What to Expect During Your First Year of Online Education

Even before COVID-19 completely upended the way the world works, more and more people have increasingly turned to online learning solutions. Whether people are looking to continue their education, fill some free time, or increase their hireability, interest in online education is at an all-time high. If you’re just starting out on your online learning journey, here’s what you can look forward to.

An Online School Community

Just because you’re not in a classroom with other people doesn’t mean you won’t have classmates, and you’ll be interacting with them on a regular basis as you work through class work, homework, and group projects. With online collaboration tools, you’ll be able to connect easily with your classmates and instructors, share ideas, and socialize outside of class hours.

Time Management is Crucial

With online classes, time management will be one of your most important skills. You’ll have to take the initiative when it comes to keeping up with your classwork, since there’s no one around to keep track for you! Without the usual environment of a physical classroom, it’s easy to miss due dates, but that’s a slippery slope. Stay organized and make a schedule of due dates so that you don’t fall behind. 

With all that warning about time management comes a silver lining. While you might have to spend focused time on schoolwork, you can spend that time whenever you want. This is especially useful for people who work a full-time job, have kids at home, or are otherwise trying to juggle everything going on in their lives. 

If you want to spend your evenings on classwork so you can work out in the mornings, go for it! Or do a whole week’s work on one weekend and go camping the rest of the week! As long as you’re managing your time wisely, it’s much easier to fit an online education in with the other things that are important to you.

More Variety Than You’d Think

Many people think that the variety of classes offered by an online education is limited by the format, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. At CSU Global, you can take classes corresponding to bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, or certifications that will give you extra skills in the workplace.

That variety extends to the path you take between now and graduation, too. Rather than taking a specific set of classes for the next few years, you can use “stackable” credits to give you an immediate return as you build toward a full degree. You’re still putting the work in to get a full bachelor’s degree, but at each step of the process you get a certification that makes you better at your job and more marketable in future job searches.

Your life situation is uniquely yours—where you are, where you want to be, what you care about the most, and the demands on your time. Now, your education can be structured in a way that’s as unique as you are. Let CSU Global help create a plan that works for you. Ready to get started? Click here.