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Online learning:
From the campus to cyberspace

More Latinos look to the Internet to reach educational goals.

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Not too long ago parents were commanding their children to stop playing video games, turn off the computer and do their homework.

Once mysterious and bulkily connected, the keyboarded technological maze spent most of its time shut down, reserved mostly as the last alternative to watching TV.

Much has changed since the days of flimsy floppy disks and green screens. The evolution of computers and the Internet has not only made it portable, user-friendly and accessible, but also transformed it into a viable higher education medium.

Sophisticated methods of online education – or distance learning – also have progressed, and spread into mainstream universities and colleges.

Students today are able to squeeze in a few credit hours by logging on and taking courses from the comfort of their bedroom or local coffee shop after a full day of taking traditional in-person classes and work.

In addition, the Internet among Latinos is growing. One recent study shows that 28.8 million, or 65 percent of all Hispanics in the U.S., are now online.

Latinos are no longer strangers to cyberspace. More Latinos are emailing instead of telephoning, shopping on Amazon, paying bills, and checking in with friends at on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. They also visit various Latino themed Web sites and blogs.

So it makes sense that more Latinos will look into online education to help achieve their educational goals.

Computers: not just for games anymore

With a good job teaching first grade at Kerr Elementary School in Mesa, newlywed Aleyda Salas had everything going for her. But the Arizona State University graduate with a degree in multilingual, multicultural elementary education wanted to go even further.

Her professional aspirations led to her pursue her master’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix. Salas, 25, will graduate next summer.

“We decided that if I wanted to get a master’s this is the best time to do it,” Salas says. “I thought the MBA was a good choice. Everything is so competitive, you cannot go wrong with the MBA. It opens doors, a whole new world for you.”

Like most of her peers, Salas says the flexibility of taking courses anytime and anywhere is a plus for working adults. She also likes the variety of being able to study online or meet in a more traditional classroom setting and talk face-to-face with professors.

Salas says online learning may appeal particularly to Latinos because it allows them to pursue a degree without comprising family time, as is the case with a traditional college education.

“Within the Hispanic community, we value family a lot, we put that first. With an online program and the flexibility it offers, you can still value your family and education as well,” she says. “Some mothers who want to go to school, feel they can’t. The online program is the way you can do it.”