About Online Courses About Online Courses Benefits of Online Learning Online courses offer students the opportunity to schedule much of their class work at times that are convenient to them. Online courses also reduce the number of trips to class and the library by incorporating the lecture and class discussions in web pages and chat rooms. Late students have to join the discussion or lecture in the middle and don't find out what they've missed until the class is over. Some Distance Education classes are almost entirely asynchronous .
Students complete the assignments at their own pace, with few, if any, deadlines.
Asynchronous courses may extend beyond the traditional 16 week time limits of a semester schedule. The main disadvantage of a totally asynchronous course is that there is no live interaction. Most discussions are e-mail based, and bulletin boards don't work well since not all students are at the same point in the course. You have the ability to complete assignments at whatever time of day is most convenient, and generally have several days to work on major assignments. To keep the class on track, however, your instructor may set deadlines for assignments.