This pandemic has been a heartbreaker for most of us. However, it also lent us the much-needed time to invest in ourselves.
A statistic showed that close to 30% of the Australian population hold at least a Bachelors’ Degree! Still, many of these students prefer to discover and reinvent themselves, and that is where Online Courses come into the picture!
The Impact of Online Courses and Learning
The progress of technology has made education extremely accessible and convenient. During the pandemic, most academic institutions were delivering education through online media like video classes and sessions, recorded sessions, etc.
Most of the people prefer online courses, as it enables them to devote time to other things in their life, in addition to the courses that they pursue.
The number of online courses has multiplied by several times as people want to specialize in a certain niche and also learn some additional skills. Institution-based education has become generic, as everyone is taught a similar subject matter.
Let’s take a relatable example. If you want to be an entrepreneur, you need to create a niche and have a combination of business acumen, industry-related insight, finance expertise, etc. So, a simple bachelors’ degree in commerce or business administration is just not enough. You need several other skills that can be learned over time with the help of online courses.
What things do you need to keep in mind while pursuing online courses?
There can be various reasons for you to pursue courses online. However, irrespective of the reason, there are certain things that you must always keep in mind while learning online. Let’s find out, what are they!
- Where do your interests lie?
This is one of the most important questions that you need to ask yourself before you pick the online courses you wish to learn. When you were in school. you may have had compulsory subjects, which you did not like at all. However, the curriculum of these online courses is more custom and specialized. So, you can subscribe to the subjects and topics for which you have a genuine interest.
If you plan to become a baker and start a bakery, you can enroll for a Pastry Chef course online, and you will not be forced to study Trigonometry and Algebra along with it. This is the reason why a lot of people are opting for online studies, and the industry has progressed drastically!
- Is the curriculum what you are looking for?
When you are selecting an online course, the ball is in your court. You will have to check whether the curriculum is what you are looking for. Many times, the broader field of study remains the same, however, the topics may be different.
So, you will have to thoroughly audit the course curriculum and understand whether it is necessary for you. Once you determine the need, you can easily enroll for online courses.
- What is the practical application of the course?
There are certain people, who prefer degrees and certification over practical knowledge. This is definitely not the right approach. If you are investing your time and efforts into something, you must learn its practical applications in the field.
There are only a few courses online that actually help you to understand the practical application of the theory syllabus. But unless you are certain about this, do not just blindly enroll for these courses.
- What are the time commitment and other hidden terms and conditions?
This is another aspect; which people fail to inspect before enrolling for online courses. You need to be clear with the timings of the courses, the mode of delivery of the course – live or recorded, the time required to complete the course, etc.
You must also know the fees and the certification attached to it. Once you are clear about all these specifications, you can proceed to enroll at your own convenience!
- Have you searched every course out there?
Online courses are quite saturated and there are at least a dozen courses available for every field of study. A study showed that the global online education industry is growing at CAGR of 9.1% and is expected to reach $336.98 billion by 2026. So, you will find innumerable options in your area of interest, and it is better to analyze all those options before finalizing on one.
Now that you know all about online courses, what’s the wait worth for? Enroll yourself and get going!