Why Your Computer Skills Determine The Success Of Your Online
Bryan Wong

Defined Tag: Successful Education.

Many busy adults take online courses to make it more convenient
for them to upgrade their degrees or earn degrees in new fields.
However, to take advantage of this, one must be confident enough
in his/her computer skills in order to be able to complete the
online courses and earn one's degree online.

For some, especially those who work on computers in their current
occupations, that likely isn't a problem, as they will likely
already have experience with programs they will use in their
online courses.  On the other hand, those who don't use computers
much or at all in their current occupations, may have a steeper
learning curve in regards to working with the software that is
necessary to successfully pass online courses.

People wishing to pursue a degree via online education should
be familiar with word processing software like Microsoft Word,
spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel, and presentation
software like Microsoft PowerPoint, since it is possible you
will have to create documents, spreadsheets, and/or presentations
that you will need to send to your professor via email or have
to upload to a site from which your professor will download it.

Therefore, you should also be familiar with your email software
program, like Microsoft Outlook or a web-based email provider
like Hotmail, Yahoo, and/or GMail, as well as knowing how to
upload and download files, since you're not going to be able to
write your answers on notebook paper or print out pages from your
printer in order to give to your professor, nor will he/she give
you papers with your assignments on them since you likely will not
meet him/her in person during the course.  So knowing how to email
and upload/download files will be essential for you to complete
online courses.

Often, your professor will provide video and/or audio lectures
for you as part of your course material.  As a result, you should
be familiar with whatever software is required to access these
lectures, whether it would be RealPlayer, Quicktime, Windows Media
Player, or the University's own software program.  Familiarize
yourself with the controls so you can playback the lectures easily
and can concentrate on the information given in the lectures, not
on how to work the software.

It is certainly possible that your course material will require
you to conduct some searches for additional information, so you should
be familiar with the Google search engine at least, if not others
like Yahoo, AskJeeves, MSN, etc.  Know how to search for information
on various topics by knowing what keywords, or words that signify
what topic you are looking for, to input into the box. 

At times, computers and software programs won't function like they
are supposed to, resulting in error messages and complications.
The more experience you have with computers, the more likely you'll
be able to solve these problems on your own.  However, should you
get stuck, contact your professor and/or classmates and see if they
can assist you.  Let them know right away that you are having trouble
and can't solve it so that you don't fall behind in your classes,
because once you fall behind on the material, it is very difficult
to catch up, especially if you are uncomfortable using computers to
begin with.

Many people nowadays look toward online courses to help them
obtain their degrees faster, but one must be prepared to work
with the software that is required to complete these online courses
in order for them to receive that added benefit of gaining
their degrees faster.