September 10, 2012

“Education to Go” online classes are available

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Hundreds of informative and interesting non-credit classes are just a computer away with Southern Illinois University Carbondale's "Education to Go" online program.

The University's Continuing Education and Outreach, in partnership with ed2go, offers more than 350 online, instructor-led courses covering a wide variety of topics and specialties. The courses are convenient and interactive, and feature lessons, quizzes, hands-on learning, discussion areas and supplementary work.

While the courses do not earn SIU Carbondale college credit, Continuing Education and Outreach keeps course completion records on file for transcript requests. Some courses offer continuing professional education credit.

Courses start at $94, and include most materials. The diverse course offerings cover everything from how to start your own business, invest in real estate, web technology and security, computer programing, accounting, creative writing, medical coding, several languages, grammar, and protecting your money, credit and identity, and many more topics.

The numerous class options, which are sure to fit every interest, are available at ed2go.com/siuc/.

There are three different types of online courses -- professional development, career training programs, and academic prep success classes.

Instructor-led courses are for professional development and personal enrichment. Each session is six weeks long. A new session begins each month in an interactive learning environment. Students who earn passing scores receive an award of completion.

Career training programs feature personal instructor assistance, and will prepare participants to start a new career or earn industry certification. These programs take less than six months to complete. Students may start classes at any time, and they will earn a certificate of completion for a passing score at the end of the course.

Academic success prep classes also begin at any time and take six to 12 weeks to complete. These classes feature an interactive learning environment and instructors offering individual guidance. Participants who earn passing scores at the end of the course will receive a confirmation of completion. The University's six-week test prep courses are quite popular, particularly the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). SIU Carbondale also offers courses preparing people to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), General Educational Development (GED) and ACT.

All classes are completely web-based. Dedicated professionals provide instruction, answer questions, offer feedback and even facilitate online discussions.

To learn more about the non-credit online courses, contact Continuing Education and Outreach at 618/536-7751 or visit the website at https://www.dce.siu.edu and click on "Ed2Go."