These days, you can earn just about any degree online. Online learning has made it possible for students of any age or from any walk of life to earn a college degree, or even a graduate degree, without uprooting their lives.
But, while some people will thrive in distance learning, others will do better in old-fashioned, brick-and-mortar education. Are you cut out for online learning? Here’s how to tell.
You Have Strong Self-Discipline
You absolutely need to be a self-starter in order to succeed in online college classes. No one is going to be reminding you when your assignments are due or holding you accountable to leave yourself enough time to complete them.
To some extent, this is true in every college course, but in online courses, you don’t have the benefit of in-person classes to help keep you on schedule with regular reminders and routing meetings.
You Have Great Time Management Skills or Are Willing to Learn Them
College Cliffs shares that your time management skills are going to make or break your online college experience. You’re going to need to block out enough time to complete your assignments, reading, and discussion board participation each week.
Learn to grab a planner and write down all your deadlines at the beginning of the semester, along with all of your personal obligations like weddings, birthdays, vacations, or busy periods at work. At the beginning of each week, look over your schedule for the upcoming week and block out times for coursework, then hold those time blocks sacred.
You Like Learning Independently
It can be easy to start feeling isolated from your fellow students when you take online courses. Often, online college classes are asynchronous, so you won’t even be online at the same time as your fellow students. You have to be keen to learn at your own pace without relying on others, although that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask for help when you need it.
You Will Ask for Help When You Need It
We all need help now and then, especially when we’re in college. You might not immediately understand every concept, and you might struggle with some of the assignments. That’s normal; that’s part of learning.
That’s why you have to be ready to ask for help. You’ll need to be willing to go to your professor’s virtual office hours or ask classmates for help with difficult concepts and assignments.
You’re Able to Stay Focused Even When You’re Not Particularly Interested in the Work
This is a tough one. You’re not going to enjoy every moment of every class you take on your way to earning a bachelor’s in business administration or any other subject. There are going to be boring moments, times when you struggle to engage with the information, and times when you’d simply rather be doing something else.
You need to be able to keep yourself motivated by focusing on your larger goal instead of getting frustrated when you’re not interested in the work or not in the mood to study.
You Like Interacting with Others Online
When you earn a degree online, you’re going to be interacting with your classmates and professors largely, if not solely, online, so you have to be comfortable with and even enjoy this medium of communication. If you like expressing yourself in text and getting to know people on online forums, you’re going to get a lot more out of your online college experience than someone who prefers to interact in person.
You’re Comfortable with Technology
Online learners have to be comfortable with digital communications technology, because they’re going to be using it to complete all of their college courses. You should be comfortable with various kinds of software and apps, as well as hardware like webcams and headsets. You also need to be willing to reach out to your university’s IT department when you need help with the technology.
You Need Flexibility
If you value flexibility in how you earn your degree, then online learning is for you. You can take most online classes at your own pace, as long as you meet your assignment deadlines.
And you can take them from anywhere, so you don’t have to uproot your family or pay to move to another city. The flexibility of online learning makes higher education accessible to anyone, anywhere, even if they have other responsibilities like a full-time job or a family.
Online college can make it easier to get your degree, but only if you’re the kind of person who can succeed in a distance learning environment. Make sure online college is the right choice for you, so you can get the most out of your program and better your life.
