Difference Between Traditional & Online Master's Degree Programs
Earning your master小蝌蚪APP檚 degree is a great idea for improving your career prospects, personal knowledge, self-satisfaction, and more. But how should you earn that master小蝌蚪APP檚 degree: online or in a traditional on-campus program? Before you decide, run through the pros and cons of both to make sure you小蝌蚪APP檙e choosing the option that best fits your lifestyle and learning style.
How you spend your time
When you小蝌蚪APP檙e a traditional master小蝌蚪APP檚 student, you小蝌蚪APP檒l probably split your time between campus and home. You小蝌蚪APP檒l walk, drive a vehicle, or ride your bike to campus where you小蝌蚪APP檒l attend your scheduled classes, stop by a professor小蝌蚪APP檚 office, and work certain hours for your assistantship. You may work on your coursework in the library or somewhere else on campus, and then go home at the end of the day to continue working from there.
As an online master小蝌蚪APP檚 degree student, you won小蝌蚪APP檛 spend your time commuting to campus. Maybe you小蝌蚪APP檒l have to make the walk across your room to your desk to start working on assignments, or maybe you小蝌蚪APP檒l work on them during the lunch hour at your office. You have flexibility to work and learn on your own time. Of course, you小蝌蚪APP檒l have to turn in your assignments on time and, on occasion, you小蝌蚪APP檒l participate in certain webinars or online lectures at a particular time. The added flexibility of an online student小蝌蚪APP檚 schedule makes it appealing for individuals who want to maintain full-time employment or have other family obligations to uphold while earning their degree.
But having that flexibility means you also have to be responsible for how you spend your time. You have to make your classes a priority. It小蝌蚪APP檚 imperative that you have strong time management skills in online master小蝌蚪APP檚 degree programs because you小蝌蚪APP攁nd only you小蝌蚪APP攃an make sure you小蝌蚪APP檙e staying on track.
How you interact with your professor
Regardless of whether you小蝌蚪APP檙e taking your classes online or on campus, you小蝌蚪APP檒l need to learn your professor小蝌蚪APP檚 teaching and communication styles. The learning curve for doing so may be a little bit steeper, especially if you haven小蝌蚪APP檛 taken a class online before.
Online, you小蝌蚪APP檒l be interacting with your professor in a different way than you may be accustomed. You contact your instructor and advisors via email and other forms of electronic communication like instant message, and you won小蝌蚪APP檛 necessarily get to have a face-to-face meeting unless you request to video-chat to discuss a difficult topic. Figuring out how they like to teach and provide feedback on assignments is a crucial part of being an online master小蝌蚪APP檚 degree student.
How you work in groups
When you小蝌蚪APP檙e working with a group in traditional master小蝌蚪APP檚 degree programs, you小蝌蚪APP檒l probably be physically together for at least part of your project, whether that小蝌蚪APP檚 in the classroom, a coffee shop, the library, or someone小蝌蚪APP檚 apartment. You小蝌蚪APP檒l bond with your classmates and maybe even become like a small family by the end of the semester.
In an online master小蝌蚪APP檚 degree program, just because you don小蝌蚪APP檛 see your classmates face-to-face doesn小蝌蚪APP檛 mean you are free from group projects. With online master小蝌蚪APP檚 degree programs, there is a different sense of community among classmates. Even though it小蝌蚪APP檚 online, you小蝌蚪APP檒l still collaborate with your classmates on projects and assignments. Keeping an open line of communication becomes even more important, as is learning how to use online collaboration software like Google documents. Your ability to facilitate quality shared work with a remote team will improve significantly小蝌蚪APP攖hat小蝌蚪APP檚 just one of many 21st-century job skills you will need to be competitive. To learn online, you will want to become comfortable with the aspects of virtual teaming, where some of the same principles of traditional group work apply.
What tools you have available
Luckily for students today, the technological tools, both software and hardware, available for online students are vast and help expand beyond the classroom learning experience without requiring you to be in an exact place at an exact time.
That said, you will need to be open to new types of technology and learning tools, whether that小蝌蚪APP檚 Google+ hangouts, Skype conference calls, online forums, or even Facebook groups. You will want to begin to view your mobile devices (phones, tablets, etc.) as classrooms with teaching and learning tools. The app store will become your tutor and your toolkit for delivering impressive assignments. You can use these tools to customize your learning experience, so take advantage of what小蝌蚪APP檚 available.
Does location matter?
Sometimes yes, but sometimes no. Not all online programs are offered in every state, so you do need to do your research before sending in your applications. And, if you're looking for programs outside your home state, you will have to consider the out-of-state versus in-state tuition costs. However, as an out-of-state student studying at UL Lafayette, you automatically receive an out-of-state tuition waiver and pay only the in-state costs.