Online Business Schools

With the globalization of the economy have come many changes. Distance is no longer an obstacle to communication; labour crosses borders; jobs change; and people change jobs frequently. And because of all these changes, lifelong education becomes particularly important in this knowledge-based economy.

But education on-campus at university or college is not possible for many people because jobs or other commitments make it impossible for them to attend on-campus classes. Online learning provides a flexible solution for such people. Unfortunately, many learners enter an online program without realising the problems they need to face. Thus, all too often they are disappointed with their first experience of this new mode of learning. To avoid this, there are six things that the learner should watch out for.

Just because it is a flexible form of education, it doesn’t mean that you can keep “putting it off”. Procrastination, and then trying to fit it all in at the end, has caused so many failures. Don’t leave it until the last minute to upload your assignment or you can guarantee that your Internet service will go down just at that moment. So manage your time so that you complete assignments well before the due dates.

With the world of work and our living environment constantly changing, you need to be constantly learning new ways of doing things. To be successful, you need a desire for life-long learning. And this is precisely what you should have or wish to develop in yourself – a desire to learn.

You shouldn’t only acquire knowledge – you should also acquire the skills to acquire knowledge. In particular, learning online requires that you develop these skills. This means having well-developed critical reading and thinking skills as well as the technical skills of how find books or web sites on a particular subject.

If you are learning online, the materials replace the lectures that students get in a face-to-face course. But they usually does more than those lectures – the courseware often includes questions, exercises and further reading so that your learning can be active rather than passive. And that is the key – ACTIVE LEARNING. Make sure that you complete all the exercises and actively read the text.

Lectures in high school classrooms and in undergraduate classes can all so easily encourage the “passive learning” already referred to. But real learning takes place when you are interacting with the materials and with others. So try to find a learning group, either in your area or online, and exchange ideas regularly. Also, make sure that you respond to all the e-Tutor’s requests for participation in the discussion forums. There may even be a mark allocated for such participation.

I recently heard of a government official who had his position taken away from him on the grounds that he hadn’t earned his qualifications because they were from a “diploma mill” – a business that simply prints diplomas and degrees. He protested that he had “earned” them because he paid good money for them. You must always make sure that the online qualification you receive is from an accredited institution and the form of accreditation is recognised in your country. Never “buy” a qualification from a “diploma mill”.

Sophia Peters writes for the Online and Distance Learning web site where there are details of online programs. Visit the web site for other relevant information about where and how to study online. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service