Things to consider before starting an online course

  1. Do you learn well on your own. This is important as you will not receive as much personal attention from a lecturer in an online course and will not have the ability to chat to classmates or ask impromptu questions to the teacher.
  2. Are you good at setting goals and deadlines for yourself and planning your work in advance. This is important as although you can do your assignment at any time during the assessment week, it must be submitted by the scheduled due date.
  3. Are you willing to spend time each week on an online course. This is important as the course will require more than just reading the content that is given and will require additional reading from the reading list.
  4. Do you learn well by reading. This is important as all our content is text based.
  5. Have you developed good ways to solve problems you run into. This is important as you will not have contact with any classmates or lecturers and all correspondence will be through email. Therefore, it could take time to get an answer to a problem you encounter.
  6. Are you experienced using a computer. This is important as it is an online course and all content is through a student website, and all correspondence is via email. It is also useful to know how to get support if you have computer problems, especially when submitting your assignments.
  7. Is your computer dependable and do you have easy access to a fast reliable internet connection. This is important as if you cannot access the content or submit your assignments on time you may need to leave the course.
  8. Are you comfortable using the internet, conducting searches and downloading files. This is important as the internet may provide additional reading material and resources for your learning.
  9. Do you have a place to study where you can read and work on assignments without distractions. This is important as there is no campus or library for you to access for study purposes.