M.A. in Teaching (K-8) Comments

WGU is a good school if you are self motivated.  It's easy to "Say" you're self motivated, but when it comes to deciding whether or not you should read your assignment and write your paper or .... play with your kids, do some laundry, watch TV...etc etc....you may find that you're not as self motivated as you may think.  

I think one of the reasons people stop attending WGU is it's HARD!  You have to read A LOT!  Then, you have to write a paper afterwards.  These papers are not simple regurgitation of the facts but more subjective essays you write after reflecting on your readings.  It is time consuming and HARD.  It's hard to think about and it's hard to take the time to complete the tasks. 

I have my undergrad from a bricks and mortor school and am currently getting my masters from WGU.  Another big difference I can tell between the two is that you can B.S. your way through many classes at a bricks and mortor school.  I know I did.  I also know you can't BS your way through an essay at WGU, I tried... and had to rework it.

I also vehement disagree that WGU only wants your money.  I am taking the SLOW route to get my degree (I have found that I'm NOT very self motivated).  My mentor actually suggested that I take a break from my education for a term to get my priorities straight instead of paying for another term and not making any progress.  

I didn't take her up on the suggestion and instead I was assigned another mentor for time/course management. (and that helped A LOT!!!! )

Busy work means a lot of assignments which contribute little to student achievement and more to having students do what appears to be meaningful, relevant eduction, class related, standard based curriculum. Most of the 20 plus page course of studies are full of roundabout, repetitive and unclear busy work. Plowing through mountains of research and NO philosophical or personal analysis is offered. On the contrary, you are encouraged(when you finally get an audience
or someone is checking up on you), to stay on task. Staff are either gleefully blind of the realities of classroom teaching or opt to ignore them. Most staff are too busy to answer emails and yes, it is cheap but, you get what you pay for. After 20 years in education, I thought this was a good move. The truth? WGU is joke and no one cares. Poor customer service is the norm. These people are out to make money and they loose about 70 percent of their students. I wonder why? I am planning to leave after completing 2 semesters and going into something else. Also, I use a made up name because WGU staff do troll this site and add their own crap to confuse people.

Can anyone post examples of some of the assignments?  I keep hearing "busy work" but nobody has given any examples.

I am in my first sememster or term of completing the coursework necessary to begin my Masters in Education. I cannot believe these bad reviews. I checked with my local school district about this school and how they regarded a person who obtained a degree from WGU. They said that they were very highly regarded. They are also not very expensive when compared to other schools. I am happy and very impressed despite the other negative comments.