Online Learning Experience: A Tale of Two Students

Many students are of the opinion that taking a college course online has significantly enriched their academic lives because they were able to learn many skills such as navigating the Internet and using online research sources. This has enabled them to learn a lot about their course of study more than they have expected to. An article from http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/tutorials/overview/reid.html relates the story of two online learning students.

Dee Baxley is an administrative assistant for The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta who has completed just under three years of her General Education degree, which inspires her to acquire more education. An experience in distance education has significantly helped her to manage her time well in balancing her studies, work and personal commitments. She has limited access to educational resources at a local library, which is why Baxley is very happy that online learning allows her access to viable options in terms of educational resources that are sourced worldwide.

Meanwhile, Russell Smith has a career on the rise as a Financial Sales analyst for Pitney Bowles working in the Southeastern Region. He allots much of his time doing trends analysis as well as reporting findings to executive officers and senior management. His educational attainment so far is a General Education major. Someday, he hopes to pursue a business degree. Smith feels strongly for combining Internet technology with educational studies, especially in the case of adults who are undergoing continuing education.

Their experiences are an example of Virtual Online Education, in which students take up credit and non credit courses from remote sites worldwide that can neither be bound by time or physical location. Essentially, this means that students come in contact with their instructors and fellow students in both real and virtual time scenarios. Using only a computer or a similar device with Internet connection and word processing capabilities, a student can send and receive lectures, assignments and educational resources. Knowledge, research and discovery are virtually at the student's fingertips in this setup.