Is Distance Learning Right for Me?

Jan 31, 2012 Janelle Martel
The More You Know

Distance education has become more and more popular recently. Students who need a flexible schedule, including stay-at-home parents and students with health conditions, often find that distance education fits their needs better than traditional courses. However, distance education demands different things from students than attending a classroom does.

Read on to help determine if distance education is right for you.

Distance Ed May Be for You If…

• You’re self-motivated:   Distance education requires you to commit to a schedule to complete your school work.  There are no teachers to encourage you to do your work or regular classes to attend.  You need to be self-motivated enough to complete your school work on your own time, and organized enough to create and follow a reasonable schedule.

• You learn best through reading and writing:  Taking a distance course means that most of your learning will be from reading and writing.  You need to understand written content and instructions well enough in order to get a handle on the course material.  Of course you can ask questions, but most of your work will be done independently and you won’t always get an immediate answer to your questions and concerns.  You will also need to be able to communicate through written word with your teacher.

• You have special interests:  Distance courses means that you can work with teachers who specialize in certain areas.  This means that courses not available at many conventional schools may be available to you. Distance education can be a great way to help expand your interests and develop specialized knowledge.

Distance Ed May Not Be for You If…

• You are a visual or auditory learner:  Some distance ed courses make good use of visual aids and recorded lectures, but most courses require the bulk of your learning to be done through reading.  If you learn best by seeing or listening, then working in a classroom with a teacher who can present information in different ways is probably the best option for you.

• You need interaction:  Distance education courses try to encourage students to interact with other students and teachers, but the simple truth is that nothing compares to interacting with others in the classroom.  If you find that communicating with your teacher face-to-face or collaborating with other students helps you to understand the material, than a tradition classroom is probably your best bet.

If you’ve taken a distance education course before, did it work well for you?  Why or why not?