VOA慢速英语20060928a

EDUCATION REPORT - Considering an Online Education ProgramBy Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Thursday, September 28, 2006

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Online education is our subject this week as we continue our Foreign Student Series. Our reports are for students around the world who would like to attend a college or university in the United States. Programs where students take classes by computer over the Internet offer a way to earn a degree from home.

Online learning is also called distance education. Many American colleges and universities have been offering it for years.

One example is New York University in Manhattan. The School of Continuing and Professional Studies began online classes in nineteen ninety-two. Its Virtual¹ College has taught more than ten thousand students from across the United States and other countries.

Last year, the School of Continuing and Professional Studies launched NYU Online. It offers NYU's first online programs to earn a bachelor's degree. Programs are offered in three areas: leadership and management, information systems management and social sciences.

University officials say classes are highly interactive², where students communicate with each other and their teachers. Some classes require students to all log in at the same time so they can attend live lectures by a professor. Students can also ask questions and work together on team projects.

The university says classes are taught by NYU professors who have been trained in online teaching.

International students must take two admissions tests before they can be accepted into the program. These are the SAT and the TOEFL. We will discuss these tests later in our series.

The cost to attend NYU Online depends on how many classes a student takes. It can cost as much as fifteen thousand dollars a year. NYU offers no financial aid for international students in this program. You can get more details at nyu.edu.

Many other schools offer online education. Students should be especially careful of programs that offer a degree in return for little or no work. These are known as diploma mills, and are illegal in the United States.

Educational advisers³ also say that before you enter any program, make sure the work will be recognized in your country. You should also make sure the schools you are considering are accredited⁴. That will be our subject next week.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. More information for foreign students can be found at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 virtual   

adj.实质上的，事实上的，实际上的

参考例句：

• This reply is a virtual acceptance of our offer.这一回答实质上是接受了我们的建议。
• At that time the East India Company was the virtual ruler of Bengal.那时东印度公司是孟加拉的实际统治者。

2 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

3 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

4 accredited   

adj.可接受的；可信任的；公认的；质量合格的v.相信( accredit的过去式和过去分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于

参考例句：

• The discovery of distillation is usually accredited to the Arabs of the 11th century. 通常认为，蒸馏法是阿拉伯人在11世纪发明的。
• Only accredited journalists were allowed entry. 只有正式认可的记者才获准入内。