Can You Benefit From Distance Learning?

Distance learning is a great advance forward in making education more accessible to millions of Americans who would simply not have the time or resources to obtain a college degree or technical certificate. It allows people from all over the country, even in remote or rural areas to plug into technology that lets them learn, at their own speed and on their own time.

But take note that distance learning is not a form of learning meant for everybody – some people are still better off learning the traditional way in an actual classroom. Whether we like it or not, the educational system we have been accustomed to since time immemorial has three key ingredients that make the recipe of good learning for the majority of people. These three factors would be verbal and non-verbal cues elicited from the teacher and his/her explanation, the urgency to take notes based on the teacher’s presentation, and actual communication between students, or between student and teacher.

None of these elements are present in distance learning and as a result it becomes a foreign way for students, old or young, to receive and process the information in order to learn. It is imperative that if you want your distance learning experience to work for you, you have to face the fact that you are feeding your head with a particular learning recipe that does not include any of the ingredients you are accustomed with. This is not something everybody can achieve.

Another key obstacle that could make distance learning lose its edge would be the tools of self-motivation conspicuously absent from the figurative shed. If you can’t study or complete assignments without the monitoring and occasional nudge from a teacher then distance learning may not be for you. Similarly if you don’t have the discipline to participate in all online events and to protect your time and space from interruptions and distractions you will find it very hard to go through a distance learning program.

If you are the type of person who already wears “multiple hats” at home and at work, distance learning is not the best option either. It may be serendipity, it may be an accident or it may have been done purely on purpose, but kids will be kids, and they’re sure to distract you one way or another while you are trying to study. You can try and do a distance learning program while working 60 hours at the office, but eventually something will give, and that’s likely to be your homework assignment.

Distance learning really is a giant step forward in using technology to improve our lives and education. Just remember that it may not be right for you, at least right now.

Shopping for cheap Singaporeairlines tickets and air travel packages?