Why Distance Education?

As a student in your forties, it is unlikely that you will want to attend regular classes and lectures and this is why most continuing ed students prefer online studying. While some courses do require a few lectures and laboratory sessions to be attended, most distance learning courses only require independent study time with the help of course material, study guides,  CD-ROMS, interactive online courses and several other innovative methods.

Many older students often shy away from further learning due to the social pressure of facing younger students while attending classes and online education eliminates this pressure. Also, most distance learning opportunities do not have cut off dates for enrolment so you can choose to start your online course when it suits you.

Over 40s Distance Learning Opportunities

Continuing education for an adult student comprises of several degrees and courses with options varying from:

• High School Diplomas
• Associate degrees
• College degrees (bachelors, masters and PhD)
• Non-vocational programs
• Workplace training
• Personal enrichment courses
• Foreign language programs

Online Studying For A Better Career

Continuing education for a better career is quickly becoming the most important reason more and more people aged over 40 are turning to distance learning opportunities. Career-specific online studying courses can teach you brand new tricks of the trade or equip you with the skills you need to make a career change.

Continuing Ed for Busy Professionals

If you are a busy professional over 40, attending classes is absolutely out of the question due to lack of time and online studying is the best option. Continuing education for busy professionals allows you to:

• To return to an academic ground without the pressure of attending classes
• Brush up on your skills for superior work performance
• Learn at your own pace and comfort
• Acquire new qualifications and skills

Distance Learning for Casual Learners

Continuing education for casual learners is made up of several courses and programs that allow an adult student in their 40s to learn new skills just for fun. Some popular distance learning opportunities are:

• Foreign languages
• Fitness programs
• Cooking courses
• Computer skills

Online studying is becoming an increasingly popular way to get a degree, a high school diploma or even a certificate for a career training program for continuing students aged 40 and over.

It’s not very often that we are offered something for nothing but occasionally it does happen, while you certainly can’t get your MBS degree for free the internet does hold a vast amount of distance and online learning without it costing you a penny. Maybe you just want to test out a program or brush up on new skills or learn a few new interesting facts just for the fun of it, whatever your choice there are free online learning resources out there.

There are basically two types of online courses to choose from these are independent courses which are designed for the internet and open courseware that are designed with the classroom in mind.

The independent classes

The independent courses are specifically designed with those in mind that want to e-learn, courses such as these can be anything from learning poetry and verse to financial planning and debt management and a wide variety of colleges and universities offer them freely. The more popular schools and colleges which offer free courses and which can be found on Google search are:

Barnes and Noble University

Barnes and Noble offer dozens of online courses for free as well as offering premium courses which are moderately priced. They have a wide variety with something to suit everyone and include interaction with peers and instructors alongside books to help you get the most from your particular choice of course.

Brigham University

Brigham offer some free courses online which are available to the general public with courses also offered for credit to those students paying, they have specialised courses in genealogy and have several religious courses on offer.

About.com

About.com offer free courses by email, students choose courses and then learn through course materials sent by newsletter to their inbox. There are a number of courses available from cooking to learning debt management.

Stanford University

Stanford offers free lectures, interviews and material for learning which are available via I-tunes.

Free-ed.net

This site offers a wide variety of material for learning online, including courses with free online text books. Their IT programs are some of the best and give step by step instructions which you can follow easily to help you master computer skills.

The open Courseware

Open courseware was specifically designed to give help to students from all over the world by providing them with access to course materials which are actually used within the classroom. Colleges and universities which participate in the program post assignments, lecture notes, calendars, readings, and other study related material online making it easy for those studying from home to study in their own time at their own pace.

Open courseware do not charge for these materials or tuition however they also don’t award credits or give you access to interaction with a professor.