Cautions
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| Distance learning course work is
frequently neglected because of personal or family
circumstances, unless there are compelling reasons for
completing a course. This is to be avoided. It
is easy to fall behind in your work online if you do
not have good work habits or are not experienced in
scheduling your time. |
| There are temporal requirements in
online courses. Distance education is at a
distance and makes distance irrelevant to a student's
participation and progress. Distance education
is mindful of time. Classes are set to
prescribed schedules and work must be submitted on
time. |
| Some students prefer the independence of
distance learning; others find it uncomfortable. Those
who have the independence and willingness to work do
well. Those who don't usually fall behind, get
frustrated, and don't complete the course. |
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Distance learning courses give you
greater freedom to schedule your work, but they also
require more self-discipline.
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| Some people learn best by interacting
face-to-face with other students. On-line courses do
not afford as much opportunity for this kind of
interaction. |
| Distance learning courses require you to
work independently from written directions, without
face-to-face explanations by the instructor. You can,
however, E-mail your instructor and classmates as
often as is necessary. |
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| On-line courses require at least as much
time (usually more) as attending face-to-face classes
and completing assignments for campus courses. |
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On-line courses use technology for mentoring,
communication and learning. You will need to be
comfortable, or willing to get comfortable quickly,
with uploading and downloading your assignments, as
well as moving them in and out of your word
processing software. Some help from either your
colleagues or instructor will be available, BUT you should
already possess basic Web, E-mail and word
processing skills to enjoy this learning modality.
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| Read the reviews
of online courses written by those who
have taken such classes. |
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