ONLINE EDUCATION: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO SUCCESS IN THE ONLINE ENVIRONMENT

A guide to the increasingly complex world of online education.

More and more institutions have begun offering online courses in recent years, and many people are interested in using such courses to further their education. In this self-help debut, Bayode (Onsite Dean/Strayer Univ.) draws on a decade of experience as a teacher of traditional and online classes and aims to debunk a number of online education myths, including the notion that online courses are easier or less expensive than traditional ones. In fact, online learning can be costly; students may need to pay not only for the course, textbooks and supplies, but also for a computer and special software. The author writes that he has taught thousands of students in online courses and points out that people must be highly motivated and disciplined to complete the coursework and participate effectively with other students. Bayode stresses self-discipline in nearly every chapter of this book, particularly for students who also have full-time jobs. He meticulously delineates the many challenges of online education, which can be especially daunting for students with inadequate computer skills. In an eye-opening chapter titled “Questions You Must Answer Before Taking Online Courses,” he urges readers to ask themselves hard questions about their comfort with independent learning and technology. In an intriguing final chapter, Bayode looks at the emergence of online education in developing countries and how corporations and higher-education institutions might collaborate in delivering online education in the future.

A reliable, authoritative resource for prospective online students.