President Walczak Technology Consultants, Inc

by Ron Walczak
(Prospect, PA)

I completed a Masters degree online

Two More Cons:

Lack of real time interaction with classmates. All face-face social/cultural experience is eliminated.

MORE time spent on each class. Typical formats include on-line blog/discussions with participation requirements. You are now checking in 3-4 times a week to stay current and get credit for participation. Depending upon when your instructor defines the beginning of a week and when they post questions, you can find yourself behind the 8 ball. When you attend a Thursday class – you schedule for it. When your instructor is inconsistent in posting, you become a slave to their whims.

Professionals need to KNOW when an instructor expects interaction – and it cannot be “whenever” the instructor gets to it. We have busy lives, travel and home – we take online classes for “flexibility” yet often find it is less flexible. For example – I had an instructor who posted all questions by 7AM Sat. It was great! I could SCHEDULE my Sat AM to reply. The next session, I had an instructor who posted as late as Tuesday nite and had no regularity. It required me to continually check in so I didn’t get behind. I viewed it as unprofessional.