5 Popular Online Colleges & Universities

The power of technology has branched out heavily within the education industry over the past few years, and it's not uncommon to get your degree online these days. There are a large number of universities and colleges offering degrees online, some with campuses and some without. I'll be going over some of the largest and most accredited online schools that you can choose from.Before I get into the schools I would like to go over some options you have thanks to web 2.0 for keeping track of your online school life. Since you're not under the pressure of being in a live classroom surrounded by students and teachers, it can be easy to get off course during your studies at home. A few of the things you'll miss out on are the lectures, in class notes and interaction with real students.Within the past 4 years there have been a few great websites that are all web based apps and usually free or charge for students. You can find everything from class notes to practice tests to help out with your studies at home. Most colleges and universities are also offering their lectures for free in both video and audio formats. Finding these is just a search away on Google, or you can check Feed My App for education related web apps.5 Great Online Colleges & Universities:1) The University of Phoenix - Kicking things off with one of the best known online educators with both online and offline campuses across North America. With over 350,000 people enrolled in Phoenix you'll have no shortage of online classmates to chat with and interact on all levels. The University of Phoenix has a fully interactive online student area with access to class material, teachers, students and of course notes.2) California Coast University - An accredited university by the Distance Education and Training Council of America. It is a smaller online school that makes up for it by allowing students to go at their own pace. They don't have semesters so students can start at anytime and finish in tune with their busy life. This is a great place to look into if you're a busy single parent or in the Military.3) Florida Tech University Online - Florida Tech Online has been ranked as one of the top national universities in the country and continues to push the boundaries of online education. Specializing in technology you can bet you'll find a top notch student learning area online filled with everything from notes, live chat, forums, practice tests and 1 one 1 interaction with teachers.4) Baker University - Another university that offers both online and offline studies and on top of that, relatively low tuition costs. Baker has taken a big step in regards to online educating and developed something they call "Blackboard". This system does its best to replicate a classroom setting and lets you interact with students and teachers in real time which feels like the real thing.5) Kaplan University - One of the most web 2.0 online schools I've come across which reflects greatly to the tech enhanced crowd. From their website you can check out their heavily updated blog, take a class online for free to see what it's all about and check out an abundance of online media. They also offer other course specific certificates for business and technology that can all be done online.