Online Education Problems to Overcome

April 9th, 2008 • Filed Under

Online education is an attractive option for getting a college degree when traditional programs are not available or inconvenient for the student. It has many advantages of being affordable and flexible allowing the student to get a degree even with a family and while working full time. But it is not without its problems. It is important for the student or institution considering online education programs to be aware of these problems and possible solutions around them.

There is the problem of online education programs that are accredited by their own front organizations. Many online learning institutions are nothing but businesses set up to do nothing but lighten your cash load and that’s it. And you can be reasonably certain that they will advertise they are accredited. What these fly-by-night organizations do is set up another front business named with an official-sounding title and it will “accredit” its own school. This makes the entire online education degree worthless even if it had decent instruction. Make sure you do some research on the accreditation authority.

There can be a problem with the timeframe required to turn in work. This depends on the program. Some online education programs have virtual classrooms and due dates for assignments while others allow you to finish work at your own pace. It is the latter that can be a problem unless the student formulates his or her schedule and sticks with it. This is where the student needs a high degree of self-motivation.

There is the problem of employers’ questions about your online education. They are going to ask you why you did not attend college fulltime (as if it really makes a difference). Only you know your situation but remember that it’s better late than never. Focus on how much more difficult it is to get a degree when you have to work fulltime too.

Then there are technology problems. Online education uses computers and the internet. Both have their technical difficulties and those occur at the most inopportune times. You have no control of an internet outage. You may not be able to afford high-speed internet access and still be on modem. Or, your computer might just be outdated. The technology issues have to be resolved or the online classroom will not take place on your computer. The technology you have access to could enable you or prevent you from taking online courses. Remember that these programs use all the latest in technology to present information and that usually means that the computer and internet connection need to be fast.

Computer literacy can be a problem too. Although it is not quite as prevalent as it used to be. Some older students considering online education (Baby Boomers) might not be up to date on their computer skills whereas the current generation has grown up on them.

Group interaction in college is not necessarily like the “real world.” Critics of online education programs say that the main problem with this education model is that there is no human interaction in student group settings. Of course anyone who has been to traditional college and had to experience the “project group” knows that this interaction is not representative of what you would typically find on the job. For example, in college group settings you usually have one person who rarely shows up to class let alone a project group yet is awarded the same grade as the others in the group.

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