Why Online Colleges Are Here To Stay

Online Education Is Here To Stay

Today’s student is not typical. Today’s student can be a homemaker, a soldier, a full time employee, or even a grandmother. Our modern schedules are crazier than ever. Additionally, the current economic climate makes the need for advancing our careers through education very real. Online education is becoming more popular, affordable and accessible every day. Therefore, online education appeals to a wide range of student types. Here are some of the many benefits to attaining an online education, which all serve to demonstrate that online education is clearly here to stay.

• You are in control of your own schedule. This means that you can take a quiz or participate in question/answer sessions any time of day or night. You can simultaneously “be in class” and in your pajamas!
• Being in control of your own schedule means that you can also work at your own pace. You can focus on coursework as much or as little as you want, depending on your schedule that day. Are you pulling a long shift Tuesday? Then you know that you can read the lecture or respond to others later that night. In fact, you can do that any time that is convenient for you. You can re-read any of the coursework and materials, since you have access to them for the duration of the course. In a traditional classroom, you would have to find someone to borrow notes from, which is a pain.
• An increasing number of institutional leadership see online education as good as or superior to, face-to-face education. This means that you can be confident of receiving a quality education online and a resulting degree.
• The use of online education for all types of degrees and students is only growing, with no signs of leveling off. In fact, by fall of 2005, over 3 million students were using online education to fulfill their education needs. Since then, online learning has grown even more dramatically.
• Getting an education online will help you hone your technology skills. Since you need to use the computer to be in class and complete course-related tasks, this will only help you to build your computer, formatting and researching skills. This in itself is an addition to your job skills.
• An online classroom is perfect for those students who are shy or feel painfully awkward in social settings. This setting is also helpful if you suffer from test anxiety. You do not have to actually face your classmates, so you can feel protected by some sense of anonymity. You will need to use your real name, but after that, you can choose how much personal information you want to share. You can take time to think about your answer before posting it, so you can feel more confident of what you are sharing in class.
• Using digital media for your coursework means that you will have access to literally hundreds of thousands of files through both your university database and the internet. Online schools also provide you with tutorials for formatting and writing.
• Most online courses are only 8 weeks, verses the traditional 16 week courses found on a physical campus. This means that you can get your degree or advance your career faster than if you were taking courses at a brick-and-mortar.
• You will not have to spend on gas, auto maintenance, parking stickers, clothing and food when you get an online education. This will save you a lot in the long run, especially when you consider the higher rate of accidents that happen in a campus parking lot!
• Being in an online environment means that you will encounter a wide diversity in your classmates. They can live anywhere in the country and be of any race, gender, age and belief. This will broaden your own views by exposing you to a range of views that you may not encounter on a campus in your own community.
• Schools offering online education are eager to help you qualify for financial aid. Additionally, many online schools can charge less than traditional campuses because there is much less overhead to upkeep than on a physical campus. Today’s online schools now offer digital book rentals or downloads that will cost you a lot less than a traditional textbook. Add this savings to what you are being spared in car maintenance, clothing and food, and you cannot go wrong.