By Christina Couch

If the phrase "online learning" conjures up images of glassy-eyed adults miserably staring at a computer screen, you've got it all wrong. Common misconceptions about what eLearning is and what it entails oftentimes prevent lifelong learners from continuing their education. High-quality online courses are dynamic, innovative, rigorous, and above all, effective.

So which eEd myth is keeping you from making the leap into the virtual classroom?

1 - An Online Course is Just a Textbook on a Screen.
Maybe 10 years ago. Today, online courses take learning to the next level through live tutorials, video chats, electronic forums, teleconferencing, interactive software, and multimedia presentations.

When eLearning skeptic Roni Mattera, a high school history teacher, decided to complete part of her teacher recertification through online learning at Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA), she discovered this for herself.

"I thought it could be really deadly - it would be 'Oh God, I just have to read off the computer' - but it wasn't at all," she states. "There were a lot of videos, clips, and visuals besides the reading. I found stuff I used in my own classroom later." Like traditional classrooms, readings are just a small portion of online coursework.

2 - Online Classes Are a Joke.
Tell that to Dr. Barbara Radtke, theology professor at Boston College. A teacher of both online and traditional classes, Radtke says that both types of education are equally challenging.

"In an online course, every single input you have is written down and composed," she explains. "I know my students work hard and yet the impression that I get from other people is 'Oh that must be an easy course because it was online.'" Fortunately, online learning's growth is fueling the demise of this myth. According to The Sloan Consortium, an organization supporting online learning, one out of every three academic leaders believes that online education will be more effective than classroom learning within the next three years.

3 - Employers Won't Accept eDegrees.
With nearly two million eLearners out there, employers are learning that 'online' is simply a new information format, not a separate kind of education. Students who earn their online degree through schools with an in-class track of study typically wind up with diplomas that make no mention of whether coursework was completed on campus or via computer.

"Our education is consistent whether taken in the classroom or online," states Dennis Rodriguez, assistant director of national marketing for Regis University's School for Professional Studies. "Graduates fare just as well as those in classroom-based programs."

Jeremy Hays, a master's in education student at the University of Phoenix Online, concurs. "Because I only take one or two classes at a time, I can focus on the material and my degree better than I could at a traditional college," he says.

4 - eDegrees Cost Less.
If you want the resources and first-class professors that make an education valuable, you've got to ante up just as much as your in-class counterparts. What you won't pay for is the cost of room and board and you may receive a few credits free for professional accomplishments and/or life experiences, but don't think that an eDegree won't affect your wallet.

If you get your online degree through an institution with a brick-and-mortar campus, you can bank on paying the same tuition as all other undergrad students, but you may be able to omit student activities fees and possibly even out-of-state tuition supplement costs. According to the American Association of Colleges and Universities, the average undergraduate in-state tuition bill for a four-year public university comes to just over $5,000 per year, or approximately $170 per credit hour. Students who opt for online-only institutions could find themselves with a slightly lower bill or could wind up paying more for a private school.

5 - E-Students Don't Get the Same Resources.
Wrong again. The only students who miss out on the libraries, extracurricular organizations, and career placement programs typical of a normal college campus are those who do not take advantage of available resources. No matter how you complete your program of study, all degree-seeking students have access to any and everything the school has to offer, including internship placement programs, student clubs, service-learning projects, disability resources, research and study facilities, guest speakers, cooperative education opportunities, and career services. Your education is more than just the classes you take, so make sure to inquire about what's available outside of the curriculum before you enroll.

6 - All Online Programs Are Made Equal.
Like their on-campus equivalents, online degrees vary tremendously from school to school and program to program. Ranging from excellent to awful, an online program is only as good as the faculty that teaches the coursework and the administration that provides support.

"A great program teaches the whole person and is able to find a way to allow the values of the university to be translated into an online format," says Rodriguez. "Students have to feel like they're not lacking by being outside of the classroom."

From the most basic courses to demanding online modules supplemented by outside experiences, independent research, and multifaceted projects, online campuses are as unique as the students drawn to them.

7 - Online Students Don't Have Social Interaction.
Well, not in the conventional sense. Lacking in-person contact, online students network with each other and with the professor through e-mail, phone calls, instant messaging programs, and discussion forums. Many classes require students to coordinate group projects (sometimes across multiple time zones) and actively participate in seminar-style debates.

"Students wonder if the class will be a quality class, as well as if they will be able to interact with their professor and get to know their classmates. If the class is run properly, they will - maybe better than in a traditional class," says Tim Hartigan, program coordinator and online professor for the University of Buffalo's Millard Fillmore College, which offers a distance learning option. "I really don't have much time for small talk either before or after class, but online, I got to know who students really were and what their interests are."