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I want to attend classes online. Please give me suggestions regarding this.

More and more students are going this route.  There are both pros and cons (as there are with anything) to taking classes online.  First, you will need to decide on a college or university which offers the coursework you need.  Check out the accreditation of the institution you are considering to make sure your credits will transfer to other schools and that your degree will be recognized once you've finished your coursework.

Once you have decided on a school, you will need to set aside time to do your coursework since you will not be attending classes in the traditional sense.  It takes an immense amount of personal discipline to take classes online since you are basically on your own--your own pace, your own timeline--with a few deadlines put in place by your online instructor.  If you do not set aside regular timelines and work schedules dedicated to your online coursework, chances are you will not complete the work. Therefore, you won't finish the class, you won't get credit, and you will have wasted hard-earned money.

Check out other issues dealing with online or distance learning at the links below.  Good Luck!

http://www.worldwidelearn.com/education-articles/distance-learning-success.htm

One of the keys is whether you want/need interaction with your teacher and other students in the learning process.  I teach an online course in Fiction and teach the same course in the classroom.  The online course gives working adults the chance to read some great books ... something they might not do without the pressure of course deadlines.  The in person class, however, always has more interaction, and I think we "do more" with the books this way.  We use Blackboard, which allows for some written discussion; this simulates discussion, but isn't the same.

As Amy suggested, it take significant self-discipline when you take online courses.  I did many courses online in my last degree program, and I can understand how just about anything can get in the way of completing work.  I had to remember that old but true adage:  "Obstancles are what you see when you take your eye off the goal."

You know yourself ... if you have the self-discipline and you do not feel the need for interacting with instructors/students, then you can do well with the online courses; if not, stick with the more traditional formats.

I've taken several computer classes online, and I have been successful at the majority of them.  However, their was one class, that I had to drop, computer programming, because I just couldn't get it.  I needed a face to face instructor.

My point is: consider the class that you are taking.  Is it something that you stuggle with.  If so you may need a traditional setting.

However, if you are self disciplined, and focused, I think that online classes can be a great alternative to traditional classes.

Good Luck to you!

I'm sure it varies from class to class, but I have observed that many times online courses require more work in terms of assignments than do traditional classes. Such extra work may be the instructor's attempt to make up for the absence of face-to-face contact with students, or it could be an effort to insure the integrity of the course. Before committing your time (and your money) to an online class, check out the workload and the time frame you will have to complete assignments.

The previous posts are very strong, but I echo the sentiments in the fifth post.  I think that one element of the online class methodology is whether or not one has the time and commitment to complete the work.  If a student is a self- starting or possesses self initiated drive to complete work, then I think an online method works well.  If a student has a tendency to procrastinate and requires some external motivation from a professor/ instructor or from colleagues, I would caution about entering online courses and study the situation a great deal.  The workload is quite significant and must be recognized in the deliberation process.

I tutor a great many students taking on-line mathematics courses, who discover that their background may be weak and/or that taking an upper-level mathematics course--such as calculus or statistics--without the give-and-take of the classroom Q&A sessions is quite a challenge.  These courses, usually prerequisites for graduate programs, are rigorous, and require the student to cover a great deal of material, do quite a lot of homework, and finish the course in a limited amount of time.  These students often have not only the expense of the course but also the expense of weekly or biweekly tutoring sessions since the only communication with the course instructor is via email.  If I were to take online courses, I would make sure the subject matter was not highly technical in nature because of this limitation.

I have also taking several online classes and even took classes to how to teach online.  Some of my classes were done in a program called blackbook and some were done in called desire to learn.  To get a taste on some online classes you can start with some pbs teacherline courses.  However their method is high in online discussion so you need to check back frequently to keep up.  When I took my courses on blackbook there was little to no interaction from others.  Most of my class were ok online except, psychology.  That would have like 5 parts to every lesson with subparts to each of those.  The class really needed to be done in person or someone needed to rewrite it for the online environment. It really depends on the class or instructor.

I have taken a couple of online classes as an undergraduate. I find that there are pros and cons to taking an online class. For example, taking a math/technical class online can be challenging while an arts/theoretical class may be managable. If you are an organized person it may be easier and more convenient for you to take an online class. However, if you are taking an online class because you just don't want to get ready and go to class then taking the class will be difficult regardless if its online  or not.

I would suggest, if you do take the class online, don't procrastinate because work can pile up really easily in these types of classes

I have taken many online courses and really enjoyed them.  I personally like the classes that are self paced because when life gets in the way of school work, you don't get a lower grade for it.  I am able to "work ahead" so that if a kids gets sick, I can tend to them and not stress about the paper that is due.  If you need more structure, make sure you have a class with a timeline for when assignments are due.  Some classes do make you do more discussion posts so you can have "conversations" about the topic but other classes are purely self directed.  You may have to just try a class to see how the teacher runs the class and if it will work for you.