With the globalization of the economy have come many changes. Distance is no longer an obstacle to communication; labor crosses borders; jobs change; and people change jobs frequently. And because of all these changes, lifelong education becomes particularly important in this knowledge-based economy.
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.
Online education is a flexible form of education, but it doesn't mean that you can keep putting off your learning day after day. All too often, that is what often happens " and this results in failure to learn. So be organized " manage your time. Set aside a regular time in your diary for study of the material and completion of assignments.
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.
Lectures in high school classrooms and in undergraduate classes can all so easily encourage the passive learning already referred to. But real learning takes place when you are interacting with the materials and with others. So try to find a learning group, either in your area or online, and exchange ideas regularly. Also, make sure that you respond to all the e-Tutors requests for participation in the discussion forums. There may even be a mark allocated for such participation.
Never buy a qualification from a diploma mill - it can cost you! Before you enrol in a program, make sure is it accredited by a real accrediting body. Many diploma mills will claim to be accredited by a fake body, so check with licensing boards and professional associations under which they claim to offer programs.
Author Resource:
Sophia Peters writes for the DLDC website where you can find details of distance programs and related resources.
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