To the over-worked adult looking for a convenient way to fit education into an already busy schedule, online learning seems like a dream come true. You can study in your PJ’s at any time you want, complete assignments when and how you want to, create a schedule that works for you, and never engage another human being…right? Well, sort of. You may not know it, but there are many things about online learning you can expect to be exactly the same as a brick-and-mortar school:
- You will have homework, and probably lots of it!
- You will be challenged—“Online University” does not mean “easy”!!
- You will use real textbooks, not just e-texts.
- You will complete your work to meet regular deadlines.
- You can expect to engage with your fellow students regularly online—no sitting in the back of the classroom!
Okay, so maybe not as freeform as you imagined. But hold on—there are tons of things about online learning that you might not have expected and will probably love!
- You will learn to be self-motivated and independent—you’ll be driven by your own goals and expectations, not that of a professor you barely know in a class of 300.
- Learning resources, communities, e-texts, etc. will be available 24/7, so you should be able to fit study time into your schedule conveniently. Take that laptop to soccer practice!
- You will not feel alone! You will have access to support via mentoring or advising (depending on your University), online learning communities, and many resources at the touch of a mouse-button.
- The only distractions to your learning will be those that you allow—no more noisy students bothering you from the back of the class or paper airplanes flying down the aisles. You can create your own study oasis.
- Academic authenticity is a top priority. Use of technology allows online institutions to closely monitor students’ work to ensure its originality.
If your school has similar policies to that of WGU, you will be able to accelerate your studies to move at your own pace (within parameters), and use your knowledge and experience to move through your assessments much quicker than if you had to log “seat time” at a traditional institution.
It takes a dedicated individual to succeed in a solely-online educational environment. But with the right attitude and expectations, online learning really can be the perfect way to fit a degree into your life.
(Also contributing to this post was Catherine Endicott, a Mentor for the Teacher’s College at WGU).
