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A lowdown on the things you need to remember before you
get into an online degree program.
The distance education system has been gaining widespread
popularity over the years. By widening access to higher
education, the distance mode provides an opportunity to
all those who are/were unable to pursue higher education
through the traditional system.
You should also take into account your own personality and
priorities, and have a clear idea about the advantages and
disadvantages of distance education and the methodology
involved in it.
Your checklist
- The relevance and validity of the program for your
personal career/life goals.
- The extent of need to pursue the program. If it is
something that is essential for a job or for a promotion,
then it is high priority, but if it can be taken as a
campus program at a later date, it would be more useful
if one is interested in a campus placement.
- Distance education is suitable for you if you are good
at self study and do not need face-to-face classroom interaction
to feel confident.
- If you are one of those who is self motivated and gets
work/ assignments done on time, then distance education
is not a problem. However, if you tend to put off things
till the last minute, then distance education would not
be advisable.
- For those who are good at interpreting and acting upon
written instructions, distance education poses no hurdles,
but those who need to have instructions explained in person
may not be suitable for distance learning.
- Distance education demands regular personal time for
study, hence, one should have time to devote on a daily
(ideally!), but definitely, on a weekly basis. Self-discipline
is very important for successful completion of a distance
learning initiative.
- In today’s time, distance learning involves the
use of different media such as radio, television, computers
and other new technologies, so a distance learner should
be keen and optimistic about learning new skills. Those
who are apprehensive and hesitant about adopting new technologies,
would find distance learning programs, in current times,
a problem to handle.
- If a student has no relevant experience in the same
field in which he/she is pursuing distance learning, then
the certification / qualification would not give him/her
any direct advantage, be it in better prospects or placement.
For someone with strong work experience and excellent
personality skills, such a program may give one the necessary
edge for moving ahead with more confidence and credibility.
More on the go...
- The right provider: There are many providers of distance
learning for all kinds of courses. Do the proper background
check on the institution you are considering with the
relevant authorities to verify on their accreditation
and authenticity before registering. Find out whether
the educational material and resources are adequate for
doing justice to the program.
- Study center/contact classes: As part of a distance-learning
program, there may be a scheme of attending contact classes
that are mandatory for the program. Hence, it is important
to choose a provider with study centers in your part of
the country, to allow you to attend with the least amount
of disruption in your schedule.
- Utilizing facilities: Some distance learning courses
offer online lectures and email correspondence to facilitate
communication with lecturers and other students. These
facilities should be utilized as much as possible as it
provides a link back to the educational institution. These
also act as a great source of motivation in order to keep
progressing through the course of study. They may also
offer access to online library/ information resources,
which are a great help for working on assignments and
other research necessary to progress. As the cost is in-built
into the program fee, not making use of the same is definitely
a great loss to the individual.
- Costs and benefits: Many prominent institutions known
for their full time programs, offer online alternatives
which may not offer the same qualification, though the
content may be similar. Being offered online and with
the option of virtual classroom sessions, the program
costs are high. Some students enroll for these without
doing a cost benefit analysis of taking the course in
the first place.
Visit the Online
College directory and browse through the
various online degree programs. Feel free to request information
from the colleges as thats the first step that will help
you get started. |
