C
an you believe that online colleges produce the web entrepreneurs of tomorrow?
- Online colleges and universities provide an ideal education for the next generation of entrepreneurs.
- Students with an online education have the drive, the web skills, and the know-how to start their own promising online business.
You might doubt my claim that successful entrepreneurs can emerge from an online education, but hear me out for a second. First I advise that you put aside any of the preconceived notions you have about online education, and consider the facts. More and more people are turning to online colleges and distance learning programs for their education. More universities are offering online courses and degree programs to keep up with the growing demand, including prominent Ivy League institutions. Online learning no longer holds the stigma that it once did before people fully understood it’s benefits.
So why do I think that online institutions of learning are producing some of the best web entrepreneurs? Consider my case for them.
They’re web savvy
This might sound redundant, but I want to emphasize the fact that the majority of a student of an online university will spend the majority of their time online. They’ll take tests, study course materials, research relevant texts and studies, conduct discussions and do the bulk of their work through one web service of another. That means that each graduate of an online degree program will be intimately familiar with utilizing the internet in a way that eludes the common web surfer: they will have advanced knowledge in skills other than YouTube watching and Tumblr reading.
This web familiarity makes for a great foundation in entrepreneurship, if just because they have so much exposure to aspects on the web that need innovation and further improvement. Perhaps a student encountered an issue with an online messaging service or a social media tool, and spent some of their free time thinking about how to make the process more user-friendly.
They’re motivated self-starters
A successful student of online learning is one who has commendable self-discipline and drive to work on their own. Unlike in your typical college classroom, an online college classroom is all online, which means that students are mostly alone for the majority of their studies. It takes a truly independent mind to embark on the college experience alone, knowing that you are the only person ultimately responsible for your work. A student has to be motivated enough to wake up and spend their days on the computer, taking lessons at their own pace and finishing entire courses with little to no help from professors or classmates.
It’s an experience that can surely translate into the entrepreneurial field. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs harbor an intensely independent spirit, bent on innovating and building a business structured around their personal work ethic. Someone with years of experience working on their own may have an easier time starting their own business than someone who spent their college days relying on help from others.
They’re already revolutionaries in their own right
I’ve already mentioned the stigma attached to online education, and it’s a point worth revisiting in the context of entrepreneurship. Successful entrepreneurs blaze trails in an established industry; they’re all about bring novel perspective to an aspect of business that needs renovation or a new direction. Students of online learning are doing just that by succeeding in an area of education where many people expect the opposite. These students are defying expectations by getting legitimate degrees and shaking up the establishment by proving that there’s more than one way to get a solid education.
If those qualities don’t make for a great entrepreneur, then I don’t know what does.
What’s your take on the subject? Let me know!
About the Author:
A freelance writer and blogger, Mariana Ashley hopes to help prospective students and parents in making online college comparisons so they can find the schools that work best for them. She welcomes your emails at mariana.ashley031@gmail.com
