Seeing your professors and classmates daily often leads to accountability for homework, tests, and projects. Your instructors might remind you about an upcoming paper on your way out the door, or your classmates may discuss a research project while you sit waiting for class to start.
When you take your education online, this built-in accountability disappears. While most online professors will send reminders, those are easy to overlook and may not happen every time you log in for your courses. How can you hold yourself accountable to get your work done? One practical solution to this problem is using a planner or calendar to record due dates.
Once you have all of your projects recorded, set your own due dates along the way for small parts of each project. For instance, if you have a paper due at the end of the semester, require yourself to have an outline by midterm and a rough draft between midterm and the end of the semester.
Once you have these deadlines for smaller tasks on your calendar, stick to them carefully. You will be able to finish everything on time, even without the daily accountability in the classroom.
In order to excel in online learning, you must be able to use technology effectively. Every aspect of your classes, from lectures to class discussions to submitting projects, is going to involve technology. Make sure you know how to save and upload files, access online learning elements, and how to use basic word processing and spreadsheet programs. If you need additional tech education, consider getting this before signing up for an online class.
In addition, you must be adept at online communication. Email and chat rooms are the most common forms of communication in the online learning world. Instructors also often set up forums where they can interact with students and students can interact with each other in a secure online environment.
Make sure you can clearly communicate with instructors and classmates using these formats. When communicating, avoid the trap of being too casual. Remember, this is a professional learning environment, so use proper spelling and good grammar, not emojis, when communicating in online forums, chat rooms, and emails.
Finally, if you want to make the most of your online learning, you need to contact your instructors and classmates. Sometimes, you will need to initiate this contact. Just like you would shake hands across the table in the classroom and introduce yourself to a classmate, be willing to send the first chat message or email to your online classmates.
At the start of your class, find out how your instructor prefers to be reached if you have a need. This may be email, online chat, or specific times when they will be on a forum or chat group. Then, early in the semester, reach out using that chosen method and introduce yourself. Express how excited you are about online learning. If you have any questions, ask them.
Online classes use special tools to track students during tests and help maintain academic integrity. The use of these tools sustains the quality and reputation of your online degree. Some courses even require proctored on-campus testing. If you live far from campus, you may want to check for such requirements before enrolling.
This is really important to understand: while online degrees have become increasingly more common, some are viewed more favorably than others. The primary concern for employers is the quality and consistency of the school that issues your degree. Click to tweet In fact, employer opinion often depends on three things: accreditation, campus, and school brand.
Recent issues involving for-profit online schools have made this an important issue. Many students applied for jobs only to find that employers had rejected their applications, citing that the program was not properly accredited. While some students received settlements, others lost valuable time and money.
Luckily, Abound is here to help you find online degrees that are worth your time, money, and effort! Situations like these illustrate why Abound does not include for-profit schools in our guide. Abound: Finish College narrows down your options and gets you in touch with schools that we can confirm are Accessible, Affordable, Accelerated, and Advanced. Take a look at the schools we trust and find the program that works for you. Financial Aid: Funds for Adult Students.
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They are the latest iterations of a distance-learning model that predates the Internet age. Advances in videoconferencing and collaboration software have improved the quality and convenience of remote instruction. Meanwhile, top-tier public and private universities have aggressively expanded their distance-learning options, muscling in on for-profit education companies dogged by low graduation rates and allegations of exploitative financial aid practices.
For many students returning to school after years in the workforce or struggling to balance work, family life, and education, online college coursework offers the best shot at completing a postsecondary or graduate degree.
Online coursework is more common than many realize. Before committing to earning college credits online, you must understand the benefits and drawbacks of technology-enabled distance learning and know how to evaluate potential programs and courses. Online college courses and degree programs have multiple appealing advantages. Not all college students are recent high school graduates.
Many have responsibilities like full- or part-time jobs and families, so having the flexibility to log onto a computer at any time, day or night — during lunch or when children are napping — is a significant advantage. Online colleges can also benefit students whose disabilities make navigating large college campuses more difficult.
Having the option to log in for class rather than fight the crowds between classes can improve an otherwise stressful situation. Finally, not all college students have access to reliable transportation.
In reality, neither in-person nor online learning is possible without basic hardware and software like laptop computers, email, and tools for creating and editing documents. But online learners generally need to use a broader range of technology solutions, such as videoconferencing software, workplace collaboration tools, file-sharing applications, and possibly other cloud-based apps. In recent years, many if not most traditional universities and colleges have expanded their online course and degree offerings.
Tuition for online degree programs offered by brick-and-mortar institutions tends to be comparable to tuition for in-person coursework.
But distance learners save on myriad additional expenses that can significantly increase their total cost of attendance. Such expenses can include transportation to and from campus, student activity fees, room and board expenses for residential students, and textbooks though many online courses also require students to purchase textbooks.
But speaking from personal experience, quality MOOCs are rewarding all the same. Potential downsides include uneven value for the cost, uneven quality of instruction, limits on close collaboration and extracurricular contact with fellow students, and poor suitability for students who need extra help or thrive in small-group settings.
Weigh these drawbacks carefully before signing up for an online course or enrolling in a degree program.
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