Studying my online courses has started me thinking about studying in general, and how and why I do it. I have done a lot of study during my life. I gained my bachelor's degree after school, graduating at the age of 22. I thought I had finished studying then, but almost immediately I took some marketing examinations, for an institute qualification, and I have to say I hated studying and working at the same time during this time.
In my 30's I studied for two master's degrees, one in computer science and one in education. I was working during the time I studied for both these degrees, lecturing in a British university. I really enjoyed studying during this period of my life, I was working in an environment that encouraged me to increase my qualifications, and I had my personal life well organized, allowing me to devote the necessary time to working on assignments and doing research.
It has now been around 15 years since I last did any formal study, and studying online has been a revelation. I thought that learning would be far more difficult as I am older, but because I can go back to texts and lectures, I find that I learn more thoroughly than I could through formal classroom lectures. I am motivated to do the work because I have some fairly short term gains in mind, and because each of my courses is modular, I can see what I have achieved and been rewarded for almost on a week by week basis.
# posted by Mary @ 11:39 PM
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