Many students see the advantage of online education as the freedom of study at their own pace. Moreover, students who hate to go to school tend to love the feature of online education that enables them to study from home. But, you should not make your decision to go for online education just because of these advantages. There are other important factors that should be included in your consideration when choosing an education option.
How to make your decision whether to go for online education or to earn a traditional campus degree? Try to ask yourself below questions and the answer them honestly, then you know which education option fits you the best.
Question 1: Are you comfortable to learn by reading instead of listening?
To find out whether you are comfortable to learn by reading the materials yourself instead of listening to the teaching session by a teacher, try to download some materials you are interested in from internet and learn by reading the materials. Then, ask yourself whether you are fine with the learning style. If you feel boring or sleepy after reading a few pages, then online learning style may not fit you.
Question 2: Are you able to complete tasks on schedule
Nobody will look at your back to ensure you to complete assignments on time and progress through the whole degree program in online education. You have to motivate yourself to complete the courses, projects and assignments in order earn an online degree. Ask yourself, your friends and family members who know you the best whether you are a kind of person who can complete tasks on time without a person looks at your back. If you need somebody to motivate or remind you to complete a given task, then traditional campus degree program might be a better option for you as there are teachers and tutors to make sure you progress through your study and earn a degree successfully.
Question 3: Are you looking for “Campus Life”
If you like to have social communication with schoolmates and enjoy the campus life where you have friends who will study together with you at the lecture hall, then you might feel boring in online learning environment where you will study alone. There will be no orientation week to welcome new students, no graduation day and there will definite no sport events at online schools. Those are the features of campus life. Therefore, if you are looking for campus life, then online education will not fit into the learning lifestyle you are looking for.
Question 4: Are you a working individual?
If you are the primary caregiver in your family who can’t give up your job and you plan to continue your education for better career future, then an accredited online degree program may be the best option for you because you can be benefited from the advantages of online education in term of flexibility and convenient of study format.
Summary
Both campus schools and online learning have their pros and cons. Before making your decision, you should always evaluate the best option which you can benefit the most from their pros and minimize the effect from their cons. You may see many advantages of online education, but if you are not a student who can adapt to the online learning style, then you may not be benefited from its advantages and a campus degree program might be a better option for you.