University of Phoenix Review: Online Learning Is Not for Everyone

In a recent article published by AC Content producer Nancy Lambert ,On-line Learning Offering Opportunities for Women,she pointed out the benefits of on-line education. In her article, she promotes on-line learning to busy women with or without children and many other key points for choosing an on-line program versus the traditional college course. I am writing based on my own experience with on-line learning and how difficult it may be with a busy schedule.

After earning my bachelor's degree, I had always intended on returning to school to pursue my Master's degree and after years of procrastinating, I decided to explore my options. I had seen the advertisements for on-line degrees and it peaked my interests, since it seemed to promote the idea of flexibility for those who work full time and had busy schedules. I am writing to give my experience and to say that on-line learning is not always as flexible and "busy schedule" friendly as they claim to be. I chose to apply to the Criminal Justice program at the University of Phoenix On-line to work toward earning my Master's degree after meeting with a University representative at a college fair that my company held. One of the reasons that I chose the on-line program was the flexibility that it was designed to have.

I was told when I enrolled that I was required to log into the class website a minimum of 3-4 times a week. I soon found out that it was almost unacceptable and if I did not log on everyday, I could fall behind and possibly be penalized. I did not by any means think that it would be easy or a "walk in the park" but I did not't expect what I encountered either. Every class was scheduled to be six weeks long so I expected the work to be compacted into those short weeks. At the beginning of each week, we were assigned a reading assignment and a paper to write. We were also required to answer two "discussion questions" in short paragraphed answers. In addition to writing a few short paragraphs to the discussion questions, we were also expected to respond to other classmate's opinions to the questions. This was considered to be "class participation" and a percentage of your grade. I actually enjoyed writing and responding to the discussion questions and found that I learned the most from this part of the course.

The hardest part of the program was the "group project" that was a large percentage of your grade. It is challenging to work on a group project in a regular classroom setting and even more challenging when you live in different states and almost all work different schedules in full time jobs. I disliked the thought of my grade relying on other people. I found that I had to delegate responsibilities to our group to get our project started and it was nerve wrecking when a few group members did not complete their part or even respond, eventually learning that they dropped the course. The group project was very time-consuming and left little time to write our weekly papers and answer the discussion questions that were also required. Needless to say, I was a basket case for six weeks and encountered many sleepless nights, trying to catch up on my work. After working with the other students on our group project, I found that most of them were going through the same issues. Almost every student was working full time and many of them had to juggle time for their children and spouses.

One of the good points to the Phoenix Online program is that is it very structured. I learned from students who had taken previous courses that every class is designed the same way with the reading assignments, papers, discussion questions and answers, class discussion and group project, so you would know what to expect from class to class. If you enjoy the way the assignments are delegated, then this would be the perfect program to enroll in. Another good point is that you do not have to leave your house and hire a babysitter, as Nancy Lambert stated in her article, but being a new mother, I know that it would be almost impossible to complete your assignments and work with your group without a babysitter or someone to look after the children.

Overall, online learning is very challenging to those who are already juggling family and full time jobs. Just being able to stay home versus traveling to a college classroom does not always mean that you will have more time to spend with your family or job, in fact it could almost be less time. I did not find the course to be overwhelmingly hard in any way, only time consuming. My opinion is solely based on my personal experience and I have not ruled out on-line learning however, I have chosen not to continue with the Phoenix On-line program because it does not suit me.