Online Versus Campus Studies
Bryan Wong

Defined Tag: Campus Education.

Whether you obtain your degree on campus or online,
studying is a major prerequisite to earning that degree. 
However, studying for a traditional class and for an
online class will involve different tactics and
techniques due to the different ways the classes are
conducted.

Traditional classrooms involve you attending class at
predetermined times at least once a week, sometimes
more.  You participate in verbal discussions about the
material you read with your professor and classmates,
you directly listen to lectures from the professor and
take notes on it, you have physical textbooks you take
with you to class, you hand in your assignments directly
to the professor, and you take the tests and quizzes
expected of you when the professor decides to give them
to you.

Online classrooms, on the other hand, don't usually
require you to attend a traditional classroom, you don't
have verbal discussions about the material you read, you
read the information the professor has given you online
or you watch a video stream of the professor's lecture
right on your computer screen, you usually don't have
physical textbooks (everything is online, from the course
material to the homework assignments,) and you have
several days or even weeks to take the required tests and
quizzes to pass the course.

As you can tell, completing an online course from a
traditional offline course is a bit different - for one
thing, you are mostly on your own when it comes to an
online course; the main communication you will have with
your professor and classmates will be all online via
message boards, email, instant messaging, etc.  You may
be able to call your professor with questions you might
have, but for the most part, there will be no verbal
communication with other members of the course.

Therefore, you need to be really committed to completing
the online coursework and motivate yourself to do so. 
This isn't always easy, especially for people who like to
have verbal communication with their professors and fellow
classmates.  An online course can be a lonely experience
for them.

In addition, when you factor in the other demands of your
life, such as your current career, your spouse and
children, paying bills, etc., it can be very easy to
become distracted and not put forth your best effort or
even slack off of attending online classes on an everyday
basis.

One of the main keys to staying on track with your online
coursework is to log in every day, or at least 5-6 times
a week; once you fall behind, it's very difficult to catch
up, and you won't have much beyond your own determination
and persistence to encourage you to catch up.  If you're
having trouble concentrating and focusing early on when you
are on schedule with the rest of your class, it will likely
be impossible for you to push yourself to catch up with
what you missed if you fall behind.  So do everything you
can to not fall behind in your online coursework.

Some tips to help you stay focused and determined to
complete your online courses:

Try to develop a schedule you can stick to and log in at or
around the same time every day; this will help you stay on
track with your online courses.

If you are the only one in your household at the time you
are taking your online courses, either turn off the phone,
take it off the hook, or let the answering machine or
voicemail pick up any messages you receive; you don't need
phone calls distracting you from your online coursework.

Write down the reason you want to complete this online course
and post it near your computer monitor so you can always look
to it when you are feeling down and are distracted by outside
factors.

Think about your loved ones and the better life you can
provide for them when you get your degree.  You might even
consider putting pictures of them near your monitor, though
if you feel you will be distracted by those pictures and
start daydreaming about good times you've had with them, it's
probably better if you don't put pictures near your monitor. 
But, if those pictures will give you added motivation to do
your best and complete the online coursework, it's something
worth considering.

It's also important to take time away from the computer as
well; just because you are taking an online course that is
challenging doesn't mean you should spend 24 hours a day on
the computer.  Put forth the time and effort required of you,
but don't forget that spending all your time online with your
coursework will likely lead to burnout and a loss of interest
in completing your course. 

Therefore, schedule some time away from the computer for a
favorite activity, especially with loved ones.  The time away
will recharge you and give you added motivation to complete
your online courses as efficiently as possible.

Online courses are becoming a mainstream way of obtaining a
degree, but one must be aware that this new type of learning
presents unique challenges that must be addressed in order
for one to really thrive in this new type of learning
environment.

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