Friday, 1 March 2013

Online Classes and Changing the Taboo Regarding Them


Technology has made it possible for anyone to earn a degree by attending online classes.  As the opportunity of furthering study is open huge to all races and age groups, many people who had not had the chance before seem to be interested to enrol into these online classes.  Due to the increasing demand, some irresponsible parties had been launching their own fake online programs with their main intention being to reap the monetary benefits rather than providing an education platform to all.  Due to this reason alone, many people have acquired certain taboos when it comes to classes that are held via online.

Online classes have gotten their bad name out of the illegal activities done by some greedy individuals who are only concerned about money and nothing else.  In reality, online classes are beneficial to all, and they should not be looked upon as scam programs.  There are many credible online programs out there, but they do differ in nature from one to the next.  It’s important that you choose a program that meets all your criteria as you can’t get the full refund if you choose to bail out sometime in the middle of the semester.

It is imperative for you to note the facilities being offered by different online classes.  Some programs have convenient live chat facility where you can contact your classmates and instructors twenty-four-hours a day.  The live chat facility is also used by some instructors to deliver their lectures and tutorials, as most live chat services also provide free video conference facility.  Some online classes do require their students to be present when the online tutorial is carried out, in the sense that they must login to the tutorial portal as proof of attendance.  In other words, attendance is calculated as part of the course requirement, and marks are given.

If you are not able to attend live tutorial online classes, there is no point for you to enrol into programs that require you to do so.  Having this said, it’s vital that you look into the requirements of each online program so that you won’t regret your action in the future.  You might be looking for flexibility as your number one criteria, as many other people do.  Take note that some online classes out there are more flexible in terms of delivering their course syllabus.  They only require you to submit assignments based on your reading and sometimes they also require you to do extensive research.

If your main purpose of learning via online classes is to get a degree but you don’t like the idea of sitting for major exams, take note that you can choose programs that are not really exam-oriented.  The assessment might be based on paper work and course participation, so you don’t have to memorize everything that you’ve learned as marks are likely based on your overall performance.  Some online classes allow their students to take exams with open books, and these exams tend to require essays to be written and marks are given based on how well these essays are done.