Online learning provides reliability in uncertain times

As COVID-19 continues to impact our lives, it’s natural to seek reliability in our daily routine. In addition to healthy habits of nutrition, exercise, and stress management, online learning can provide a reliable learning experience that will continue to operate effectively despite external events. Here are three reasons why online education can keep up with a continually changing world, whether those changes occur inside or outside your home.

Mobility

In the process of earning a degree, any number of unanticipated situations may pop up without warning. Events such as family emergencies, unexpected relocations, or weather-caused evacuations could force you to leave your home temporarily—but that doesn’t mean you have to take a break from school. Online learning goes where you go, so all you need to stay in class is a laptop, reliable internet access, and a personal schedule that still allows for continuous course engagement and the completion of assignments. If you need a few days to adjust during an emergency, your instructor is always available through email and can potentially offer deadline extensions or other solutions. Remember in emergency situations to alert your instructors so they can become partners in helping you.

Reliability

Another way online learning provides stability is that courses are likely to continue despite unforeseen events. In some cases, online courses will persist even when face-to-face classes are canceled. One timely example is COVID-19. While many colleges canceled in-person classes and shut down their campuses, online courses at those very same schools continued with a minimal pause. The lack of disruption to your online course was possible because online courses are designed to be “no contact”—in other words, students are never required to meet in-person or visit campus.

However, keep in mind that online courses are not the same as remote courses, which most colleges have adopted since the pandemic emerged. Remote classes have different requirements and may differ from truly online courses. To better understand the difference between online and remote courses, check out Appreciating the differences between remote and online learning.

Consolidation

One last reason you can rely on your online course is its ability to provide everything you need in a single place. Your syllabus, which should include clear objectives, deadlines, and expectations, will be located in your course, as will articles, webpages, videos, presentations, and other resources provided by your instructor. The consolidation of online materials makes it possible for you to be on the go without needing to keep track of paper handouts. Additionally, with the growing popularity of digital textbook rentals, it’s possible you won’t need to carry around a book, either! With all the course content available in a single place, you can respond to external emergencies without managing multiple documents.

As adult learners, you are constantly reacting to situations that arise in your home, at work, or elsewhere. Despite the uncertainty, you can depend on the reliability of online courses at the Alamo Colleges. They are designed to go where you go, continue despite external situations, and provide you with one convenient place to interact and learn. If you’re ready to earn your degree or certificate, contact an AlamoONLINE enrollment coach today!

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