Support Offered in an Online Degree Program
Online courses can seem difficult to some. Many students have never done an online when they enter into an online degree program. Support is very important if you want to succeed in a degree program. You need to be able to have your questions answered in a reasonable amount of time. Typically, if you attend a smaller school with fewer students in the class your professor will be able to respond quicker. In this article we are going to discuss some of the most popular forms of support a school can offer their online students.
First, let’s talk about the professor/instructor. The instructor will facilitate the course, grade the assignments, and present the lectures. They are one of the most important pieces to an online class. Students need access to the professor at least five days a week. It can be through discussion board posting, email, or phone. The student needs to be able to get clarification on an assignment and ask questions.
The second line of support is the help desk. Most schools offer a 24-hr help desk to assist with any technical difficulties. This is important if a student has to turn in an assignment after hours and they cannot log in. IT support is very important to a successful online student.
The third line of support is usually an academic advisor. They are available to the student for questions on class schedule, graduation, and textbooks. If the question is not directly related to the professor on course content the academic advisor is usually the one they contact. It is important for them to be a full-time employee and easy accessible.
Finally, the last line of support is your peers in the classroom. In most online courses you will be interacting with your classmates on a daily and weekly basis. Sometimes it is easier to contact one of your classmates than your professor. They can usually help you with a question about an assignment or a class in general. It is definitely recommended to use your peers as support when in an online degree program.
As you can see support is a key ingredient if a student is going to be successful in an online degree. The school needs to offer these services if they want to retain students and boost their graduation rates. If they do not offer these types of services a student will certainly find a similar program online that does.