Are you ready for online education?
Posted by Jen Zeman on May 1st, 2009
Online degree programs are a major convenience for anyone who cannot access a traditional college classroom. However, online degree programs are not suited for everyone. One of the largest mistakes people make in judging online programs is the classes must be easier because you do not have to sit through a traditional lecture. This is not the case! Online courses are just as difficult, if not more so, than traditional classes. There is a tremendous amount of reading that is required each week and most courses require active participation on discussion boards each week as well (these discussion boards/groups usually take the place of traditional classroom discussions). If you are someone who needs the face-to-face interaction with an instructor during a pre-designated time slot each week in order to keep you on the ball, then you may have a difficult time being successful within online courses. With online courses, you are on your own to manage your workload and learn the material. If you are not a disciplined individual who can motivate themselves to get a job done, then online courses may not be for you for the same reason mentioned above. You will find yourself falling behind which is disastrous in an online course setting.
However, if you consider yourself an independent learner, capable of learning new material without being latched to an instructor, you will enjoy the independence of online classes. This is true too if you cannot tolerate sitting through a lecture and having to be held back by other students who may not understand the material as well as you (i.e. the ones who ask a ton of questions in class). If you are an organized and disciplined person, online classes will be perfect for you. If you keep the material for class organized and you can easily motivate yourself to put schoolwork first above all else, then you will be quite successful with an online degree program. You’ll never want to sit through another traditional in-class course again! Good luck!
