Attending an Online University

There is a lot of hype surrounding online schools, especially in today's market with the advancement of technology and the need of a degree to succeed in the world. Is earning a degree online really all it's cracked up to be? It depends, entirely, on what it is one wants to get out of the experience. Just like everything else in life, earning a degree online can be too good to be true or just the type of fast track one is looking for.

I recently enrolled in an online university in hopes of getting a Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design. I thought this institute would be perfect for me, since my life is chaos, like that of an average adult. My husband works full-time on the graveyard shift, so we would like to keep our schedules as similar as possible in hopes of spending time together; I am sure this is partly due to the fact we are still newlyweds. I also live in a rural town and don't have a driver's license, thus commuting to and from school is a burden I don't want to force on my husband. I am in the middle of my second class and I have the lurking feeling choosing this path was a mistake.

Being independent is the key to success. While the professors, mostly, try to reach out and connect with their students the environment doesn't exactly encourage interaction. Not only do the professors have their traditional problems of too many students and not enough time or pay, they also have several more responsibilities. The students are expected to submit assignments at least 3 times per week and also provide "meaningful" responses to their peers. Professors have to grade and respond to these assignments (without the use of a Teacher's Aid), answer questions in the discussions and individual e-mails/phone calls, as well as their other professional and personal responsibilities. Since we are all children of the Internet ourselves, there is already an understanding of how difficult it is to develop relationships online.