What to consider when choosing an online university degree to study

Studying a course online can be an easy way to get qualified for work. Follow these steps when making your choice.

ONLINE students must ensure their course aligns with strong job outcomes and is engaging enough to see them through to graduation.

Covid-19 has accelerated the uptake of online learning but Unicurve founder Andrew Lancaster says too many students are enrolling in courses without checking the qualifications are what employers are looking for.

“People tend to just pick courses based on the subject area but they don’t think through what (skills) you get out of it at the end,’’ he says.

“When you look at things like psychology and the arts and whatever, there’s too many graduates out there compared to the amount of jobs that are on offer.

“It’s always a good idea (before enrolling) to go to a job search website, type in the qualification you are hoping to do, and see if employers are actually asking for that qualification.’’

Amy Parin is studying a naturopathy degree online through the Endeavour College of Natural Health.

Lancaster says courses that have high levels of prerecorded content – identified by the ability to start studying immediately – increase the likelihood of student dropout.

Instead, he advises students to choose interactive, engaging courses with set start dates.

Donna Hanson-Squires, from eLearning designer Guroo Producer, encourages students to choose courses with “action-based learning outcomes’’.

“Learning outcomes should not be, ‘You will learn about XYZ’. They should be, ‘When you leave this course, you will be able to do XYZ’,’’ she says.

“Anything that has a project, or a portfolio, that you can build up throughout the program is really valuable.’’

While self-paced learning is often an attractive option for students, Hanson-Squires says it can lead to procrastination and high non-completion rates.

She suggests picking courses that have a “flexible’’ level of accountability, such as the requirement to complete particular study tasks within a set time frame.

RMIT Online chief executive Helen Souness says choosing courses that have been purpose-built for digital learning is vital.

“Great online learning design provides plenty of opportunities for a learner cohort and teacher to discuss and apply concepts together, get feedback and see their progression through the online course,’’ she says.

Amy Parin, 22, is studying a naturopathy degree online through the Endeavour College of Natural Health and says it is a vastly improved model of learning compared to online studies that rely heavily on prerecorded lectures.

“(The prerecorded content) was good to relay all the content but, honestly, it got tedious after a while and I struggled to keep focused,’’ Parin says.

“With the new learning system, I have found that there are many more ways to be interactive like true/false questions, games, mini lectures, content to read, interactive videos and other relevant interviews.

“This helps to keep me engaged and encourages my learning as I find I work better with a variety of learning options.

“My brain remembers the content much easier like this.’’