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Every year after graduating from high school, millions of students are faced with the same question. Should I or should I not study online. The answer to this question is a personal one and depends on each student’s situation. Students must first weigh the pros and cons of both types of institutions then compare them with their career goals, financial support and educational capabilities.

Studying Online

Studying online has many benefits but also some weaknesses. To begin with, online studies are great for those individuals who are employed and do not want to disturb their work schedule to attend school. As a result, they can study from the comfort of their homes or wherever they desire, as long as they have an access to the internet.

Online students are able to revise past lectures as much as they want to ensure they get the true understanding of the lecture. In addition, they can easily contact their lecturer by email to query any discrepancy. Turnaround time at most online colleges is within twenty-four hours so students can expect to be always up to date.

Online students are relieved of the hassles of travel to reach to a particular class on time. They do not have to contend with rush hour and the cost of paying the taxi driver to take shortcuts to get you to school on time. For those who would normally drive themselves to school, the cost of fuel and maintenance associated with commute to school is eliminated.

The course work of online course is more adaptable to changes in the trends of society. Lecturers are always wired into the latest trends in course work delivery and developments in their specialty and are capable of quickly passing on this information to their students.

Finally, most of the popular online colleges are now fully accredited. As a result, online students can earn an accredited online degree with less stress and hassle.

Studying on campus

Many students profess that have not been to college until you study on campus. This statement is based on several factors.

Campus based students always brag about the personal, face-to-face contact they have with their doctors. They term this as an invaluable experience that cannot be replaced by speaking to a doctor over a screen.

Students of campus-based colleges are given the opportunity to attend labs under the direct supervision of their doctor. This is a sour point with online students, as they must find their own resources to conduct labs.
Campus life is said to play an integral part in shaping the personalities of many students. Students are able to join clubs, attend parties, play sports and just interact generally with other students. As a result, they are able to form lifelong friendships, meet their spouses and form alliances for future business ventures.

Studying online is not for everyone. Many individuals experience problems reading from computers let alone sitting and watching a teacher go on and on about something you do not understand. In addition, I you are one of the many students who are lacking on motivation, at an on-campus college, you can easily draw on the strengths of other students.

Many students misunderstand the concept of online studies. Because online studies allows you to study at your own pace, many students interpret this a license to become lackadaisical and just work when they just feel like doing so. However, on the contrary, one of the aims of online studies is to teach students how to practice good time management and becoming independent. Students must take steps to ensure that they remain proactive during their online studies and to become a successful online student. These steps include:

1. Be prepared:

Online studying requires you to have some basic tools to make your studies successful. To begin with, students must read their schools website to find out the computer software and hardware required for the successful transmission of study material. Then they should have access to a computer with these basic requirements such as Microsoft Word, PDF reader and an internet access. Some schools also require peripherals such as a printer, webcam, mike and speakers for web conferencing.

2. Create study area:

It is important that you have good organization to be a successful online student. Set aside an area for study. This area should have all your books and your computer. Even if you are studying from work or a public area, organize your study material in a backpack that you can easily move around with. The point is to have your course work material organized.

3. Avoid Plagiarism:

The internet is one big open library. As a result, many students think that their answer to writing reports is to Google their research topic and just change the author’s name and present it as their own. One must remember that there are hundreds of applications that can be used to detect plagiarism on the internet. Once plagiarism is detected, students will automatically be given a zero grade if they are found guilty of plagiarism. Hence, plagiarism should be avoided at all cost.

4. Participate in Online Class Forums:

Participating in live online chat sessions with your professor and other students helps you to understand exactly what is expected of you during the course. It also helps you to socialize and meet other students in your class thus removing the feeling of being isolated during your studies.

5. Availability:

This one factor has discouraged many prospective online students to Online Degrees. Before beginning the online study course, students, especially working students, should carefully analyze their time to make sure that it can include a study program.

6. Prevent Online Distractions:

Online studies require you to spend a significant amount of time online. If you are members of social networking groups such as Yahoo or MSN Messenger etc. your status will show that you are online. A good idea is to change your status to invisible. This will significantly reduce the distractions and you can concentrate on your studies in much better way.

7. Financial Support:

Like in any other study program, to be successful, students must ensure they gave all the necessary financial support to last the entire program.

Besides all these steps there is nothing like your own dedication towards studies, that I believe is the single most important factor to success.
Good Luck Friends !

Right now the job hunting may be tight, because there are many online student lions and not many plump gazelles. Unemployment is hovering at about 10 percent; those hunting for jobs need to be on their toes when hunting for career opportunities. We all know about stories of people who found amazing jobs in unlikely places. How can you benefit from this underground pipeline?

Do Not Rely Solely On the Internet

Although internet is an outstanding resource for online students it should not be your only means of job hunting. Most jobs are not advertised at all either online or in print. And for those there is fierce competition. Getting the Human Resources Manager to notice your resume out of hundred let only thousands would require the use of to exact keywords that particular manger has in mind. Unless you are clairvoyant this could be difficult. Put yourself in the mangers’ position, you have hundreds of resumes to sift through & also referrals from an old employee, co worker, recruiter & friends for one job opening, but which one would you call and why?

Where to Start

So where to start is clear; friends, former co-workers/employers, college classmates and relatives can come in handy. Email, call and visit everyone that you can think of that fit this profile, get at least one lead from each contact. Make sure you have plenty of up to date professional resumes on hand.

Online is An Unbeatable Resource

In short span of time social networking sites have created a strong niche in almost every industry. Online Students can also increase their job chances with targeted communities related to their area of studies and interest. Get yourself a LinkedIn account and post your profile and resume. Log on to Facebook and look up former co-workers, alumni, associates and long lost friend there are bound to be leads somewhere out there on the cloud.

Use Your Network

Maybe some in your new job hunt network knows someone at a company you have applied with. Have them contact some they know on the inside to have your name mentioned in the right place. This may be just what your resume needs to standout from the rest. Maybe you could start an alumni network on one of the online social networks. Use your imagination and think creatively, in this competitive market a little persistence could pay off also. Stampede the herd and maybe that nice fat juice one maybe slow enough for you to pounce on. Happy Hunting!