Ducere Global Business School
After more than a year of social distancing due to COVID-19, much of the world returns to pre-pandemic normal including schools and universities that plan to open their classrooms to students this fall.
While most of us struggled to cope during the lockdown, there were some who admittedly realised they actually preferred working and learning remotely.
However, as we transition back to in-person, many students who found themselves enjoying online class, anxiously anticipate the switch. Despite this, there are a few students who feel like they should do “normal” school as they feed into sources which argue that online school is less serious and productive.
While this may be true for some, it is definitely not the case for all. In a 2021 survey, 85% of higher education students said they felt remote learning environments can be effective and 70% of them said they would take more virtual classes in the future.
Vivian Lin is a student who not only believes that online education can be effective, but thanks to the pandemic, she now believes that being online is even more effective.
Before 2020, she was enrolled in the sports management masters program at Columbia University. Once the pandemic hit, she decided to transfer to Ducere Global Business School.
She felt that in her previous program, there was a lack of engagement and challenge from professors. “I didn’t even realise how much that should be a factor until I started to witness more engagement in classes and develop relationships with my professors,” she said about her current online classes with Ducere. Lin also noted that it is important to find an online university that delivers material in the way you need it.
Students prefer virtual learning
Students who say they prefer virtual learning state that for varying reasons, online school recognises and meets their individual needs, struggles and/or passions. According to student survey responses from Ducere, the courses provide flexibility, the ability to move at their own pace, personalised learning, time to do what they love, and ensure their own wellbeing.
Shendelle Harrison, a Ducere leadership and innovation MBA candidate, put off her degree for decades because she thought she would have to set aside her entire life to focus on school.
When she enrolled in Ducere in 2020, Harrison explained she was extremely nervous— not just because she would be going back to school, but also because she would be doing so while trying to manage a full time job, a three-generation household and her health after having experienced a heart attack that year.
However, after starting her Ducere courses, she realised that online school was doable. “You know, it's fantastic. It really is for the working people and the lack-of-time people,” she shared. “I have a desk attachment to the car steering wheel that I do uni every afternoon whilst my daughter swims.”
Online degrees provide flexibility
Life happens. Many times, our outside lives clash with school and we are forced to put more into one or the other. Those thinking about getting their bachelor’s or master’s are deterred by their circumstances and those in the middle of their degree don’t maximize their potential for the same reasons. Online degrees provide flexibility and freedom so that you don’t have to limit your life.
This is also true as the world opens back up and for many of us, that means a return to traveling for business and leisure. The beauty of Ducere’s programs is that you simply take your schooling with you because you’re working on your own schedule at your own pace.
“My role requires a lot of flying and some long hours when I'm on a shift. Despite being full time, online flexibility has allowed me to study at my own leisure,” Luxem Lee says. Lee was an MBA student at Ducere who was working as an Occupational Health Physiotherapist at the time. He graduated in 2020 and now works as Biosurgery Product Specialist at Johnson & Johnson.
Higher education is a choice
Whether you prefer online learning because of your busy schedule, health, transportation conflicts, learning style or simply because you love being in your pajamas, there is no shame in prioritising your lifestyle first in order to get the most out of your degree.
“I am much more efficient when I work at night. The online courses allowed me to work on my own hours and work when I feel most productive,” Benjamin Jacobson says. Jacobson graduated from Ducere in 2020 with a Bachelor of Applied Business.
Higher education is a choice we invest in for our own success and growth. So why not listen to your own needs? Instead of dreading going back to in-person, earn your degree the way that works best for you.
Discover which business degree is best for you by taking this short quiz.
