# decent online training classes/degrees?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decent-online-training-classes-degrees/523755
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 5, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decent-online-training-classes-degrees/523755 "2010-01-05T15:52:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@parthenokinesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parthenokinesis)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decent-online-training-classes-degrees/523755/1 "2010-01-05T15:52:00Z")
I’m going to be housebound for the foreseeable future and thought It would be a good time to do some future career prep. Does anyone have decent anecdotal experience with an online training thing? Or bad experiences i guess would be helpful as well, I’m always happy to learn from the misfortune of others.
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### Author:  [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decent-online-training-classes-degrees/523755/2 "2010-01-05T15:55:15Z")
What are you looking to do?
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### Author:  [@parthenokinesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parthenokinesis)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decent-online-training-classes-degrees/523755/3 "2010-01-06T02:19:58Z")
Don’t know, really. Figured if posters have had a good experience with an institution I would see what they offer. Probably more speculative than anything.
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### Author:  [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decent-online-training-classes-degrees/523755/4 "2010-01-06T02:42:10Z")
Most state universities have online programs, I would look into those first.
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### Author:  [@steadierfooting](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steadierfooting)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decent-online-training-classes-degrees/523755/5 "2010-01-06T02:57:32Z")
I already have a masters and am not interested in paying anymore for degrees, but I’ve been watching youtube and iTunes classes. They are free, and some are filmed a year or two ago, so if you buy the textbook they use it’s like $.75. That’s if you aren’t interested in the piece of paper.
I’ve done some self-study courses, and frankly grad school is all on your own time, they just give you a stack of papers and books 2 feet high at the beginning of the semester and say, ‘read this’.
I do really well with following through with things, which is an issue for some, but found self-study/online much better than my expectations. I found the take home exams to be challenging that you couldn’t solve it without understanding the material. So you end up learning instead of just paying for a degree.
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### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decent-online-training-classes-degrees/523755/6 "2010-01-11T00:34:27Z")
> [@fisha](#):
>
> Most state universities have online programs, I would look into those first.
I second this. If you can find something you’re interested in, and the institution is in your state, then it will be vastly less expensive than than U.o.Phoenix or a similar school Also, in my opinion, the degree will carry more weight.
If you do have a state university near you, and they offer what you want, you should go with that. Theoretically, an online program is supposed to eliminate any and all reason to visit a campus in person. Actually though, if you’re like me, you will want to have a place to do your work, away from the house. I have found it very frustrating not to be able to use the nearby university library, where I am an alumnus but not a student, to work on my stuff. (I can borrow books there, but like all visitors, I am barred from the Internet.)