Jerry wants to study online to become a Vet tech
Jerry grabbed a job at Petco when he turned 16 in high school which led to his getting a car, moving out to share an apartment with friends, a promotion to department head gaining a greater knowledge of animals and business techniques. Oh, his job at Petco also led to his growing up and, at 23, he is looking for new personal and career horizons. His seven-year stint dealing daily with animals has not only helped him grow personally, but has influenced what he wants to now do with his life – study to become a veterinary technician.
Plenty of Present Obligations
Jerry is not that much unlike many young people in their early 20s who took a job during high school that carried them into young adult life. He shares the expenses living with a few friends in an apartment, has other obligations like a monthly car payment, car insurance, a Visa card bill was a girl friend. In fact, all of these obligations have caused him to hesitate about getting any kind of education beyond high school that could point them in a different direction than where he already is going. He considered the possibility of studying online, but dismissed it as being a second-class type of education that probably would not compare him competently for any other type of career. That was until he came across a recent US Department of Education report concerning the worthiness of an online education.
Report Compares Traditional to Online Education
This 93-page report commissioned by the US Department of Education conducted comparative research about online education versus traditional classroom forms of study between the years 1996 to 2008. Although some of it was in a K-12 setting, most of the comparative studies were conducted on the college level as well as adult continuing education programs offering a variety of different subject training for medical for military. Throughout the 12-year span of the report, 99 studies were conducted where quantitative comparisons between online and classroom performance concerning the same subjects taught were conducted. The resulting analysis concluded that students who did either part or all coursework online ranked in the 59th percentile in testing their performance which compared with students in a traditional classroom setting ranking in the 50th percentile. Although this is a modest difference, it is significant.
Online is Validated
This 12-year study goes a long way to validate the worthiness of online study. The typical person pursuing a course of online study is more than likely one who is paying cash to take the course. While there are more financial aid opportunities for people taking each additional course of study, most students who tend to go online are people just like Jerry who are willing to had their pockets to gain a post secondary education leading them to different employment opportunities. After Jerry read about this study and check it online, he realized that his notion about an online education being nothing more than the electronic alternative to what used to be an old correspondence course was not a fair assessment. Modern technology provides a fast and varied amount of collaboration tools including web-based video, instant messaging and other interactive methods that make it online education quite personal, quite accessible and quite valuable. Online opportunities for education have actually attacked a once before targeted market segment that the traditional “night school” focused upon. Students like Jerry had opportunities to grab something to eat on the run for dinner while heading to a night school classroom where they had to pay attention when possibly fatigue from a hard day’s work. Online education opportunities actually allow students to study at their own pace at their own time. In many instances, an online course of study can be got conducted at anytime of the day.
Need for Techs is Rising
One thing Jerry has going for himself that will help him as a student is a love for reading. At work, he always devours any industry related information that comes his way which led him to read about a recent National Pet Owner’s survey that reveals 63 of the nation’s households own at the very least one pet. According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA), these households own 74 million dogs, 88 million cats and 142 million freshwater fish. Money spent in 2007 was estimated to be as much as $9.8 billion for health care for American’s beloved pets. This can’t account for why the US Bureau of Labor Statistics states that there will be a 41 percent growth in the demand for meaningful careers and the world of veterinary medicine, especially for technicians. Again, according to the BLS, both the demand for veterinarians as well as veterinary technicians keeps exceeding the number of graduates per year. Although competition still remains stiff for veterinary technician positions in zoos and aquariums, the need for filling positions in animal hospitals and private practices far exceeds the number of applicants applying for these positions. Therefore, people like Jerry is seeking to learn the skills of the trade for being a veterinary technician are in a good position to gain that education now.