How to get the best from online learning: six guidelines
World economies have changed dramatically over the last few years, and will continue to change at an increasing pace. And with these changes have come corresponding changes in our work and our lives. Lifelong education becomes particularly important in this constantly changing, highly competitive, environment.
Education on-campus at university or college is a fixed place, fixed time activity that is not possible for many people because of jobs or other commitments. Online learning, on the other hand, is an anywhere, anytime, any place activity that provides a flexible learning solution for such people. However, all too often learners are disappointed with their first experience of online learning because they didn’t realize the problems they would face. Here are six things that the learner should watch out for.
When you study on-campus, other people organize much of your study time. With online learning, you have to organize it yourself. So be organized ” manage your time. Set aside a regular time in your diary for study of the material as if you were attending classes. And complete assignments well before the due dates. That way you have time to check them and also avoid those last minute things that go wrong when you are late. Do not be a poor time manager.
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.
Unfortunately, many of us were not taught how to learn. Instead we were only taught to remember things and to apply rules. Somewhere along the way we were expected to acquire the skills to acquire knowledge. In todays world it is essential that we know how to learn. In particular, learning online requires that you develop these skills. This not only means having the technical skills of how find books or web sites on a topic, it also means having well-developed critical reading and thinking skills.
For many of us, our school experience has taught us to be passive learners ” we were told the knowledge, we learned it by rote and then we repeated it in an exam. Passive learning seemed to be a useful strategy for success. Unfortunately, that is not a useful strategy for success in todays world, or, indeed, in online learning. If you are learning online, the courseware often includes questions, exercises and further reading so that your learning can be active rather than passive. You must make sure that you complete all the exercises and that you thoroughly interact with the material.
In an online course, real learning takes place when you are interacting with others on the course. So try to find a learning group, either in your area or online – your e-Tutor may well facilitate this. You can then take part in social learning ” and you will find that you only truly know something when you try to explain it to someone else. Make sure that you respond to all the e-Tutors requests for feedback and do participate in the discussion forums.
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 recognized in your country. Never buy a qualification from a diploma mill.
Sophia Peters writes for the DLDC website where you can find details of distance programs and related resources.