Last updated: 3/31/02
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Can an Online Course Be Right for You?

First off, here are some danger signs - if these apply to you, perhaps you should not take an online course.

• "I don't have time to take a face-to-face ourse." (Then you don't have time to take an online course either.)
• "My schedule is so frantic - I can't manage a course with a regular schedule. (Then you can easily end up letting the online course slip away.)

At least as things stand today, in 2002, completing an online course will require persistence and discipline on your part. Online courses do not come after you; you have to push yourself to do the reading, go to the course web site, and participate in the online discussion. It is certainly possible to thrive in an online course - to finish with a good grade, feeling that you have learned a lot in a convenient format, and have had a meaningful semester. It is also possible to "drift away"; to finish the semester having accomplished very little, whether in terms of grades, learning or significance. What makes the difference? We offer a tentative answer below. We emphasize that this will doubtless become a subject of rigorous academic research, and only then will the answer or answers truly be known. But the topic is important enough to justify offering the speculations below.

Based on the current (2002) technologies and practices, online courses have both costs (negatives) and benefits (positives). Our attempt here is to help you decide in advance how the costs and benefits work out in your individual case. As technologies and practices advance, expect the balance to work out differently. If an online course doesn't look like a good bet for you today, maybe the odds will improve over the next two years. And, as is common in rapidly change fields, in five years the entire landscape may look entirely different.

The biggest variable in the odds of success in an online course is your own behavior during the course. So try to be frank and honest with yourself here.

1. How strong is your motivation for completing the course?
   1. How strongly are you interested in the topic?
   2. Is this a required course for your degree?
   3. Are you close to graduating and are the credits necessary for graduation?
2. Are you attracted to the strong points of online courses?
   1. Do you like to follow discussions to their endpoint, or do you tend to lose interest in an extended discussion?
   2. Do you have opinions or questions about the topic that you would like to explore, even if they are not part of the instructor's syllabus?
3. Do you tend to be an active student, instead of a passive one?
   1. Do you like to explore topics that interest you, in greater depth?
   2. Are you comfortable asking the instructor for help?
   3. If you are confused, do you actively try to resolve the confusion, or are you content to wait it out?

Comments:

1. All of these items (strong interest, required course, strong need for the credits) increase your motivation for completing a course, and will help to keep you going in an online course.
2. Both of these items represent the primary strength of an online course - the greater ability to control your learning.
3. All of these items indicate that you are active rather than passive, and that you are more likely to complete the activities in an online course.

Active Vs passive students: