Regionally Accredited and online

[Joeybsmooth]

I have been here for one day and I have read many topics with people downing Online program. Most of these programs are Regionally Accredited so why are do people think that should count for nothing. If they were no good how could that get their RAs.

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[erg923]

Regionally accreditted doesn't matter. The program needs to be APA accedited. Even if it is, this only means they meet the bare minimum of content and didactic reqiurements. Is is not an indictor of quality, or that their graduates are succesful in the field of psychology.

Psychology is an academic/experiemental dicipline (thats our roots) that can have an applied emphasis (ie., clinical, couseling, etc). Many, including myself, find a significant mismatch between the training paradigm/philosophy of "online" schools versus traditional academic training programs. Something is missing there.....

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I have been here for one day and I have read many topics with people downing Online program. Most of these programs are Regionally Accredited so why are do people think that should count for nothing. If they were no good how could that get their RAs.

I think the rub for a lot of people is that many pro-online people want to say they are equal, even though the total hours spent is different, amongst other things. Psychology is generally resistant to online learning, so it can be a hard sell.

 

[WannaBeDrMe]

I have been here for one day and I have read many topics with people downing Online program. Most of these programs are Regionally Accredited so why are do people think that should count for nothing. If they were no good how could that get their RAs.

I'm a huge fan of distance education programs. I think that the work done to move online learning forward is going to be a tremendous asset to all fields. In my state, we even practice a' la telemedicine regularly.

That being said, I'm also one of the people who think a lot of online programs/schools "count for nothing." I'll try and organize my thoughts via rageful bullet points...

• lower standards allow students with generally lower ability to gain access to a field in which it is extremely difficult to obtain a level of mastery and competence necessary to treat ill individuals

• pay for play schools practically defraud the Federal government (and their supportive lenders) as well as naive students out of thousands of dollars for degrees that will be basically worthless compared to more traditional brick and mortar educations

• it is very easy to cheat via distance education and the technology is not far enough developed to allow for any sort of certainty that the individual submitting the work is the individual who will receive credit for the work

• many critical efforts in the field of behavioral health can't be learned from a textbook /notes /taped lectures alone... there's a ton of interplay with classmates and professors (modeling, role play, etc) that allows a student to gain a wide understanding of theory application

• etc, etc, etc

I could go on but why bother; I haven't been here in a few months but I'm sure it's been covered a bajillion times on this board. I believe that education is absolutely essential to self-improvement but flooding a market with substandard clinicians doesn't improve anyone's life.

The clients are worse off due to a lack of reliable care from well trained clinicians. The highly trained/qualified professionals are worse off due to competition from individuals who drive down the price of reimbursement rates, market rates, or give the entire field a bad reputation from their poor efforts at care. The substandard clinicians are worse off because of a massive incurred debt that the current market rate for behavioral health professionals absolutely can't support paying off in any reasonable amount of time.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... just because someone wants to be something doesn't automatically mean that they should get to be it. I want to be a hockey cheerleader/dancer. Don't ask why... it's a secret dream. However, I'll never be that... not in a billion years. I could pay the dancing school down the street to tell me I'm great and pay the modeling school to get me a gig and pay glamour shots to make me look fancy but I'm still never going to be a professional dancer. All I would do, if I ever made it to that stage, is drag down the efforts of those who truly are gifted at their profession.

Sorry if it's harsh, it's the complete truth about where I stand on the issue. Many people feel the exact same way about master's level clinicians EVEN from traditional brick and mortar programs. So, my intellectual side can appreciate the elitism that foams out of my message... Still, it's my viewpoint in this moment.

 

[Joeybsmooth]

Perception is reality, and if the world is full of people like you guys that judge something that they do not really understand with such bias and disdain. I should go to a B and M just to miss that, yeah some people do make the choice to go Online over B and M, unlike the assumptions that only rejects from those great B and M schools go online . So I can hold up the banner of conformity, and wave it proudly. Rejoice at the progress being stopped, rejoice at the idea of protecting the exclusivity of this club .

 

[erg923]

For goodness sake work on your writing skills son.....

 

[Joeybsmooth]

Make sure you do not have any grammar mistakes before you tell someone else to work on their writing skills .. ok Sport.

 

[Ollie123]

Oh good lord. I'm just going to start copying and pasting my past posts for the stuff about online schools because these threads seem to keep coming up but no one ever answers the questions. See below. If you can provide a convincing answer to any of these questions than I'd love to hear it. So far all anyone has managed to do when I ask is 1) Disappear, 2) Call me an elitist 3) Tell me I'm behind the times and that I have to accept this as "progress" without providing any convincing argument that it is (right now you fall in this camp) or 4) Try to convince me that these things aren't THAT important.

So ball is in your court. I'm all for increased utilization of technology in every area possible. Only if I'm convinced it actually is progress though, and not just lowering standards to appease individuals who think its unfair that little things like "concern for client welfare" and "Professional responsibility and success of the field" stop them from achieving their career goals.

I still don't understand how this works. What lab does the online student work in? Where are they conducting their experiments? Who is providing oversight there? Where are they doing practicums and how is the school providing oversight? If one is able to work a full-time job in addition to going to grad school, how can they possibly be learning as much? We're all bound by time, and even if I worked 100 hours a week I don't feel like I would be able to learn all that I should be learning.

Some classes (esp. clinical) cannot really be offered online due to the nature of what they involve. Of the classes that have the potential to be taught online, some would prove more challenging than others.

However, all of this seems irrelevant, because the classroom is only a TINY portion of what graduate training consists of at a typical school. You mention on-the-job training...well that's what grad school is. Classes are supplements to that, they are not the primary concern in graduate school, nor should they be. I agree that a substantial portion of coursework could probably be offered online. I don't really see a problem with it for some courses. It might make discussion a bit less convenient, but there are work-arounds for that.

If all grad school consisted of was coursework and a minimal-caliber dissertation then yeah, it could probably be online. That's only a small part of grad school education though.

 

[erg923]

Make sure you do not have any grammar mistakes before you tell someone else to work on their writing skills .. ok Sport.

Yes, but you understood what I said/meant. I still can not make sense of your previous posting and i doubt anyone else can either. That was the point.

For someone who seems to be such a zealous advocate of the online doctorate, you have not even attepted to defend it. Why?
The burden is on you to present cogent arguments and/or data that shows this paradigm of doctoral training is 1.) as rigorous and sound as the traditional ph.d. 2.) produces psychologists that contribute to the scientific literature in psychology 3). is viable in the current psychology and academic job market (ie., would people actually hire you?).

 

[Joeybsmooth]

"Some classes (esp. clinical) cannot really be offered online due to the nature of what they involve. Of the classes that have the potential to be taught online, some would prove more challenging than others."

You do know most online schools are not 100% online right ?

 

[erg923]

You do know most online schools are not 100% online right ?

This still does not answer my 3 questions from above.

If your not willing to, then fine. We can start more simply. The training model/philosophy of traditional training programs has been well defined for years. (ie., scientist practioner, or clincial science). What is the training model of an online doctoral program?

 

[Ollie123]

"Some classes (esp. clinical) cannot really be offered online due to the nature of what they involve. Of the classes that have the potential to be taught online, some would prove more challenging than others."

You do know most online schools are not 100% online right ?

I do. I'm not convinced the usual setup (some weekends-in-residence is the typical model, is it not?) can be a sufficient substitute, but I'll even cede this point because it was actually one of my smaller concerns.

As I said, coursework is a small part of it so if that was the only hurdle I wouldn't have a huge problem with it. So, what about the rest. What lab do you work in? Where is the research taking place? Some studies can be done online, but they represent only a small portion of the "type" of studies psychologists should be familiar with conducting. Who provides oversight at the lab? Where is practica taking place? How does your school oversee your practica to make sure they are providing appropriate training there?

 

[Joeybsmooth]

I do. I'm not convinced the usual setup (some weekends-in-residence is the typical model, is it not?) can be a sufficient substitute, but I'll even cede this point because it was actually one of my smaller concerns.

As I said, coursework is a small part of it so if that was the only hurdle I wouldn't have a huge problem with it. So, what about the rest. What lab do you work in? Where is the research taking place? Some studies can be done online, but they represent only a small portion of the "type" of studies psychologists should be familiar with conducting. Who provides oversight at the lab? Where is practica taking place? How does your school oversee your practica to make sure they are providing appropriate training there?

Sorry to be late in reply .. I was in a auto accident. However to answer more of your questions the Practica does not happen online. They are normal Practicas, and they are oversaw in the normal manner. Like I was saying before before everything is not online . I can not answer the question about the lab, but you do not need a classroom as the home base of all research.

 

[superbike81]

I am in a bit of unique situation. I am completing my BS in Psychology through the University of Maryland. It's my only option, because I am in the Air Force, stationed in Japan, we don't have any other schools available. I do about 60% of my Psych classes online, and the other 40% face to face. My counselors tell me that in the transcripts, there is no distinction between online classes and face to face, so there shouldn't be any difference than going to a traditional college correct?

Basically I'm at a point where it's either sit here and do nothing, or get my degree partially (mostly) online. I know the University of Maryland isn't exactly Harvard, but do you think I will be looked down upon once I go to apply for medical school?

BTW, in my experience, I learn just as much material online in the non-clinical/experimental type classes, but I do comprehend the info a little better in a typical classroom setting.