The words may have reduced the linguistic impact but they certainly convince most of the prospective students that online learning is all about chilling out at home, browsing the internet for a couple hours everyday (which is again fun for most people) and acquiring an accredited degree after a certain period of time.

Today, as an online student I know how childish and illusionary these perceptions are, and I can only wish they were true. I completed my high school in 1998. Though I never liked the very concept of learning like a POW, confined within the four walls of a classroom but now I cherish my high-school days. Because what I have found is e-learning at online colleges & universities is more taxing in terms of discipline than traditional education.

I am not trying to say that the format does not provide you any flexibility, it obviously does, and it also fares better than traditional education in convenience, but the worrying part is that your progress solely depends on you – your ability to drag yourself out of procrastination and generate the required motivation – this is difficult, at least for me. I clearly remember my school days, when as a mediocre student, I use to be humiliated in front of the class, girls giggling, boys booing and me standing mortified holding my earlobes. I hated that feeling back then, but now I miss it because now I know that my high school teachers did not have anything personal against me, they just wanted me to be disciplined. But they failed in their purpose! Today as an undisciplined man, who is unable to hold himself from drifting to numberless distractions, I am finding it extremely hard to allocate a certain number of hours signing in to my Blackboard Portal.

This is my story, it’s me, but there are tons of success stories as well, which actually inspired me to enroll in an online program. No doubt, there are people working in fortune 500 companies, climbing the corporate ladder with an online degree in their bag. I honestly don’t know what they take for dinner or which magic wand they swirl to ignite the passion to learn online. But one thing I would definitely want you to know is that after reading all those “free tips” at online review websites about taking this journey, you should first ask yourself, are you truly online education material? Are your goals and objectives clear and luring enough that it will propel you to sit and enjoy studying for a few hours every week. Are you the kind of person who enjoys arguing issues, sometimes just for fun. Eventually, before making the ultimate decision, it is better that you - Know Thyself!