When venturing on to something new, like studying online, doing research on the prospective online courses is important. You do not want to be wasting your time with something that is not going to be beneficial to you in the long run.

Making sure that the course you studying is what you had in mind and is making a difference and adding to what you already know and will allow you to get into the career of choice for you. 

Below Julie Harvard relates eight questions you should ask yourself before signing on the 'digital' dotted line. Use the link to view relating articles for online study.   

Online Study Tips - 8 Important Questions to Ask Before Signing Up
Author: Julie Harvard

Online education is an alternative option for you to earn your degree from anywhere with the flexibility to schedule your study time. You have many choices in selecting your preference online study programs, but at the same time you need to take into various considerations in choose the one that meet your needs. Hence, before you enroll into any of the online study program, take a few minutes to interview the school of your choice. Here are 8 important questions to ask before sign-up up the program in order to ensure that the school's program is a perfect match for you:

Question #1: Is this school accredited? By whom?

Accreditation information is important if you are planning to use the degree or certification you earn from the online study program to help or advance your career. You also need to find out which accrediting agency that conducts the accreditation and make sure it is from an officially recognized regional association. Else, your degree may be rejected by the majority of employers.

Question #2: How much is tuition & other additional fees?

Although you may see a low tuition fee on some of school's ads about their online courses, the course may come with other additional fees or hidden costs. Hence, it is important that you confirm with the school about all the costs you need to spend in order to complete the degree. Generally, online courses should be cheaper or at most comparable to the classroom-based courses.

Question #3: What experience and education do your teachers have?

You want the teachers that lead you in the online classes to have the related qualification with the necessary knowledge for their teaching job. For example, most junior college teachers have at least a master degree in the subject they teach, so the teachers for online education should have the comparable qualification.

Question #4: How big is your class size?

If one teacher needs to handle too many online students, he will have lesser time to work with each student. Hence, it better you choose the school with small class size so you can get the education you deserve.

Question #5: Can I transfer credit from my previous degree?

There are online study programs that allow you to transfer your credit from your previous degree so that you can waive certain courses and complete the study program faster.

Question #6: Can I learn at my own pace or I need to follow your schedule?

You may want a fully flexible learning schedule if you have unfixed working hours or you need to travel frequently to outstation for job assignment. Some schools offer online study programs which allow you to plan your own study schedule while others may require you to log-on to the online classes at certain time only.

Question #7: Any additional hardware or software requirements?

Some schools may use their own proprietary online learning software which you need to have the hardware that meets the software requirements.

Question #8: How's you support your online students if they need help?

During your study progress, you may face difficulties in your study or technical issues caused by the online learning system, who should you contact for help?

Summary
The 8 important questions mentioned above will help you to take into consideration of the important factors in selecting an online study program that matches your needs.