Quote Originally Posted by Di bear View Post
I had some online courses through the college I was going to and loved them. I actually think online learning is more productive than classroom lecture when done right.

ABOVE ALL ELSE

Pick whichever institution of higher learning floats your boat but make sure the program you enroll in is accredited or it may come and bite you in the butt. Accreditation is key.
+on accredited institution. You want some basic value out of your educational dollar investment, at least. I don't know the U.S. but probably there must be a national organization on the internet accreditation process.

To me, the differences between online vs. in-class courses, depends on what the core subject matter of the course is, followed by the instructor's teaching capabilties that effect how I would benefit best from online vs. in-classroom course. Or split time.

For instance, I saw a online course on presentation skills.. well, nothing beats the rigor and lively, learning challenge (I almost said "stress") of live in-class coaching, trial and error presentation exercises and automatic critiquing by instructor and classmates.

However if it was course on online instructional skills for distance learners, that's diffferent...

I know for myself, most of my learning AFTER UNIVERSITY, seems to thrive best in-class because I learn more quickly from interaction with others, live discussion, in addition to the course content. I need the slight competitive edge of others around me, to push myself further and stay discplined.