Tips, Tricks, and Transitioning: A Practical Guide to Furthering Your Education
Are you thinking about going back to school? As practitioners, we often have this in the back of our minds. You see advertisements for continuing education opportunities and wonder if this dream can become a reality. Or you might be strongly encouraged to take courses as part of your employer’s professional development plan. Most of us have to juggle our family lives, full-time employment, and any volunteer work; it is scary to think about adding school to the mix. Having been out of school for a few years, you wonder if you would be able to start over again. As a mature student, you would have a lot more to learn than just the curriculum. Not only will you have to teach yourself how to study again, but you’ll also face the challenges—technological, among others—of studying in the 21st century. There are many options available to suit your schedule, but you need to decide which one will work best for your family and your learning needs. The use of technology in education has increased dramatically in the past 20 years. This investment is believed to give students the ability to solve problems, collaborate, study from the comfort of their homes, and analyze information to help them be competitive in the 21st century (Lim et al. 2013). The college or university you plan to attend may use an online learning management system that enables professors to post their lectures, create discussion forums, and establish a flipped classroom in which you are expected to listen to the lecture and do the readings before class and then apply what you have learned to real-life scenarios and activities during class time. Higher education enables you to increase your qualifications and thereby provide services you might not have been able to otherwise. It might change your life completely (Pritchard & Roberts 2006). Returning to school involves change, and you may find the experience a little daunting. However, if you are prepared for the changes, you may be able to avoid unwelcome surprises and moments of anxiety (Pritchard & Roberts 2006). We have developed tips—the first letters of which together spell COLLEGE—to help adults of any age return to school. These suggestions will ease your transition from practitioner to student.
Agriraghv
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