Since the Internet bubble started to pop, many professionals have been hitting the MBA programs in droves. Many of us didn’t take a sabatical or anything from our jobs, just kept slugging it out at work and added 20-40 hours or more a week on furthering our educations.

As many of us were pressed for time and internet savy, taking courses online started to grow in popularity. I’ve written a few comments on some of the myths of online education and now I’m going to offer up some survival tips.

Completing an Online degree program or even taking a simple distance learning class is a major challenge. I have a Master’s in Laws myself that I earned from St Thomas University School of Law’s LLM program in International Taxation the first wholly online program accredited by the ABA. My wife earned her Master’s in Education from University of Phoenix.

TIPS!
Some of these I’ve covered as teasers before, but I’ll offer them again.

1. If you try an online program and its not working whether its the entire program or just a single class, get out of that class or program immediately. Online programs move very quickly, and if you are lost on a Tuesday and do not get up to speed by the end of the week you may get so far behind that you won’t be able to recover. Get things straight quickly.
2. If an instructor or professor cannot provide a very solid syllabus at the beginning of a course, you should seriously consider dropping the course, unless grades are not important to you. Online programs require very organized teachers, if they do not have a syllabus that is tight, odds are they will jump all over and this will make it exceptionally difficult for you to keep up with the fits and starts and adjustments they make throughout the quarter or semester.
3. Network is extremely important in online education. Identify the students proficient in the subject and identify the students proficient in technology make friends with them and setup a study team. Setting up a team online is very easy, if the school doesn’t have a solid discussion forum for your team go set one up yourself or utilize a free one at yahoo or Google. Good team members can make the difference between making it through the program and waisting away in solitude.
4. Get a good computer and make backups of everything you do religiously. Backups are important for almost everyone these days. In distance learning programs you are often under the gun and working from home computers, work computers, relatives computers and maybe internet cafes. Your getting all types of attachments and files from Professors, students even potential online sources and you are an easy target for viruses and crashes. Be prepared, your computer will crash and you will lose something, be ready for it by backing up your files nightly and having a backup computer standing by.
5. Pay extra for a good high speed internet connection. Your Internet connection is your lifeline to school. Without a connection you are lost, can’t attend school, can’t take a test, can’t turn in your reports or homework or make your team meetings. Get the best connection you can afford with excellent support, then spend $15/ month on a dial up plan to keep in reserve and for travel purposes, and lastly map out and list out every wireless hotspot you can find within a 5-10 mile radious of your home.
6. Go with a wireless laptop. If you are spending ridiculous hours on the computer, you need to be able to work easily anywhere you maybe. Its a no brainer, get a wireless laptop and don’t look back.
7. Get a good ergonomic chair and a great big flat panel screen for your computer (even if it requires a docking station for your laptop) Save your body, save your eyese.
8. Erase the games off your computer and lock up any gaming systems at a friend or relatives house. Video Games and online master’s programs don’t mix unless you are a video game designer or doing an MBA project on marketing video games.
9. Don’t let the discussion board topics and chats get out of hand!
• Always change the subject to summarize what you are saying in your message
• Don’t say thank you in a discussion board. Civility will kill off an entire class. When there are say 20 people in a program and you have to read everything in a forum and 20 people post 20 messages thanking someone, and that person responds 20 times saying ‘your welcome’ you will be ready to hang yourself from a rafter with a mouse cord rather than finish the program. Keep your civil thank you’s and your welcomes off line or simply conclude every message with a signature that says Thanks, or Thanks in adance that way your classmates can quickly skim over and ignore your civility.

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