Becoming An Online Student: A Conceptual Analysis

Many students have a difficult time choosing between online education and traditional education. Both styles of education offer advantages and disadvantages to the student. There are many things to consider when making this life altering decision, such as, cost, convenience, time, social interaction, and technology. This information is meant to inform prospective students looking to further their education of the pros and cons of both online education and traditional education. Taking the steps to further your education is a big decision and one that should not be taken lightly. One should weigh all of his/her options and be well informed and certain of their choice before taking that leap.

In “Reliance on Online Materials Hinders Learning Potential for Students” by David Smith the author argues online education has some benefits students are also able to suffer. Smith begins his article with stating students are lucky for being able to have the amount of access they have to receive education unlike past generations. He goes on by stating “this variety has begun to work its way into academia, as well; more and more, it seems, organized instruction is moving beyond the classroom and into cyberspace” (Smith, Par 3). The “traditional” educational experience is slowly being taken over by the technology world.

I recently spent 12 months completing 17 online courses, and when reflecting on the different courses of study; one, in particular, comes to mind. Instruction in the Communications course was all reading based. Having struggled all my life with prepositions, conjunctions, independent clauses and coordinating conjunctions, etc., and never been given any other form of information; visually, auditorily, or hands-on to help me understand; I took to the Internet; which wasn't an available resource in my younger years. At my disposal were many KID-friendly sites to review, help me to understand and finally learn what I needed to successful complete the course. I do

First and foremost, I willed to be self-disciplined. I found motivation on focusing on the objective and its benefits. I restrained myself from deserting my studies just because I could acquire an ‘A’ easily. I scheduled late-nights with my textbook and laptop to comprehend the material, poring over countless examples and Khan Academy and Youtube videos. I refused to succumb to the temptation of just reading and centered on apprehending the material’s entirety. Though I encountered obstacles, such as tackling unknown

Learning online is a unique experience and it has provided myself as a learner with a new and extensive learning environment. Prior to beginning my academic studies at Swinburne University, I had previously study a number of units online through another institute, so when arriving here I had an idea of what online learning entailed. Prior to beginning my academic studies, and in particular, I had previously read a myriad of sources online, and although I considered that I was able to determine what was fact or fiction, I had never realised how important it was for information to be evaluated. In the study conducted by

Before Highlands College, I had a limited understanding about the passion for lifelong learning. My church upbringing ingrained in me the need for scripture but application alone was not enough to sustain a desire for lifelong learning. I grew bored with just reading and not understanding the scriptures. With age comes wisdom and I began to understand the need for learning with each challenge I faced. I was able to attend some conferences with John Maxwell as the keynote, and gain a great deal of wisdom on the topic of lifelong learning. In contrast to early in life, wisdom was not enough to sustain a desire for learning because the application was lacking. Later on I had leadership roles that demanded me to be more studious. A coupling of

Since I am a nontraditional college student who is taking online classes towards my BA degree in Accounting, learning is the same compared to a classroom setting. Learning is taking in knowledge from the world around me, making sense of it, and respond to it in an appropriate manner. Anybody can learn stuff by memorizing the information, but do not engage with it. Therefore, you must have intentional learning. You can understand yourself as a learner, and understand how to develop your skills as an intentional learner. My views of learning changed so much the last five weeks, because of knowing my LCI(Learning Connections Inventory) scores that are the four personal learning patterns: Sequence, Precision, Technical Reasoning, and Confluence. My learning patterns help me engage in my critical thinking, reading, and writing. Being a successful learner doesn’t happen by chance, it happens because of a prepared mind.

I disagree{{remove first person statemnts}} with the idea that children who live in rural and outlying areas who attend school online will not develop socialization skills like traditional classroom students, and that this face to face interaction in a classroom as an essential part of their education will be lost. There are several pros for children to attend an online school setting. Some of them are, being able to have a flexible education and a flexible schedule, being effective in the classroom, saving money, and self awareness.{{Reword and develop a clear thesis statement}}

During my online studies, I expect to engage as a high performing student. I will not take the curriculum for granted and read the forums on a daily basis. Realistically, I do not expect to be able to read and respond to all of the responses to the forms but I will make every effort to read a majority of the replies. My takeaway from the article is that the online learner has to remain focused and diligent to the online learning experience. Similar to the typical classroom environment, there is a value to others viewpoints during a classroom discussion. Online classes are great forms of communication. The online learning environment gives access to students in remote areas who would otherwise lack or have limited exposure to higher education. Also, the facilitators feedback to the forum questions could prove to be beneficial in obtaining a scholastic

As the last week of the Adult Studies Introduction course draws to a close, I am left with a sense of accomplishment, confidence and, a wealth of new discoveries. This course has not only helped ease my fears about pursuing my degree online but has provided me with the support I needed to make the journey a success. According to the report prepared in 2007 for the U.S.Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Policy Development and Research by Jobs for the Future, it stated:

Keeping in mind how conforming learners best acquire knowledge I need to change my studying habits to fit online learning. Online learning is fast paced with tremendous amounts of work. Conforming learners need to simplify assignments into manageable chunks. I work better when tasks are clear cut and I can see accomplishments quickly. An example of this concept

Learning is more than just receiving information. Traditionally learning was to be in campus, where students would interact with one a another, there were no other ways for learners to get educated beside going to the classroom and listening to the instructor. Nowadays the Internet has brought different ways for people to receive information, such as getting education and degrees online. A few years ago online education was never thinkable, and yet it has become to reality and it is widely expanding with popularity. Online education is a type of educational instruction that delivers learning to individuals to their own homes, and it is getting very popular among nontraditional student and others. Individuals prefer online education

Hundreds of universities have joined open course policies. Online lectures, homework, handouts and exams are published online for free. Some of the major universities that have joined this movement are the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, Yale, UC Berkeley among other reputable schools. UC Berkley has 9,911 videos of full lectures published on YouTube, for example. The videos are organized into playlists which contain all the lectures provided for a given class. Today it is possible to obtain access to every single lecture a student would be required to attend to receive a bachelor’s degree. Although a degree would not be earned by taking advantage of the open course policy, the tools and skills required to work in a high-level profession could be gained.

The bigger reason that online programs do not work, however, is that they are taught through a computer screen; users never truly interact with the actual experiences and emotions that one goes through during sexual assault. The computer portrays the information in a bland, over-informative way which manages to bore students. Research has shown that when students were given material to read in a pamphlet, read online, or learn face-to-face, those who read online least correctly identified non-verbal sexual harassment cues than their counterparts. When reading online, the personal connection that truly allows people to become motivated and educated is lost through the pixels of the screen. As students skim through the various pages of

FINALLY! All classes taught (the Summer Reading Program for Freshman Struggling Readers for the high school and Intro to Speech for the community college) and taken (Online Learning training courses) are completed. I can rest my mind for three whole days before Speech Camp begins; this summer is flying too fast. This summer has been one of reflection and growth as I approach the start of my 10th year of teaching while challenging me to seek balance as a mom and educator. Since online learning has been such a focus this summer, I sincerely approached this relatively uncharted territory with some reservations, seeking to find the differences between traditional and online learning. My reservation lay mostly in the subjects I teach, communication and humanities, which rely on face-to-face interaction and nonverbal communication. As the summer continued and I engaged with more instructors at various levels of teaching/experience with online learning also in these fields, I was encouraged, surprised, and eager to overcome the minor barriers to some day provide positive and growing experiences for students in this academic area.