Hi guys! Today we are going to look at the most common myths students or other people believe about Online Learning in order to correct the wrong impressions. Just take your time and go through it carefully, who knows, you may find yourself in the band wagon.
1. It is not valid; In this era of revolution, most working class students patronize Online Studies more than on-campus education. Due to this, online schools have strived to make sure they get their programs accredited by relevant education boards in their countries or regions. You can check for school and program accreditation in order to be sure it is valid. Some online programs offered for free are not accredited, so you only take them for personal development; the certificates may not be valid due to lack of accreditation.
2. Online Learning Platforms are difficult to operate; Well, I think this is not so true, unless you are not a serious and sharp student. Most schools with complicated platforms offer free tutorial on how to operate their learning platform; so you can enrol and farmiliarize yourself with the platform before you commence your studies. As long as you can operate Email, MS Word, Web Chat, Skype and other softwares; online learning platforms are a walk over for you.
3. The programs are too expensive; Did you expect them to offer it for free? Anyway, I didn’t mean to be rude, there are so many programs that are affordable and accredited; all you need do is hang your coat where your hands can reach. You don’t expect Oxford University to offer the same program you want to study at the same rate with University of Essex. Be wise in your discretion, highly ranked programs may be highly expensive too.
4. Not Accredited; Like I said before, when you want to apply for a particular program, research on its accreditation and that of the school before you apply. If not, you may end up with an invalid qualification.
5. Compromised Delivery; Some students think that if the same school should offer online mba and traditional mba, that the on-campus mba is more valid and taken seriously. My dear, it is a myth and not a fact; the modules are the same, you learn and write the same exams with on-campus students. You get equal or more lecturer attention than the on-campus course because you can chat with your lecturers and ask even personal questions.
6. Not flexible; May be that was obtainable before, but now, most online programs are flexible; you can study at your own pace. Look for schools that offer flexible programs if you are always busy.
7. My Certificate will tell it was online; I think this applies mostly to free online certificate courses, a normal university degree certificate won’t state such nonsense. For example, see the certificate below;
does it tell the program was online?
8. All programs are 100% online; How can all programs be fully online, is that possible? They say variety is the spice of life; if all programs were to be fully online, it would be boring to people that like to associate with people one on one. So once in a while, you can go to school and attend lectures or submit assignments and even write exams. The kind of online programs that allow occasional campus visits is called blended learning programs while others offer fully online programs; make your choice.
9. It is possible to cheat during Exam; The simple explanation here is, if you try it, you will be caught. How they will catch you is what I won’t tell you, lol, if you like risk it.
10. Online programs are only meant for working class students or busy adults; This is very untrue! Anyone that wouldn’t want to part with the comfort of his or her home can apply for online program.
11. No lecturer-student interaction; If you have been following this write up from the beginning, you would notice where I mentioned that you can have webinars with your lecturers and even chat with them personally.
12. It is possible to miss classes; Yes, only if your program has fixed class schedules; then you have to adhere to time. Even at that, if you miss classes, you can ask your lecturer for a recorded softcopy of the lecture. Some schools provide it on their learning platforms so that students can access and download.
13. No matriculation or convocation; If you don’t attend matric or convocation, it’s done together with that of on-campus students, so, you can attend too.
14. Classes may be boring; This is not exactly true, unless you always miss general classes and prefer to listen to recorded version of the lecture. You need to make out time to interact in class with your lecturers and colleagues. This does not apply to programs that are 100% flexible; in this case it is you and your lecturer whenever you are ready for class in that case your name will change to Mr Lone…..lllllyyyy, lol.