Online Courses: With Freedom Comes Responsibility

American Welding Online offers engaging and easily comprehensible online seminars that anyone can access from their computer at any time of the day or night. It’s really an exceptional convenience for those who do not have the time or resources to take on-campus courses. However, success in an online learning environment requires that students master a few basic skills. Among the most important of these are self-scheduling and time management.

One of the great things about an AWO online seminar is that you have the freedom to decide when exactly you will crank up your computer and get to the business of learning the material. No one is going to be expecting you in a classroom and no one, with the possible exception of your significant other, is going to ask if you’re on pace to finish the course on time. So, before you sign up, make sure you have the motivation and self-discipline to set aside time every week to work on the course.

Once you are ready to take on a course, set aside blocks of time that are best suited for studying. If possible, consider the times of day or night when you are most alert and receptive. You may have a bit of free time every morning, but if you are the kind of person who really doesn’t operate at 100 percent until noon, then it might be better to schedule your study time later on in the day.

Pacing is also an important factor with online courses. There is a beginning and end date, and if you have to hurry to cover a lot of material right before time runs out, then you may not be able to absorb all the information and pass the final exam. To avoid this, make sure you check the length and access time of your AWO course and divide your study time into manageable chunks of time. For example, the Welding Fundamentals course is estimated to take about 14 hours to complete and students have unlimited access to the material for 30 days. Therefore, you could evenly distribute about 3.5 hours of study time each week over 4 weeks to stay on pace and finish on time. Of course, this is an estimate. Familiarity with the subject matter, learning styles and the desire to review the material may require you to schedule a little more or less time each week.

Motivation, self-scheduling and time management are important factors to the success of the online student. But other factors, such as managing stress, goal setting, and balancing priorities may also come into play. If you’ve taken an AWO course we invite you to post the issues that you have encountered as part of your online learning experience and/or the strategies that you have used to deal with them. That’s another great thing about this online learning environment. Everyone is just a few keystrokes from asking for assistance or providing help.

Carlos Plaza