by Heather Watkins

Created on: August 12, 2009

Online education is not for everybody. In fact, it takes a special breed of student to really succeed in an online program. They must be dedicated, committed to furthering their education, and possess enough self-discipline to meet deadlines and course assignments on their own time. While any student needs to set goals and to find ways to meet them, online students have a harder time of this as it is very easy to get lazy when there are no predefined class times or attendance rules.

However, for someone willing to sacrifice some of their free time in order to take part in online discussions, read course material and work on assignments and exams, online education is quite convenient and cost effective. There may an online course fee added onto regular tuition, but other than this there are no extra costs involved unless a text is called for. Even then, however, online courses eliminate the cost of on-campus fees and transportation costs for commuters.

The convenience factor is immense. Adults with full time jobs can utilize online courses at whatever times suit them best, and students wishing to get a head start on their job searches can be fully available to work during normal on campus class hours. This can be very helpful in gaining the job experience so important for a young graduate. The portability of online instruction is also much more convenient than a traditional campus program, since students can access course pages and material from anywhere in the world with nothing more than an internet connection. In an age of ever increasing globalization as well as travel opportunities, this can be a big positive for many people who would otherwise be tied to a specific area until their on campus program was complete.

Since technology and the internet are becoming more and more prevalent even in more traditional classroom settings, using the internet to conduct entire degree and other educational programs seems to be a matter of common sense. With online research being a staple in many classes and email being an increasingly popular form of communication, the submission of assignments and papers online is relatively simple and quite easy. Online courses can be laid out in a variety of ways, and instructors can customize class pages to their liking and for the ease of students.

As to academic potential, online programs are great. There are obvious scam programs as well as programs from unscrupulous institutions, but many universities offer some form of online

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