If we want to stay in touch with the modern world and follow global trends, we have to embrace technology with all its perks and flaws. We live in a digital age, with almost every branch of every business already established online.
Education is one of the fields that decisively marches on towards bigger and better opportunities for everyone who wants to earn their degree without having to commute or even leave the house. Online degree programs are in demand more and more. Surveys show that millions of students turn to online degree programs, pursuing the diploma in dozens of different fields and areas. The selection depends on many factors, such as salary, employment demand in a particular relevant field, appealing subject matter, and so on.
Generally speaking, there are online degree programs connected to almost every profession and line of work – from education and accounting, to healthcare, social work and finance, to IT, digital marketing, graphic design or HR and project management. Your only task is to choose the one that suits your needs in terms of salary and satisfaction.
With all the problems that traditional college education brings, including but not limited to ridiculously high tuition fee, budget restrictions and course reductions, an increasing number of students turns to online education as an alternative. The fact of the matter is the reputation of online courses is continually improving, and they are becoming increasingly popular among the students. I’ve already mentioned one of the main advantages – there is a wide variety of courses which offer everything that traditional college courses offer – from basic certificates to doctorates, there is no academic degree or title that you cannot earn online.
Although it doesn’t apply to every course, online degree programs are generally considerably cheaper, especially when you take commuting costs and textbooks (which are sometimes available gratis online) into account. Add the fact that all the material is always available online in the mix, and you will get the chance to plan your day as you wish, instead of around studying time. This also helps you balance your work and family obligations, never missing an important date, having to leave work to go to class or fight traffic jams.
On the other hand, there are some obvious drawbacks. Online courses require no face-to-face interaction, which is – it’s been proved – still the best way to learn. To finish an online course successfully, you have to be fiercely independent and to have a very strong sense of self-discipline. Indecisiveness can lead to procrastination, which is your worst enemy when you are an online student. Contrary to popular belief, online courses actually demand more work than the traditional ones. The fact that the quality of online courses tends to improve doesn’t help – it means the students will have to do a lot more to prove they’ve mastered the materials.
Even though it wasn’t the case in the beginning, online courses nowadays have much more credibility, and are generally accepted better than before. I won’t be surprised if they squeeze traditional education out of the map in fifty years.
Having more than 15 years of professional experience in IT, I love to write on various topics related to Information Technology and Education.