In Profile: The Typical Online Student Earning a Degree
The face of education is changing. In this time of advanced information and technology more and more people are turning to online programs to earn their degrees. Prior to now, online degrees were not worth very much once earned, and were the butt of jokes. But now with advancements in technology and accreditation, they are pulling as much weight as traditional colleges. But who are these students that are turning to this new method of education?
On the outside, they may appear to be very different. They might be young or old. They might be fresh out of high school or have been in the work force for the last 30 years. They might be male or female. They come from a variety of cultures and backgrounds. And they all come for different reasons. They might be a high school student looking to get ahead. Some might be young adults taking college courses while working full time. They might be a businessmen getting in extra education for that promotion he has been seeking. Or, they might even be a senior looking to try something new.
Consider the businessman working 50 hours a week to feed his family but dreams of an advanced degree that would allow him to work a better job. Or consider the woman who was laid off from her company after working there for years. Both of these people might be your co-students at an online university because they want to get ahead.
Or think about the high school dropout who changed his ways and got his GED. He wants to get a degree, but is having a hard time getting into college. Or think about the single mom who is raising her children without child support, and is reaching desperation on how to make bills meet. Both of these people might be your co-students at a university that gives them hope for a brighter future.
A complacent old Don of Divinity
Used to boast of his daughter’s virginity:
“They must have been dawdlin’,
The students of Magdalen—
It couldn’t have happened at Trinity.”
—Anonymous.
With so many people turning to online degrees for so many reasons, it your class might be extremely diverse. It is hard to put a specific face on your classmates. They could be anyone anywhere. However, they have many things in common.
They have at least basic computer skills. To do online studying, you obviously need to have access to and know how to use a computer and the Internet. Online students have basic typing skills and understand common computer terms. They are comfortable with email correspondences and chat rooms.
Online students learn best by reading and self-study. With the absence of professors, they have to glean most of the information from reading the study materials. With the lack of a regular classroom, they have to rely more on themselves and less on peer input to get assignments done.
Online students have to have good study habits as well. They have to be able to set up their own study hours and places to ensure completion of assignments. They enjoy working independently and are able to interact directly with their instructor. Good reading and writing skills are a must.
They are motivated to learn. Whether it is to earn a degree or get a promotion, they are motivated enough to stick through it until it is done. They are able to keep themselves on track with study time and assignments. They are excited to explore new things and ideas, and enjoy an ever-changing classroom.
This observatory was a building of considerable size, erected by the students of Williamstown College, whose buildings might be seen by daylight gleaming far down in the valley. It would be no small advantage if every college were thus located at the base of a mountain, as good at least as one well-endowed professorship. It were as well to be educated in the shadow of a mountain as in more classical shades. Some will remember, no doubt, not only that they went to the college, but that they went to the mountain. Every visit to its summit would, as it were, generalize the particular information gained below, and subject it to more catholic tests.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
They are organized. Many online students are juggling many things at once. Besides school, there might be work, family, or an active social life that all need maintaining. They are also able to keep assignments and projects organized in order to complete them and make deadlines.
Online students are confident. They know what they want, and now they have found a way to get it. They are successful, and the degrees that they earn online speed them along to better jobs or better promotions. They earn better money than their counterparts with a just a high school education. And they are able to do all of this without changing the core of who they are.
Online degrees are changing how we look at the face of education, and are opening new doors to a variety of people. Now that you know what the face of an online student looks like, are you ready to be one?.