Questions to Ask Before Signing Up an Online Course

Due to the current challenges facing our traditional universities and colleges of education, nearly up to three million students are now enrolled for an online course. There are many advantages of taking an online course, of course it is quite convenient and comfortable.

No hassles to get on a bus to commute you to your school. Whether you have a current job you are on, with online courses you don't need to quit your job, for it is very necessary to have a job that helps cover the school costs and expenses.

But before you jump in to sign up for an online course, it would be very wise to clear all doubts and to avoid future misunderstandings between you and the university you signed up for their online course.Yes money might not be the only problem for those whose first question would be to inquire whether there are free trial offers.

Here we have outsourced few important questions to help you throw your money at the right place. Now let's start by asking:

1. what is the actual cost for one online course offered?
This is of course the first question you would want to ask, in order to know how much you are budgeting for a course if you plan on studying more than one course.

2. Do I get certificates for all courses?
You may not have considered this but it is possible to not get a certificate for every course you studied online in case you signed up for a free course, sometimes the amount you paid determines if you are getting a certificate at the end.

3. What is the actual duration of the course?
Here the duration are always specified, but you would want to know exactly when to begin your lectures and when to stop, this will help you plan your regular life since you may have other engagements.

4. Must this course be online?
Some would regard this as a dumb question since it is called an online course. Well, if the course can be delivered through Infographics, PowerPoint package, video clips, or through webinars you should know, because they appear cheaper.

5. What technology employed would be compatible with what you have?, if the need arises that you should upgrade or make a change, that would also be good to know on time.

6. Are you able to terminate the course whenever you wish to?
You should know if you can terminate a course if you feel like making a change, or would your credit card still be charged even if you have terminated.

7. How is the course structured?
any curriculum?. You know it is very important to know that the attention and seriousness given to traditional classes should be given to online classes even if you are taking the class on your bed with a class of champagne in your hand, one should prepare for each class everyday. So the structure of the course should help in getting you prepared for lectures and Quiz.

8. How big is the class?
Don't think it unimportant knowing the size of the class, it will help you know the number of students the teacher is going to be handling at a time, this will help you know the level of attention that will be given to your questions and concerns.

9. What type of support do they give to their students, and will it cost extra?
very crucial it is to know this, because when in the traditional class you are lectured by someone you see really and you can go on to inquire further after class on places you got lost during the class, are their any technical supports, like an online library of some sort that you can go for references and researches?

10. What have you heard about the institute or course? 
Always find time to check on the honest reviews of others online, this will help you get to know that which is best for you.

11. Are they qualified enough to impact knowledge or are they just after your hard earned money?. This they won't give you the honest answer to before hand, if they are competent enough you will know with time, if they are not, you know what to do, just make sure they won't continue charging your credit card as earlier mentioned in no.6 after terminating your program with them.

12. What are their file formats? in audio or video formats, are they compatible with your learning environment or do you need to change environment when learning.

13. Is the institute or course accredited?
 meaning are they up to standards in reference to number of staff, programs and courses.

14. Who is going to test the course works?

15. How is the student-instructor relationship like? 
Interacting with the instructor and even with other students is very important, I would say that this is one of the disadvantages of online courses. The students need to be interacting with one another in order to share knowledge and experiences, this enhances learning expert says.

   Remember, try to make your personal findings on how suitable some of the online courses are to your life style, what is best for you may not be near good for others. There are numerous questions you can ask according to what best fits your taste.

Online courses are very valuable and profitable, but be extremely careful when enrolling for one. Stay safe, ask questions, good luck!.