I asked myself this question in 2008. I was a stay at home mom with two kids in diapers. I didn’t have time to go to the mailbox some days so how was I going to drag my sleep deprived body into a classroom two or three days a week. I started researching some of the online college programs and considered what I wanted to do the rest of my life. Business seemed like a great fit because I knew that whatever I would wind up doing, I wanted to be the boss. After talking to about six different schools I enrolled with a for profit university based in Des Moines, Iowa. I earned an A.S. in Business Administration in about a year because they accepted my transfer credits from before the kids were born. I went on to earn a B.S. in Business Administration and then completed an MBA with another online college in 2012 and enrolled for a M.A. in Teaching and Learning with Technology. I have other family members and friends who have decided to attend college online and after many 11:30PM phone calls to discuss assignments that are due in 30 more minutes I have determined that online classes are not for everybody.
Technical Competence
When you enroll with any online program, the first thing that you go through is a course or orientation, depending on the school, to learn your way around the student portal and classroom. This is a basic exercise in determining if you are tech savvy enough to go to school online. If you don’t know what an attachment is and have no clue how to change a document from a .docx to a .doc then perhaps online classes are not for you. However, if you learn quickly when it comes to computers and are able to switch between windows easily then it is worth looking further into online classes. The minimum you need to be able to do are create and edit Word documents, send and receive attachments, post in discussion threads, and access audio and video files through links.
Learning Types and Online Classes
Once you have determined that you have the technical capabilities it becomes about your learning style. Some people are visual learners, others are auditory learners, and some other people are kinesthetic learners (hands on). Depending on which category you fall into should influence your decision about online classes. If you are visual, then you are able to absorb information through reading it. This is compatible with online courses because you are able to read your text and research and absorb the information. If you are auditory then you may want to choose a school that offers online lectures with their classes where you would listen to a professor as if you were in a classroom. If you are kinesthetic then you may have to work a bit harder to learn the information that is presented online. There are tests that you will take once enrolled to tell you which type of learning type you are but you can basically think about past school experiences. If you have a hard time understanding directions that someone tells you but have no problem if they are written down and you read them, you are most likely visual. If you can read the same sentence three times and still be confused but listen to a lecture and understand, then you are most likely auditory. If you have to be able to do it to learn, such as watching someone fix something once and always remembering it, then you are most likely kinesthetic.
Factors to Consider
Most online only universities are for profit. What this means is they are a private school and tuition is going to be higher than a local college. Many community colleges and state universities offer online classes for many of their programs. There may be a few courses that you have to attend campus to complete but most work can be done online. This is worth looking into, especially if you will be relying on financial aid. With for profit colleges you can take out both subsidized and unsubsidized student loans to pay for school. You are also eligible for a Pell Grant if you qualify. You can get more information from the government financial aid website www.fafsa.gov as well as apply for aid there. Another important consideration is that when you take online classes, you have to be motivated because you will have limited contact with instructors and other students. This also means that if you have a class that you are struggling in then unless you have great resources around you (friends or family that are knowledgeable about the subject) it is more difficult to get help than just staying after class and asking. Nobody can argue that it is not easy to be able to turn in work at 3am when you are up with kids who have their days and nights mixed up. No travel, no babysitters, and work schedules can remain the same. Online classes allow for more flexibility than any other format and for some, that is the key selling point.
There are services through several websites that will allow you to audit an online class and see if the format is for you before enrolling. The will typically have several universities contact you and will try to talk you into going to school regardless of what your feelings may be after the experience. Admissions counselors typically have an answer for about everything you can ask but it is better to follow your own instincts and ask people you know who have had firsthand experience with the schools about their opinions.
