Learning Online: My Perspective

Online education? Twenty-five years ago I would never have imagined such a thing … correspondence or distance learning, sure, using textbooks or workbooks and sending in lessons – waiting for replies, grades, instructor comments – then repeating the cycle. I am a lifelong learner, after all, and any means to continue my education beyond my initial college experience – straight out of high school WAY back in 1976 – was a great opportunity, in my opinion. BUT … online education, using a computer with internet access – I honestly was not even aware that this type of educational opportunity existed, until about a decade ago.

At that time, as a fulltime homemaker, mother AND home school teacher of four active kids … the opportunity to continue to enrich my OWN education through online learning was truly a blessing. I discovered a number of online colleges and universities which catered to adult learners, such as myself, and offered the opportunity to take individual courses, as well as entire degree programs. Not only that – the tuition rates were affordable, often payable in low monthly amounts, and at the conclusion of a course, a professional certificate of completion was awarded – or an actual diploma for the completion of an accredited degree program.

Over the past decade, an increasing number of colleges and universities have added online learning departments to their institutions in order to accommodate the growing trend of adult learners who either need or want to further their education – but who are too busy with family, work, and LIFE obligations to be able to squeeze in attending classes in a traditional setting. I thoroughly enjoyed taking various courses mainly for enjoyment, although I also honed my ‘computer literacy’ skills with MS Office Suite courses like Excel, Access, and PowerPoint.

Fast forward to being an ‘empty nester’ – wondering what to do with my life when the kids were ‘all grown up’ – I discovered that I honestly did not know! I followed a business track for awhile, taking additional online business and computer courses through a couple local universities, which yielded some significant college credits for my transcript. Then, in 2005, I was introduced to a special program: an AAS degree in education, with a concentration in speech therapy, and suddenly I knew THAT was the program for me. The first year of courses was available online; the second year I had to attend classes on campus. The online component was MUCH more convenient and less stressful, believe me! After traveling 90 minutes round trip to the university three times a week to attend an entire semester of late afternoon and evening classes, I was definitely convinced that IF I decided to go for any further degrees, I would return to fully online learning options!

That is in fact what I did – in 2007, with the encouragement of my new husband, I was delighted to discover AIU Online. I was able to finally pursue a long delayed goal of earning my Master’s degree. Much to my surprise, I managed to earn a 4.0 GPA and graduated in April of 2008 with my Master’s of Education in Instructional Technology.

Now it’s YOUR turn – learning online is a great opportunity – take advantage of it today!