Adult Education in Okinawa Article
If you’re finding yourself with some time on your hands in Okinawa having done all the tourist attractions, why not spend some time exercising your brain with some adult education.
Just because you’re in Okinawa it doesn’t mean your options are limited.
We’ve rounded up the main state side universities that offer courses in Okinawa as well as some specialized IT training options and choices for distance learning that you can study no matter where you are in the world.
No more excuses! Start learning today!
UMUC Asia
With University of Maryland University College Asia (UMUC), earning a degree from a respected, accredited state university is accessible – any time, any place. No matter where you are stationed on island, on-site and online classes are at your fingertips. As a 4-year higher educational institution, they offer the most classes available to you on-site Okinawa-wide, allowing you a more traditional college experience. UMUC has repeatedly been recognized for innovative educational programs and military-friendly structure. They have a wide variety of academic programs to help reach your career goals. Office are available across the island, for site location information, visit www.asia.umuc.edu/sites.
UMUC Asia also exclusively provides the Bridge program for non-native English speakers and is designed to improve Academic English for students who wish to achieve a higher level of proficiency. If interested, please contact their Program Coordinator: [email protected]
University of Phoenix
Active duty service members and their families do not have to put their education goals on hold even if stationed overseas. University of Phoenix provides an access to education to active duty service members, their spouses and veterans to help them balance frequent deployments, relocations and training schedules while fulfilling their military responsibilities.
Military students can access classes online or on-campus at several locations throughout Asia Pacific giving students an opportunity to choose the learning environment that is most conducive to their educational success. Additionally, active duty spouses and their dependents can enroll in select University of Phoenix degree programs and attend classes on-campus at Kadena Air Force Base.
More information on University of Phoenix education offerings for military students can be found at www.phoenix.edu/military.
Online Learning
With the growth of the internet and MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) there’s no excuse not to start your studying no matter where you are in the world. Depending on your area of interest there are many choices but below are some of the most popular and useful websites where you can start your study today:
– MOOC List
Aggregator of MOOCs from different providers. http://www.mooc-list.com/
– Coursera
With 748 courses from 110 different providers, there’s going to be something you want to study! https://www.coursera.org/
– Brainbench
If you’ve got the knowledge already and want to get certified then Brainbench offer 600 tests with certificates to prove your knowledge. http://www.brainbench.com/
Finally another couple of great choices for web development are www.learnable.com and for 18,000 courses on many topics www.udemy.com
IT & Distance
If you need to get IT certifications then there’s a local option which means you don’t have to go back to the states to do them. Spearpoint offer training solutions across Okinawa with options such as Certified Ethical Hacker, ITIL and Project Management Pro coming up (www.spearpt.com)
Finally, if you want to follow a more formal course of learning then a distance degree may be right for you. The key here is to enroll with a reputable university that offers the course you want. In recent years, many colleges have sprung up offering degrees that aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.
Do your research for a long established university with a good track record and as it’s distance based you don’t need to stick only to US universities. The University of London offers a comprehensive distance program at a cost far lower than most US universities for a top class degree (http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk)
