Masters degrees in distance learning are conferred by a number of colleges and universities. The Master’s program is offered in various subjects including Education in eLearning, Teaching Online Specializations, Instructional Design for Online Learning, etc. Master’s degree specializations provide effectiveness and expertise in diverse educational settings like traditional, corporate as well as online education. Admission requirements for Master’s degree courses in distance learning are a Bachelor’s degree from a regionally or internationally accredited university accompanied by GPA of 2.7 or higher on the scale of 4.0. Minimum 3+ years’ work experience in educational settings after graduation is essential.

Description of Masters degree programs

Masters degrees in distance learning prepare students in using internet resources effectively. These programs also teach how to use distance learning technology in delivering education with focus on how to construct effective instruction materials and rich learning environments for a variety of learners. The programs cover all the minute details like multiple distance education modalities, assessment and evaluation, distance education strategies for different learners from various backgrounds. At present Master’s degree programs offer specializations in mainly three fields, which are Adult Education, Instructional Design and Distance Learning Technology and Administration of institutes offering distance education courses.

Universities Offering Masters Degrees in Distance Learning

University of Maryland University College offers a Master of Distance Education online. This is a 36 credit hour degree program consisting of seven core courses and four elective courses. This course is designed for employed educational professionals to prepare them to be competent enough to manage distance education enterprises within educational, Government and non profit organizations. Course work includes planning, budgeting, development, delivery and support of distance learning and distance training programs.

Touro University offers a unique online post graduate degree program in Education eLearning, which has no residency requirements. This program prepares students for leadership qualities in the field of distance learning with a focus on elearning. Students gain expertise in various tools and technology for delivering distance education.

The University of Phoenix Online is the largest accredited private university. It provides a number of Master’s degree programs in Education. Master of Arts with specialization in Adult Education and Distance Learning is one of them. This program covers adult learning theories, multiple distance education modalities, instructional design, assessment and evaluation techniques, tools and technology associated with distance education.

Masters degrees in distance learning provide an enriching experience on a personal as well as professional level. They are helpful in achieving career goals and professional advancement.

Jim Zorn is web master of the Guide to Distance Learning. Please visit to learn more about online colleges and universities, distance learning degrees, majors and courses offered.
http://www.guide-to-distance-learning.com/index.html

PhD leadership distance learning programs prepare students to meet challenges and lead people effectively. The aim and purpose of these courses is to create bold, innovative and ethical leaders in different walks of life. The student needs to develop problem solving and research skills that will translate into leadership qualities in crisis and enable him to explore practical solutions for problems and challenges facing society today. Leadership programs are available in the field of education, training, management, sports or even in community projects.

Curriculum

The curriculum for PhD leadership distance learning programs is designed to promote the learner’s advancement of knowledge based on research as it is applied in professional practice. The learning goals are specific and credit is given to the student on the basis of his mastery over the learning goals defined. Students are expected to have a broad and deep understanding of and practical engagement with ethical and participatory leadership in their field of activity. To this end the topics include theoretical perspectives on leadership and organizational change, the rationale for and difficulties in creating organizational forms, the strengths and weaknesses of different change strategies and also case studies of real life situations.

Apart from general inputs on leadership, PhD leadership distance learning courses have a specific focus on an area of specialization. For instance, the leadership in education course has specific focus on the issues that are meaningful to the profession and the sports leadership program focuses on issues that are common in that field of activity.

Universities

Several Universities in the United States, Australia, UK and New Zealand offer PhD leadership distance learning courses. Capella University offers a PhD in Education with specific focus on leadership for higher education. Antioch University(OH) has a PhD program on Leadership and Change. Argosy University has a doctoral program on Business Education and psychology. Oral Roberts University has a doctoral course on Educational leadership. Nova Southeaster University, NorthCentral Univeristy, Pace University, University of Phoenix, University of Utah, University of Texas are some of the other US Universities that offer doctoral programs in Leadership. Central Queensland University, Charles Sturt University, Deakin University, Edit Cowan Univeristy, Griffith University and Southcross University in Australia have PhD programs in leadership.

Every trade has its own skill sets. If you want to function in leadership positions and lead your teams to success, it is necessary to acquire the tools of the trade. So enroll yourself for a leadership program and learn what it means to effectively lead your team to success!

Jim Zorn is web master of the Guide to Distance Learning. Please visit to learn more about online colleges and universities, distance learning degrees, majors and courses offered.
http://www.guide-to-distance-learning.com/index.html

Both the demand and the available options for Health and Safety Distance Learning are high in USA, thanks to the growing public demand for wider and stricter regulations from the government’s side to ensure safe and healthy workplaces. Career options include Health & Safety Specialists, and Health & Safety Technicians. If you are responsible to the core, concerned about society’s safety, and a troubleshooter by nature, nothing can be more rewarding than one of these careers.

The field of Health and Safety should not be confused with the field of Safety Engineering. The more formal title for Health and Safety is Occupational Safety and Health. While Safety Engineering is a full-fledged branch of Engineering, Occupational Safety and Health is more of a scientific, medical, technical, managerial, & regulatory domain. This is reflected in its administration in the country by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) coming under the US Department of Labor, and The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) under the US Department of Health and Human Services.

What it Involves

Health and Safety Distance Learning involves taking an Associate, Bachelors, or Graduate Degree in Occupational Safety and Health through the distance or online mode. Several Graduate and Undergraduate Certificate Courses are also available. Those planning to become Health and Safety Technicians can go for an Associate or even a Certificate Course, while those aspiring to become Health and Safety Specialists should go for at least a Bachelors, as the main employer in the domain, the Federal and State Governments, have fixed it as the minimum qualification.

However, there are more Graduate Degree Courses in Health and Safety Distance Learning than Bachelors or Associate Degree Courses. This is mainly driven by the private sector’s preference to employ Graduate experts with a firm background in supporting subjects like Science or Medicine.

Various professional certifications available in this domain like the Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), Occupational Health and Safety Technologist (OHST) require passing stringent examinations, and the training for them are also available through Health and Safety Distance Learning.

Why Health and Safety?

The discipline of Occupational Safety and Health is a fast growing field that is concerned with the safety and health of employees, customers, and the public. While the best managed companies go in for elaborate Health and Safety Departments to stand out in business ethics and cut the loss of employee productivity, many others are forced to create a Health and Safety program, at least to comply with the civil and criminal laws and thus avoid litigation. This has resulted in the field growing steadily over the past several years, and is expected to grow even further, through the next ten years.

Specialists and Technicians in this field get to work in large private firms or Governments (Federal, State, or Local), where the overall benefits will be much better than in smaller organizations. Most Health and Safety Specialists earn approximately between US $40,000 to US $80,000, while Technicians can expect a salary between US $30,000 to US $70,000.

Why Health and Safety Distance Learning?

Since it is a critical service, the private sector as well as governments demand experience in the field as a prerequisite for employment. This has resulted in a preference for those already exposed to the domain, due to work in an allied field obtained after undergraduate education in engineering, biology, or chemistry. As such, it is very important for those aspiring to be a Health and Safety Professional to undertake simultaneous work in this domain or in an allied field. The best option for such candidates is Health and Safety Distance Learning.

Universities & Colleges Offering Health and Safety Distance Learning

Many Universities and colleges offer Health and Safety Distance Learning courses, but the course names tend to be very different from each other. Tulane University offers three Graduate Degrees in the field, which are distinguished for their real-time, live interaction sessions over the internet. Spanning two years, these courses are Masters of Public Health (MPH) in Occupational Health and Safety Management, MPH in Occupational Health for Health Professionals, and Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) in Industrial Hygiene.

Indiana State University offers a Master of Science in Health and Safety, with a specialization in Occupational Safety Management. The course delivery is primarily through television, but a weekly personal interaction with the instructor might be necessary.

Montana Tech Graduate School of University of Montana offers an online M.S. in Industrial Hygiene. Featuring advanced study in Occupational Health, the course also equips the students for the certification program by American Board for Industrial Hygiene. Montana Tech makes no distinctions between its regular and online students for this course.

Apart from such prestigious Universities, many smaller institutions also offer Health and Safety Distance Learning. However, prospective students need to ascertain the accreditation details as numerous institutions with poor accreditations also offer these courses.

Jim Zorn is web master of the Guide to Distance Learning. Please visit to learn more about online colleges and universities, distance learning degrees, majors and courses offered.
http://www.guide-to-distance-learning.com/index.html

Safety Distance Learning Masters is the path chosen by working engineers to specialize in this rewarding career, and both the demand for Safety Engineers, as well as the role they play in design teams have increased. Safety Engineering, a specialization of Systems Engineering, has matured during the past few decades, to become an independent branch in its own might, mainly due to the development of unimaginably complex systems in military, industry, and civilian infrastructure, which hold the potential to cause massive catastrophe to human life and property, as well as serious financial damage.

The field of Safety Engineering should not be confused with the related but clearly distinct field of Occupational Health and Safety, sometimes called as just Health and Safety. To add to the confusion, Safety Engineering is often titled Health and Safety Engineering, by some institutions and industry segments. Academically, the most distinguishing factor between the two allied fields is that while Occupational Health and Safety might have Applied Science, Engineering, and Management components, Safety Engineering is purely an engineering branch.

What it Involves

Safety Distance Learning Masters involves taking a Master of Science (M.S.) or Master of Engineering (M.E.) degree in Safety Engineering, or Health and Safety Engineering, or in Systems Engineering with emphasis on Safety Engineering, from Universities or Colleges offering these courses through the online or distant mode. Generally, Safety Distance Learning Masters is attempted by working engineers with a Bachelor Degree in branches like Mechanical, Production, Industrial, Chemical, Electrical, or Civil, who can put Safety Engineering to use in their domains.

Due to the shorter history of the subject, the available courses in Safety Distance Learning Masters are somewhat limited in number, and it might be necessary to also look at Systems Engineering courses with main or partial emphasis on Safety Engineering, to find a suitable degree in this subject. Membership in the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), and the Certified Safety Professional (CSP) certification from the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP), can also be attempted by working engineers opting for Safety Distance Learning Masters.

Why Safety Engineering?

The majority of Safety Engineers with a Master Degree get an average salary of more than US $63,000, which can go up to more than US $92,000 depending upon on experience, expertise, and certifications like CSP. However, it is not financial prospects alone that are attracting more and more engineers to take up Safety Engineering – it has more to do with the increasingly important role these professionals have come to assume in design teams, during the past several years.

Though many aspects of Safety Engineering have been in practice since the early 1900s, it was only very recently that Safety Engineering gathered prominence and momentum in the industry as an engineering branch in its own might. The problem was that though Safety Engineers were always part of the engineering team, their role was limited to inspecting completed projects for possible hazards, and recommending additional modules to overcome the detected safety problems. Such an ad-hoc approach to Safety Engineering – often called ‘Industrial Safety’ – is followed even to this day in industries like Chemical Manufacturing. The real revolution in Safety Engineering happened when the US Military realized that ‘Industrial Safety’ is not enough for complex mission-critical applications like Aerospace, Space Shuttles, Nuclear Reactors, Submarines, and Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM). The newly developed Systems Approach – as in Systems Engineering – was applied to Safety Engineering, to come up with what is today termed as System Safety, and is the main reason behind Safety Engineering’s prominence, today.

In contrast with the earlier ‘Industrial Safety’ methods, System Safety procedures ensure the Safety Engineer’s role in the design team from the preliminary design phase itself. No stage of the design passes to the next stage without the Safety Engineer’s approval, and it is often half-jokingly told that Safety Engineers say the last word in design!

Today, Safety Engineering’s Systems Approach is found not only in military or mission-critical applications, but throughout the industry, and in various civilian infrastructure projects like undersea tunnels and earthquake resistant high-rises, thereby fuelling the demand for Safety Engineers.

Why Safety Distance Learning Masters?

Since the subject is less intensive on hands-on lab work, and more intensive on engineering mathematics, decision making structures, predictive models, and specialized Safety Engineering software packages (like, CAFTA used for Nuclear Reactors, and SAPHIRE used for Space Shuttles), Safety Distance Learning Masters is very much deliverable using current distance or online technologies.

The fact that the majority of aspirants for Safety Distance Learning Masters, are working engineers, adds to its attraction as the preferred mode for this subject.

What to Expect from Safety Distance Learning Masters, in the Future?

Federal Government and various R&D oriented Government Agencies like NASA, DOE, USAF, etc. continues to be the major employers of Safety Engineers in the USA. However, this is rapidly changing with the private sector industries going for Safety Engineering in a big way. This demand will see more and more courses and options coming up in Safety Distance Learning Masters.

Jim Zorn is web master of the Guide to Distance Learning. Please visit to learn more about online colleges and universities, distance learning degrees, majors and courses offered.
http://www.guide-to-distance-learning.com/index.html