Are you ready for online courses?

Our summer semester is coming to and end and with that my end of my graduate school and back to work with the U.S. Coast Guard (CG).  This has been a great experience and busy year.  This was not my first time with online classes for school.  I had received most of my undergraduate school online and the CG has a Midgrade Officer Career Course that is 11 months long with majority of it being online.  This year has been focused on strictly my Masters Degree through Florida State University and the experience was vastly different then from my undergraduate degree.  Some of the major differences was the level of interaction that our classmates and professors had with the course and discussions.  In my undergraduate school it was more like an independent study course that I followed the required course work and just turned in the papers and other homework. In 2012, 1 out of 10 students was enrolled exclusively on online courses.  The number of those that took at least one online is even greater.  So what does that mean for online courses?  Ina few of my classes, the professors always ask us to provide some insight on how to be successful in our graduate online courses.   Most people give similar recommendations and I figure that I would share this with you and encourage those that are thinking about entering college to not shy away from online courses but look at it as an opportunity to jump on board with what seems to be a growing field. 

1.  What program should I go into? Be mindful of the program that you decide to enroll in.  Just like anything you should take the time to research what you plan on taking and the college that provides these courses.  Not all school are created equal. With online colleges being a growing field you have both public schools and for profit schools seeking your attendance.  I saw many of the for profit school seeks out the military to help them get a quick degree but the level of quality was not the same.  This issue expands to anyone looking for a quality degree, find out about the place offering the degree.  Check out these reports to help you determine which one is for you. 

2.  Technology. Make sure you have the right technology for your program.  Many of the programs will have a list of minimum requirements for your computer (system requirements).  Beyond that, each type of program might require their own type of technology for courses based on the degree you were seeking.  This includes computers, tablets, software, etc.  I hadn't gone out to buy a computer in a long time and my original thoughts was that I could use my daughters laptop for at least the beginning, I was wrong.  Her computer was fine for her but the level of time I needed to spend online was a lot more and how slow the computer worked to just open a program required more time waiting to do anything and raised my time to do work.  By getting a better system cut my time in half just due to the speed it took to do anything on the computer.

3.  Accountability:  Welcome to college where you are the adult.  There is not going to be someone there to hold you accountable for your work and level you provide.  This all depends on you to put in the work in order to get the most out of it.  For those in the Masters program, you are typically juggling work, family and school.  It is tough, but we all signed up with an end result in mind.  If we do not spend the time to grasp the material how can we use it in our future careers.  Create a schedule


4.  Schedule.  Everyone has many things going on every day and week.  Find a schedule that works for you to get your work done.  You can easily see those that had schedules that allowed them to get the work done at the beginning of the week and those that only had the weekend.  The great thing about online courses is that it allows you to interact with the entire class no matter what your schedule it. Set something that works for you and stick to it. 


5.  Interaction.  As mentioned in number 3, you get out of the course what you put into it. Since this is online there is different ways that you might have to interact with each other.  In our group assignments we found ourselves skyping, google+ chatting or using programs that allows members to share and edit documents through online tools.  You will find that people have different preferences but the time you take to collaborate with other learners will not only increase the experience but will build your network in your field of study. 

6.  Help!  Like anything, you are not alone in these programs and seek out help from your professors and especially your fellow learners.  They are going through the same thing and you will be amazed on how many are facing the same trials and have the same questions. 

7.  Breaks.  We all have a breaking point and can only take in so much information.  I found that I had to push away from my computer and get out of the room, spend time with the family or go fish. When I found myself working non stop I ended up realizing that half the material I read went right over my head due to burn out. You have to schedule yourself breaks during work and make sure to enjoy life also. 


Many people seemed hesitant to go back to school or just look at online courses as an option.  I have found through experience and through work with others that it is a great opportunity and many of the professors and other students are encourgaing and understanding.  Give it a try!

For those that have experienced online courses, what other advice would you give to someone?