Altilab2005 - Distance Education Blog

Lilli out on a motorcycle ride

I was admitted to the program on May 5, 2006.  Of the twelve required courses for the ALM in IT degree I took five on campus and seven on-line.

In my experience taking courses on-line was immensely convenient yet very challenging to remain self-motivated.  No one is checking up on you to make sure you are watching the lectures every week.  It would be easy to convince yourself that you can catch-up on the weekend.  The risk you run is in missing a key piece of information to help with your current project you are working on.  It sure is nice when the weather kicks up a snow storm and I can watch my lecture in my pajamas instead of driving the 113 mile round trip to class from New Hampshire.

I will say that the class room experience in the courses I have completed at the Harvard University Extension School were richly rewarding.  The professors are brilliant and attentive. The classrooms have every new gizmo to enrich the experience.  And I’ll admit I just love sitting in the front row.  Although the long drive coupled with night classes is exhausting when you have a full-time job.