Online Courses for Adult Learners
Continue or Expand Your Education with Cyber Learning
Sep 17, 2007
Thinking of returning to school as an adult learner? Maybe you are interested in attending graduate school for a different type of degree than your undergraduate program. Online courses can be a great way to get your feet wet again. There are two basic types of online courses than can help you further your education: correspondence and semester-long courses.
Correspondence Courses
Correspondence courses are typically offered as an independent study course through a university. These courses can be completed at your own pace with assignments submitted via email or an online classroom management tool.
This type of course requires a good bit more self-discipline than the semester-long cyber course because it is a work-at-your-own-pace class. Typically, you will have about two to twelve months to complete a correspondence course.
If you are a disciplined student with excellent time management skills, this may be a great way for you to fit in those classes necessary to enrich, finish or further your degree.
The downside of these courses is that they are very much self-led. You will have to depend on your textbooks and your aptitude for self-learning for most of the course content. Many courses are offered as “cyber courses” with a professor available by email or message board for questions. Your assignments are usually papers and/or tests that are either taken online or in a proctored setting (such as a library) and mailed to your instructor.
Semester-Long Courses
Semester long courses are set up much like a regular college course, except you do not go to class in a traditional setting. You will have regular assignments with due dates. This structure still depends on your ability to lead yourself through study by reading and completing assignments. The benefit is that you receive a time limit on procrastination or it affects your grade.
Instructors typically take a more proactive role in online semester-long courses. They are utilize a number of course delivery methods including posted audio/video-recorded lectures, interactive online chats, discussion groups (via message board), and/or peer review of assignments such as papers.
Tips for Online Course Survival
- Know exactly what you are getting into with your coursework. It’s best to know ahead of time what types of assistance are available from the instructor.
- Buy all the required and recommended texts. You will need additional tools to guide yourself in this type of study.
- Expect to devote more time to assignments than you would a regular college course.
- Communicate with your instructor so that problems and questions are handled well before test time.
- Create a relaxing workspace that is free of distraction. Make sure you schedule your time wisely so you are not late with assignments. Be sure to put due dates and times in your planner.
- Do not submit assignments at the last minute. More often than not, technology works against you. Your instructor will expect to hear about technology issues before the assignment is due.
