Back to School for GrownUps

For those who don’t have the option of attending a college or university in their own immediate area, online courses can be a viable option.

It is, important, however, to do your research first. While there are reputable schools that offer online options, there are also some that are less than reputable … and a whole lot of companies that are out there to make a buck, not to actually help you.

An online friend of mine once got taken by a company that promised training for medical transcription services… she’d do the course and then they’d ~help~ her to find jobs. Uh huh…the ~help~ was a printout of all the medical services in her area - doctor’s offices, hospitals, etc… nothing she couldn’t have found in the phone book. Oh, and a tip sheet re: how to go about approaching them to offer her services.

She would have been a lot better off to approach one or two of them before she shelled out money for the course … might have discovered that they weren’t interested.

Which is not to say that every such company is a rip off …but …..!

If employers you would like to work for would not consider a certificate or degree from the institution you are considering signing up with as valid - you will want to know that sooner, rather than later, right?

Find out!

People with strong computer skills have an advantage in the whole going back to school thing…

and presumably, anyone that finds this blog has at least the basics down pat.

But a lot of people seem to over estimate their skill level, especially when it comes to MS Word

Some of the best features for students include:

1. Turning features on/off (how to make Word stop annoying you)
2. Table of Contents, cross references, and indexes
3. Using section breaks (that’s what you need to have different headers & footers in your document; also useful for page layout
4. Comments
5. Auto-correct (allows you to make very cool short cuts - anything that you use repeatedly can be made into a short cut)
6. Customized toolbars (If there is something you do a lot of, put the button out where it’s handy)
7. Templates
8. Track Changes (an excellent editing tool)

A little bit of time spent learning how to use your word processing software better can add up to a lot of time savings later.

When I did my computer programmer analyst program, for example, I spent WAY too long typing tables of contents … no one ever told me that Word could do that for me, and I never thought to go look.

It wasn’t until I actually had to teach MS Word that I discovered most of the features I now use all the time.

Somewhere along the way, I found the Crabby Office Lady …as you can tell by the number of links above which go to Crabby’s columns, I like her work…. not only does she write very entertaining columns, through them, I learn about the things I never thought to try.

Most colleges and universities have a number of resources available to help students succeed.

And many of them are used by far fewer students than could benefit from them.

Even if you don’t need a particular resource right now - it still can’t hurt to at least know what is available. Then, when you could use a bit of help with something or other, you will know where to go.

As a prof, the one place I wish that more of my students would use is the writing lab. There are 2 good reasons to find out if your school has one, and if so, to USE IT.

1. It never hurts to have someone objective look over your paper and point out problem areas. Students who use the writing lab tend to get higher marks than those who don’t. DUH!
2. Having to get your essay done BEFORE it’s due so that you will have time to take it to the writing lab means that you are less likely to leave it until the last minute…and that is definitely a good thing.

Other resources to check out:

Student success or student support services - whatever they call them… there are often several components that come under this umbrella - job search/career counselling, health/counselling services, and accomodation services & support for those with specific learning, physical or health challenges.

It drives me crazy when I see students who clearly have organizational/learning difficulties opt to fail - or just scrape by - rather than identify as learning disabled and accessing available services. And there is SO much available! One of my favourite tools for school is Inspiration software … it is a powerful took for mindmapping and organization. There are many, many other resources available, and people specially trained to help you figure out what would specifically benefit you.

Mature Students Associations - resources - and often, social events, specific to mature students

Financial aid office - even if you don’t qualify for state/provincial/government assistance, there are often bursaries available to help out in an emergency. If you don’t ask, you’ll never know.