the Chinese educational system with the world's premier online learning products, beginning the Summer 2005.

The CNPIEC is making the programs available to its partners in higher education, the government, and to foreign corporations that have a presence inChinese markets. Due to the Chinese government's stated initiative to become fluent in English before the 2008 Olympics, courses will be offered in English and some will be offered in both Chinese and English.

GES was awarded the exclusive contract by CNPIEC's Director, Lu Moli, who says it was important that the Chinese government have one trusted vendor to provide all types of e-learning products to the people of China. "We are very pleased with the variety of courses and career training that we are being provided by GES and their partners," said Director Lu Moli. "They are continually adding courses and certificate programs to our portal, and we expect that eventually we will be able to offer our constituents training in virtually every field."

Stephen Gatlin has been working on the details of the contract over the last 12 months and finalized the deal this spring. The move is part of GES worldwide expansion plans, says Gatlin. "We are honored to have been given this contract," said Gatlin. "This creates a unique opportunity for us and for vendors that partner with us to show case the finest on-line educational products from around the world to the people of China. Quality video game design training is one good example of the skill training that is in high demand in the Chinese market.

Gatlin Education courses received well in European market swing.

Stephen Gatlin the President of Gatlin Education Services recently returned from a swing through several European Countries. While in Europe, he had the opportunity to meet with the Presidents and faculty of a number of European educational institutions.

Many of them indicated the demand for on-line career training is growing rapidly in their countries. Although language barriers are a problem, they see opportunities to expand on-line education offerings. Gatlin courses will be offered soon in Switzerland and other European countries this coming fall.

Stephen Gatlin stated, "the interest in our type of courses was phenomenal. The demand for on-line career training is not limited to the North American Market. There is great potential all over the European continent. Educational institutions are really interested in this trend."

Challenges facing Community Colleges to compete in non-credit programs.

The NCCET - National Council for Continuing Education and Training and the AACC - American Association of Community Colleges recently released a report entitled, "More Than A Matter of Degree - credential, Certification and Community Colleges". This excellent white paper discusses the widening gap between Community Colleges focus on credit education and the local community's demand for non-credit education. It also explores why private adult career schools own this market segment and what changes need to be made at the local community college to change this trend. Many schools use Gatlin Education's online career certificate programs to close this widening gap in their local community.

Corporate governance online course - concepts explored.

Gatlin Education Services has launched a corporate governance online course. This course explores the concepts and definitions of corporate governance and ethics in today's business world.

The need for corporate governance and ethics policies and programs has grown tremendously since the Enron and other corporate scandals of recent years. This course explores ethical responsibilities to both external and internal stakeholder groups. A twin theme of corporate business ethics and governance illustrates how ethical or moral considerations are included the public issues facing organizations and the decision making process of managers.

This course is now being offered by community colleges and universities nationwide.

SERNRA conference on vocational rehabilitation was a success.

We recently returned from the Southeast region's conference on vocational rehabilitation. We met with a number of program administrators and vocational rehabilitation counselors. Virtually none of them were aware of the fact that Gatlin Education Services provides on-line career programs to their local community colleges and university.

Many vocational rehab counselors expressed great enthusiasm about the wide variety of courses offered by Gatlin and how affordable the courses are vs. what private career colleges charge for similar courses. We think people also were really appreciative of the fact that Gatlin's courses did not require the student to be "accepted" by the college since they are offered through the continuing education departments.

If you manage the Gatlin program for your institution, we highly recommend contacting your nearest vocational rehab office and take the time to educate them about the Gatlin courses you offer. Contact us for more information about the location of your nearest vocational rehab office or contact your office for students with disabilities.

Reasons for Adults' Participation in Work-Related Courses.

The National Center for Education Statistics released a report about the reason 65 million people took formal courses or training courses that were not part of their degree programs in 2002 - 2003 and why that trend is continuing. Click here to read and print the entire report.

This message is brought to you as a public service of Gatlin Education Services.

VNU Learning is offering four instructional design seminars.

"In 2005, VNULearning.com provides you with four chances to jump-start your career at events focused exclusively on instructional design. The four Instructional Design Institutes held this year in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and Orlando are a great way to hone your design skills while interacting with fellow designers.

Combining the intensive skill building of a three-day certificate program with valuable networking and other social elements of a conference, the four separate IDI certificate programs are conducted by top industry experts and provide you with the theories, best practices and applications you need to become (and remain!) a top performer. By the end of the third day, you'll not only walk away with a certificate, you'll also propel your career and enhance your professional know-how. "

This information is provided by Gatlin Education Services.

Sloan consortium on-line seminar on copyright compliance.

"Sloan-C announces an interactive online seminar focused on copyright compliance for online educators. As an online educator, you face a new world of legal issues. In this seminar, Linda Enghagen, of University of Massachusetts at Amherst will take you through the key copyright issues that you and your colleagues should be aware of when delivering your online courses.

During the seminar, you will have access to 3 key presentations recorded in Macromedia Breeze, allowing you to see and hear the presentations as many times as you wish! The discussion boards and live session will allow you to ask any questions you have of the presenter in both asynchronous and synchronous formats.

When learning about copyright compliance, it only makes sense to take a seminar in an affordable online format. No travel hassles, no scheduled meeting times that must be planned around, just Sloan-C research and interaction at its best!"

Click here to learn more about the seminar or to sign up. This information is provided as a public service of Gatlin Education Services.

Six sigma black belt courses online - why Six Sigma Black Belt.

With Six Sigma Black Belt online courses the total quality moment is still alive and well. According to the American Society for Quality, these are the essential elements of Six Sigma Black Belt Certification.

"The Certified Six Sigma Black Belt is a professional who can explain Six Sigma philosophies and principles, including supporting systems and tools. The Black Belt should demonstrate team leadership, understand team dynamics, and assign team member roles and responsibilities. They have a thorough understanding of and can use all aspects of the DMAIC model in accordance with Six Sigma principles. They have basic knowledge of lean enterprise concepts, are able to identify non-value-added elements and activities, and are able to use specific tools."

Many professionals seeking Six Sigma Black Belt training have found taking Gatlin Education Service's online Six Sigma Black Belt course via their local community college or university a real plus. Click here to view the course syllabus or to find an educational institution offering this online course.

E-learning course development moves to India.

According to Financial Express.com India is fast emerging as an e-Learning hub. To cash on this trend, multinationals like McGraw-Hill, Digital Think, SkillSoft, Mentergy, etc. are in the process of consolidating their operations in India.

“While the West currently has more mature e-Learning markets, we will have more growth e-Learning in the Asia-Pacific region during 2004-05,” said Nasscom vice-president research Sunil Mehta.

To read the complete article on this subject click here.

This information is provided as a public service of Gatlin Education Services of Ft. Worth, Texas.

Vocational rehab training via online courses is becoming popular.

More vocational rehab departments across the United States are training their students who have limited physical disabilities via online courses. Many of these online certificate courses are offered by their local community colleges and universities in partnership with Gatlin Education Services of Ft. Worth, Texas.

Many people with limited physical disabilities are in need of new training or retraining. Having physical disabilities makes it difficult for some students eligible for vocational rehab funding to make it to their local community college or university. Students and vocational rehab counselors have found the Gatlin Education courses easy to enroll in, affordable and easily accessible.

This trend will continue to grow over the coming years. Internet based certificate programs are forecasted to have strong growth as more people need new training and retraining.

Video game industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States.

Taking on-line courses in the video game industry is a great career move. According to Eduventures Inc., "the video game industry is emerging as one of the largest and fastest-growing entertainment markets in the United States. Annual video game sales are nearing $10 billion, and an estimated 65 million U.S. households purchased at least one video game in 2004. As of early 2005, there are approximately 30,000 individuals employed in the video game field, with the industry hiring 15% more workers annually.

Despite the rapid growth of the video game market, only approximately 25 non-profit and for-profit U.S. institutions offer programs geared towards developing the skills necessary to enter the gaming field. Historically, the video game industry has favored experience over academic certification. However, recent trends show that companies developing video games are increasingly interested in hiring employees with field credentials. For example, leading employer Electronic Arts previously hired 10% of its new employees from universities, but now aims to increase this proportion to 75%.

Program demand is high at both the student and employer level, suggesting that ample opportunity may exist for institutions that can effectively implement video game degree programs. Institutional success will also hinge on employer relationships developed in the early years."

Now you can take video game development and design from the comfort of your home via the Internet from a local community college or university near you by visiting the web site of Gatlin Education Services.

Should you take medical coding online classes or medical billing classes?

Many potential medical billing students and medical coding students can't decide which online course to take, medical billing or medical coding. Here are some simple facts about medical coding and medical billing to help you decide.

Federal regulations and health insurance policies have contributed to the strong demand for experienced medical coders. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), health information technicians are one of the ten fastest growing allied health occupations. Even thought there are pros and cons to working in the medical coding and billing industry, it is a challenging, yet interesting career.

The medical coder and biller is compensated according to the level of training and skills and how effectively these skills are used. In large medical record departments, experienced medical coders and billers may function as section supervisors, overseeing the work of the coding, correspondence, or discharge sections. The coder usually is compensated at a higher hourly rate than a medical biller.

This information is provided as a public service by Gatlin Education Services

Should you take medical coding online classes or medical billing classes?

Many potential medical billing students and medical coding students can't decide which online course to take, medical billing or medical coding. Here are some simple facts about medical coding and medical billing to help you decide.

Federal regulations and health insurance policies have contributed to the strong demand for experienced medical coders. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), health information technicians are one of the ten fastest growing allied health occupations. Even thought there are pros and cons to working in the medical coding and billing industry, it is a challenging, yet interesting career.

The medical coder and biller is compensated according to the level of training and skills and how effectively these skills are used. In large medical record departments, experienced medical coders and billers may function as section supervisors, overseeing the work of the coding, correspondence, or discharge sections. The coder usually is compensated at a higher hourly rate than a medical biller.

This information is provided as a public service by Gatlin Education Services.

Should you take medical coding online classes or medical billing classes?

Many potential medical billing students and medical coding students can't decide which online course to take, medical billing or medical coding. Here are some simple facts about medical coding and medical billing to help you decide.

Federal regulations and health insurance policies have contributed to the strong demand for experienced medical coders. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), health information technicians are one of the ten fastest growing allied health occupations. Even thought there are pros and cons to working in the medical coding and billing industry, it is a challenging, yet interesting career.

The medical coder and biller is compensated according to the level of training and skills and how effectively these skills are used. In large medical record departments, experienced medical coders and billers may function as section supervisors, overseeing the work of the coding, correspondence, or discharge sections. The coder usually is compensated at a higher hourly rate than a medical biller.

This information is provided as a public service by Gatlin Education Services.

Medical coding and medical billing as a career.

If you have ever had a day off work and your left your television running, you would see frequent see advertisements for medical coding and medical billing. Previously these courses were only available in the classroom. Now with the support of companies like Gatlin Education Services, you can study at home and still receive high quality training by taking medical coding and medical billing courses online.

Let us look at both medical coding and medical billing as career choices. Although these two careers are somewhat similar, they vary in the duties required and the level of pay. Most people gravitate towards one or the other segment of this field depending on their long-term interests and career goals.

Medical coders focus mostly on converting a medical procedure, diagnosis, or symptom into the required medical codes to submit a claim for insurance reimbursement. This is primarily clerical in nature.

Medical billing specialists guarantee patients, hospitals and medical offices are billed for procedures provided by the health care provider, whether this took place during scheduled or emergency medical office, or hospital visits. The common platform, which ties both these related occupations firmly together is that both the medical coder, as well as the biller are responsible for the health care provider to get paid and the provider's livelihood and success depend on the biller's accuracy.

Next posting: Are either of these two careers are right for you?

Title: Pharmacy Technician careers are in-demand.

With the aging of America, the demand for qualified Pharmacy Technicians will continue to increase for the next twenty years. You can become a Pharmacy Technician in as little as six months by taking an online course that includes an internship. This career field provides three different levels of opportunity for those who would like a career but do not have resources to pay for a college education.

The three paths in this career field are:

Working in a community pharmacy.
Working in a hospital pharmacy.
Working in a managed care system.

The salary range for these jobs varies from state to state and city to city. To view the median salary ranges for Pharmacy Technicians click here.

With the help of Gatlin Education Services, educational institutions across the world now offer on-line Pharmacy Technician courses.

Video game design and development as a career choice.

The videogame industry chalked up $7.3 billion in software sales last year, up from $7 billion in 2003, according to NPD Group Inc., a video game market researcher. The average annual salary for entry-level video game programmers is $54,300, according to Game Developer magazine.

The Bureau of Labor predicts that the growth of software publishing, of which video game design is a part, will expand by 67.9% between 2002 and 2012. This is the fastest growing industry across all sectors.

If you are a gamer and you are looking for a career, it is time to consider a career in Video Game Design and Development as an option. With the help of Gatlin Education Services, educational institutions across the world now offer on-line continuing education career courses in Video Game Development and Design.

Video game design and development as a career choice.

The videogame industry chalked up $7.3 billion in software sales last year, up from $7 billion in 2003, according to NPD Group Inc., a video game market researcher. The average annual salary for entry-level video game programmers is $54,300, according to a Game Developer magazine.

The Bureau of Labor predicts that the growth of software publishing, of which video game design is a part, will expand by 67.9% between 2002 and 2012. This is the fastest growing industry across all sectors. If you are a gamer and you are looking for a career, it is time to consider a career in video game design and development as an option.

With the help of Gatlin Education Services, educational institutions across the world now offer on-line continuing education career courses in video game development and design.

Video game design and development as a career choice.

The video game industry chalked up $7.3 billion in software sales last year, up from $7 billion in 2003, according to NPD Group Inc., a video game market researcher. The average annual salary for entry-level video game programmers is $54,300, according to a Game Developer magazine.

The Bureau of Labor predicts that the growth of software publishing, of which video game design is a part, will expand by 67.9% between 2002 and 2012. This is the fastest growing industry across all sectors.

If you are a gamer and you are looking for a career, it is time to consider a career in Video Game Design and Development as an option. With the help of Gatlin Education Services, educational institutions across the world now offer on-line continuing education career courses in Video game development and design.

Do you fit the profile of the typical e-learner?

Now you know what type of e-learning appeals to different people! Do you fit the profile of the typical e-learner? Most data shows the 65 – 72% of e-learners are women. The majority of them have some college education. Most work full time. That doesn’t mean e-learning isn’t right for men. It seems the need to balance work, family and career causes more women to seek out e-learning as a way to improve their work skills or move into new careers. Gatlin Education Services has created a short survey to help you decide whether e-learning is right for you. Click here to take the survey.

Which type of e-learning is right for you?

1. Synchronous e-learning: is right for students who cannot come to campus and want the interaction of having a campus like course.

2. Asynchronous e-learning: is right for students who cannot come to campus and cannot study on a fixed schedule. This is also a good learning format for people who struggle with self paced learning and need support from an instructor.

3. Self paced e-learning: is right for students who learn well from books. The advantages of this learning methodology are primarily convenience and affordability. Many self paced courses also allow you extended access to the course content.

Coming next, do you fit the profile of a typical e-learner?

This information is provided as a public service by Gatlin Education Services.

Which type of e-learning is right for you?

1. Synchronous e-learning: is right for students that cannot come to campus and want the interaction of having a campus like course.

2. Asynchronous e-learning: is right for students that cannot come to campus and cannot study on a fixed schedule. This is also a good learning format for people who struggle with self paced learning and need support from an instructor.

3. Self paced e-learning: is right for students who learn well from books. The advantages of this learning methodology are primarily convenience and affordability. Many self paced courses also allow you extended access to the course content.

Coming next, do you fit the profile of a typical e-learner?

The information is provided as a public service of Gatlin Education Services.

What learning methodologies comprise the e-learning market?

There are primarily three types of learning methodologies in the on-line continuing education market.

1. Synchronous learning: Real-time, instructor-led, online learning in which all participants are logged on at the same time and communicate directly with each other and the instructor through the computer and possibly other means as well.

2. Asynchronous e-learning: This is a partially self-paced learning model where students access programs on-line at different times. This type comes with instructor facilitation via bulletin boards and/or chat rooms or directly via email. This type of learning is known as blended learning too. There are different types of blended learning. Most blended learning solutions do not come with text books. Most of Gatlin Education's courses come with text books, thus making our courses a very popular choice with e-learners. With text books you are not completely reliant on the web for lessons.

3. Self pace e-learning: Self paced e-learning is where the student studies material on-line and does not interact with an instructor. This is the most common type of e-learning.

Coming next the advantages and disadvantages of each type of e-learning.

Federal money available for career training.

The Department of Labor announced the annual allocation for career training has been approved by the Bush Administration. These allotments are part of the Fiscal Year 2005 funds appropriated in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, signed by President Bush Dec. 8, 2004. They include $896.6 million for WIA Adult Activities; $1,476.1 million for WIA Dislocated Worker Activities; $986.3 million for WIA Youth Activities; $746.3 million for Wagner-Peyser Employment Service; $34.3 million for Reemployment Services; $37.7 million for Workforce Information Grants; and $17.9 million to administer the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. To read the entire announcement click here.

If you are unemployed or you have been laid off, you can visit your nearest one-stop career center in late June or early July to see if you qualify for career retraining. To find the one stop center nearest to you click here.

More and more one-stop centers are offering on-line career training in partnership with local community colleges and companies like Gatlin Education Services.Popular courses in many states are medical billing, pharmacy technician, medical transcription and medical coding. Each state has a list of in-demand careers. Visit your local one stop center for more information.

E-learning in the adult continuing education market.

How much of the adult continuing education market conducted via e-learning? There has been a considerable amount of research conducted about for credit e-learning but there are not many studies about non-credit e-learning. The adult education e-learning market continues to grow at close to double-digit rates every year. Projections show the industry will be worth over $400 million dollars within a few years.

Third party companies like Gatlin Education Services in partnership with major Colleges and Universities provide a large percentage of the e-learning content to adults focused on new careers and career development. These educational institutions have found developing on-line content an expensive proposition. There are tremendous costs associated with developing content, hiring instructors, hosting the content and marketing the courses. A unique niche exists for third party content providers in the continuing education market.

Next, we will explore on-line course types and whether eLearning is right for you.

What defines adult education?

These seven learning activities are considered adult education:

English as a Second Language - classes for adults whose main language is not English.

Adult Basic Education (ABE) - General Educational Development (GED) preparation and adult high school programs or university degree programs - part-time degree or certificate programs.

College or university degree programs - part-time degree or certificate programs.

Vocational or Technical diploma programs

Apprenticeship Programs - formal, on-the-job training leading to journeyman status in a skilled trade or craft.

Work-related Courses - courses related to work, not including credential or apprenticeship programs. Work-related informal learning activities included supervised training or monitoring, self-paced study using books, video tapes or computers, attending presentations, conferences or conventions, and reading professional journals or magazines.

Personal development Courses - courses led by instructors that are not included in categories above including courses related to hobbies and interests.

The study mentioned in our previous post found that the most common adult education activities were work-related courses (30 percent), personal interest (21 percent) and college or university courses (4 percent).

Next post, e-learning in the adult education market. This information is provided as a public service by Gatlin Education Services.

National Household Education Survey

The number of adults participating in adult education has risen, according to the National Households Education Surveys of 2001. Although this data is a little old, it provides an accurate assessment of the adult continuing education market today.

This survey was conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education. Some revealing statistics included the following facts:

1. Participation in adult education has increased - from 40% in 1995, to 46% in 2001.

2. More women than men participate - 49 percent of women and 43 percent of men engaged in some type of educational activity.

3. More adults aged 50 or younger participate - adults in three age groups between 16 - 50 partipated between 53 - 55 percent compared to 41 percent for adults aged 51 - 65 and 22 percent for adults 66 and older.

4. Prior educational attainment is positively related to participation in adult education - 22 percent of adults who had not completed high school participated, compared to 34 percent with high school diploma or equivalent; 48 percent with some college education and 66 percent with bachelor's degree or more.

5. Employment is related to participation - employed adults were more likely to participate (54 percent) than unemployed (25 percent).

Tomorrow we will look at the various segments of adult education as described the survey. This information provided is a public service of Gatlin Education Services.

Fastest growing careers through 2012.

In February 2004, the United States department of labor released projections for the growth of in-demand careers and the training required for those careers. To view their projections click here. As you can see, the demand for continuing education continues to grow.

Approximately half of the fastest growing careers listed require two years of college or less. Six of the fastest growing career fields are medical related. Most of these careers require continuing education training. With the support of companies like Gatlin Education Services, many local Universities and Community Colleges now offer courses that in the past were only available from Career Colleges. Now you can take high quality career courses on-line from a local educational institution near you. We will review some of the in-demand career fields in our future posts.

Why continuing education career courses are in-demand.

The demand for continuing education career programs is growing at an incredibly fast rate. Recent statistics from the United States Department of Education show the following trends. In the next decade, approximately 80% of available jobs will require some level of post secondary education but not a college education. Of these jobs, 61% will require more than a high-school education but less than a Bachelors Degree.

Students today fit the following profile. Of the current population of high school graduates 97% of them hope to go to college. Of that group, 63% actually enroll in college. Of that group, only 30% receive a Bachelors Degree. Sine most potential students do not finish a four-year degree, they usually go to work in a vocational trade or pursue career related continuing education. Which careers fields have the largest projected growth? Read our next post to find out!

This information is provided by Gatlin Education Services

Welcome to Gatlin's online continuing education trends.

We started this blog with the express purpose of providing quality and reliable information to the public about continuing education trends world wide. Over the coming months we will highlite which career courses are popular and why, the trends for different career paths and general information about online continuing education. Please tell your friends and colleagues about our blog.

This blog is maintained by Gatlin Education Services.