Distance or Classroom Education?

Distance Ed or Classroom learning...which one is for you?

Having completed a solo journey online for my Diploma and now full time study in a classroom at TAFE I thought I would share with you my experiences and varying highlights of the two.

If you enjoy flexibility and are very self motivated perhaps your preference would be to study online.
My favourite bits...

• studying distance ed gives you the choice to study when you feel inspired and if you are organised-holidays mid-term! Yay! 
• A sense of satisfaction as you see results of your self learning as you achieve a lot with little assistance. 
• The flexibility to set your own deadlines (and coffee breaks). 
• With online study you can also get absorbed in your own world and not be distracted.

On the flip side...There is a high level of self discipline required - sometimes you feel like you are on your own searching for answers. Google and YouTube became my best friends, and I found the response time a lot quicker than from my tutors. I found online study lacked the opportunity to network with like minded people. No one to bounce ideas off - to be inspired by - or show off too if you are that way inclined ;)

If you are looking to study online my advice would be seek an education provider with excellent communication through forums, email contact, tutorials etc. Be sure to ask what the response time is for questions and feedback. To avoid falling behind dedicate days/ time to study and stick to it the plan.

Studying at TAFE has ticked a lot of boxes for me.

• Questions are answered immediately. Where an answer is not clear it invokes an in class conversation, these discussions often uncover more useful info.
• The ability to bounce ideas off like minded people, your classmates are a also a great resource.
• Being an IT course having access to or discussions on the latest technologies available.
• Challenging yet rewarding.
• Instant feedback on assignments either via fellow students or your teachers. Its easier when you know you are on the right path.

The negatives... I found having 3 teachers, 3 days a week and 3 different assignments all due at the same time INTENSE to say the least. Its a lot of pressure to meet the assignment deadlines but it is always achievable with a little bit of hard work and hairpulling ;)

While we are talking about TAFE - we made a computer talk with code...who knew it could be fun!!
For all you computer savvy people...here's the VB Script we used. Thanks Az :)

Option Explicit

Dim strSay
Dim objVoice
strSay = "Computers make excellent and efficient servants, but I have no wish to serve under them. " 'Mr Spock, Season 3
set objVoice = CreateObject("SAPI.SpVoice")
objVoice.Speak strSay
Dim sapi, msg
Do Until msg = "Silence" 'Must be typed to exit loop (case sensitive)
msg = InputBox("What would you like me to say, Master?" & vbCr & vbCr & "Type 'silence' to stop.",, "Is it beer o'clock yet.")
        Set sapi = CreateObject("SAPI.spvoice")
        sapi.Speak msg
Loop

I would love to hear your learning experiences too...feel free to share.
Thanks for reading, hope you are living and loving it!
Tracey
Graffix by Tracey