Despite elaborate and varied insurance policies, there is no immunity against disease, old age and death. Neither the elaborate security arrangement of politicians can protect anyone from the ravages of disease old age and death.

The advancement of material knowledge has done next to nothing, in solving these existential problems of life. It helps us to become acclimatized to birth, death, and all sorts of suffering. Material scientists have discovered many facilities for sense enjoyment and destruction, but they have discovered no solution to the problems of old age, disease, and death. They cannot make any machine that will check death, old age, or disease. At best, material science can only create bombs and bullets to accelerate the process of death.

Those who are intelligent, however, are not concerned with the fourfold miseries of material life, but with elevation to the spiritual planets.

The word education takes it roots from the Latin word ‘educare’ which means to bring out. What is to be brought out? The divine qualities inherent in all beings. The Bhagavad-gita, probably the oldest scripture on the planet, tells us that man has a physical, subtle or mental and spiritual presence. The senses are superior to the gross body, the mind superior to the senses, above mind is the intelligence, and even above the intelligence is the soul, the owner the body.

The bible corroborates this fact by saying man has terrestrial and celestial bodies. It is only the spirit soul that survives death.

Real education therefore means self-realization, realization of the spiritual identity of man. Real education begins with an enquiry into the self and its origin. Any education which does not address this pertinent issue, or lead to such realization must be considered avidya, or nescience. Therefore the advancement of learning by a godless civilization is as dangerous as a valuable jewel on the hood of a cobra. A cobra decorated with a valuable jewel is more dangerous than the one not decorated. A decorated cobra may appear attractive, and easily mistaken less the intelligent, but its fangs remain as poisonous and deadly as the undecorated.

In the Vedic scriptures the advancement of education by a godless people is compared to decorations on a dead body. In India, as in many other countries, some people follow the custom of leading a procession with a decorated dead body for the pleasure of the lamenting relatives. In the same way, modern civilization is a patchwork of activities meant to cover the perpetual miseries of material existence.

Out of His unlimited kindness, the Personality of Godhead, sends His bona fide representatives in the form of His sons, servants and messengers such Jesus Christ, Mohammed, the Buddha, etc. to propagate spiritual education, by which the conditioned souls of this world can return to the eternal kingdom of God. Sometimes the Lord comes Himself to do this work, since all living beings are His beloved sons, His parts and parcels. God feels more sorry than ourselves, to see how all the living entities of this world are constantly undergoing great tribulations.

The miseries of this material world serve to indirectly remind us of our incompatibility with matter. Intelligent living entities generally take note of these reminders and engage themselves in the culture of transcendental knowledge. Human life is the best opportunity for the culturing spiritual knowledge, and a human being who does not take advantage of this opportunity is called a naradhama, the lowest of human beings.

The path of avidya, or advancement of material knowledge for sense gratification, is the path of repeated birth and death. As he exists spiritually, the living entity has no birth or death. Birth and death apply to the outward covering of the spirit soul, the body. Death is compared to the taking off and birth to the putting on of outward garments.

Foolish human beings who are grossly absorbed in the culture of avidya, nescience, do not mind this cruel process. Enamored with the beauty of the illusory energy, they undergo the same miseries repeatedly and do not learn any lessons from the laws of nature.

Therefore the culture of vidya, or transcendental knowledge, is essential for the human being. Sense enjoyment in the diseased material condition must be restricted as far as possible. Unrestricted sense enjoyment in this bodily condition is the path of ignorance and death. The living entities are not without spiritual senses; every living being in his original, spiritual form has all the senses, which are now materially manifested, being covered by the material body and mind.

The activities of the material senses are perverted reflections of the activities of the original, spiritual senses. In his diseased condition, the spirit soul engages in material activities under the material covering. Real sense enjoyment is possible only when the disease of materialism is removed. In our pure spiritual form, free from all material contamination, real enjoyment of the senses is possible. A patient must regain his health before he can truly enjoy sense pleasure again.

Thus the aim of human life should not be to enjoy perverted sense enjoyment but to cure the material disease. Aggravation of the material disease is no sign of knowledge, but a sign of avidya, ignorance. For good health, a person should not increase his fever from 105 degrees to 107 degrees but should reduce his temperature to the normal 98.6. That should be the aim of human life. The modern trend of material civilization is to increase the temperature of the feverish material condition, which has reached the point of 107 degrees in the form of atomic energy. Meanwhile, the foolish politicians are crying that at any moment the world may go to hell. That is the result of the advancement of material knowledge and the neglect of the most important part of life, the culture of spiritual knowledge.

Sri Isopanisad herein warns that we must not follow this dangerous path leading to death. On the contrary, we must develop the culture of spiritual knowledge so that we may become completely free from the continuous miseries of birth, disease, old age and death, and return to our eternal home in the spiritual sky, where we can enjoy eternal bliss free from all material encumbrances.

Both forms of education require the use of technology and provide ample learning opportunities for students to participate in. Each form requires the student to learn the essential body of knowledge required to graduate with a degree and be prepared to go out into the job market.

Furthermore, studies have shown there are no significant differences in final course grades between distance education and traditional education. It was found many online education methods fit perfectly with students’s preferred learning style including the ability to work on course material in their own time frame.

Advantages of an Online Graphic Design Education

The main advantage of pursuing an online education is accessibility. As an adult, you often don’t have the time or ability to go a traditional school to earn a higher degree. It may be family; it may be a full time job. Either way, an online distant education program provides the flexibility needed to further your education.

You may have a job that requires travel preventing you from attending all your classes. With online education as long as you have access to the Internet, you can “make it to class”. And your classes are available 24/7.

Study Pace – for those of us who don’t learn at the same pace as others, an online degree program allows you to learn at a pace that fits your style. It may take you a little longer to complete a course but achieve a better outcome not feeling rushed.

On the other hand, you may be a fast learner and want to push through the programs more quickly than someone else. In a traditional setting you may be held back by the rest of the class or the teachers pace.

Self Motivation – many employers will look at your online degree and appreciate your initiative and self motivation. Completing a program working at your own pace can be daunting so an employer might consider your ambition an asset to the company.

Flexibility – Web based degree programs allow you to learn when you have the time to learn not when you are told to learn. Whether you’re a stay-at-home parent or have a full time job, online campuses give you the flexibility to go back to school for that degree that can help you raise the bar to your success. Self Discipline – to be successful in life and career, you have to have self-discipline. To be successful in distant education programs, you have to have self-discipline. By learning how not to procrastinate and being accountable for getting your work done properly and on time, you gain a skill that is very valuable in the marketplace.

It’s not always easy to get work done if someone isn’t there reminding you all the time. Once you learn the importance of getting tasks done on time and how to achieve your goals, you’ll have learned one of the most important concepts in your educational process.

What Should You Expect From An Online Education

Participation – you will be expected to participate via email, teleclasses, or discussion boards with your professors and classmates. This tends to work in favor of students who are extremely shy and stay out of conversations in traditional settings.

Work – just because you are not attending a physical classroom setting doesn’t mean you don’t have to work. As an online student you will be expected to do the same amount of work, if not more, than a traditional classroom situation.

You will be involved in group projects, writing papers, posting responses to the class message board while taking practice quizzes and discussing topics with fellow students.

Questions – expect to ask and to be asked questions by your professors and fellow students. If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask. There are other online students with more experience available to answer your questions or help with a difficult assignment.

Requirements for Online Graphic Design Degree Programs

Because you will be taking your graphic design classes online via your computer, there naturally will be some hardware and software requirements. First of all, you need a computer with hardware and software that is compatible with the schools programs. It may be required you only work on an Apple computer and use Adobe software. Another school may have different requirements. It is important you find out these requirements before you sign up.

You will also be required to have an Internet connection and the faster the better. Since you will be spending a lot of time on line, a high-speed connection will make your life a lot easier than a slow dial up account.

Peripheral Equipment – most schools are going to require you have access to a CD burner or DVD burner, printer, scanner, digital camera and digital drawing tablet. Be sure you budget these items into your costs before making a commitment to a school.

Conclusion

If you are interested in going back to school for a degree in graphic design but don’t have the flexibility to go to a traditional school setting, an online education is a great alternative.

As studies have shown, you will get a comparable education at your pace, in your environment. The next step is to find distant learning programs in graphic design that fit your needs.

Good luck and much success in your endeavor.

Then one day I was looking though my university website and found out that they were offering an online class on marketing websites through the internet. I decided to pay the 99 dollar fee and took the course. It took a few months but I did pass the course which gave me my basic knowledge on how to market websites online to make a profit. As online education has evolved it has been better able to provide a wider range of courses in which a student can receive a much better education online now then when I took my first online university class, but the one thing that both time frames have in common is the goal, and that is to save time and make education more efficient in time and conveniency.

These days you can even get a doctoral degree or a Masters degree online from a University that is highly accredited such as Keller Graduate School of Management which offered masters Degrees to student thats specialized in doing commerce over the internet, or the University of Nebraska at Kearney which offers very eclectic business oriented fields of knowledge ranging from international business to understanding very complex economic concepts. Just remember before signing up for any online educational course to do your due diligence on the college that is offering these courses to make sure that they are accredited and are valued by the more established land based universities as once you put in your time to get your online degree you cannot get that time or effort back.