MEET AN eLEARNING GRADUATE
Jennifer Kavran
College of Education and Human Services
Graduate, Master of Science in Nursing
When I decided to pursue my Nursing degree online, I felt apprehensive about balancing my full-time job, family and school commitments. I quickly learned that the online environment was perfectly suited to helping me accomplish that balance. I was enrolled in the program for three years and it worked out tremendously for me. Luckily, I was able to accommodate my work schedule as well as my outside interests with my learning schedule.
The parts of online learning that I like are setting my own schedule and being flexible with my other priorities. I could sit around at 2 a.m., watch my favorite TV show and submit my assignments. Doing work at night suited me because I have work commitments during the day and I like to unwind a little before starting my reading and assignments. This structure allowed me to achieve my educational goals and maintain a somewhat normal life.
The online courses that I’ve taken towards my degree have helped my career in ways I couldn’t have imagined before. My instructors truly challenged me to go beyond what might have been taught in the classroom and to delve into topics on my own. This is a true Master’s Program in Nursing. From what I can tell, there is no difference between the online classes and the face-to-face classes I have taken. With that being said, I was initially concerned about not feeling connected to any of the students or instructors in my courses. However, I do feel very close to the faculty members that I have met online. They were very supportive, offered feedback, and offered ways for me to advance my learning.
Even though I have not met many of my classmates in person, I feel I got to know them very well over the past few years. Their postings really said a lot about their personalities and interests. A few students, whom I’ve spoken to on the phone as a result of meeting online, are friends of mine now and we try hard to keep in touch with each other. In class, the collaboration process between us was incredible online. We got to bounce ideas off each other and respond to postings which helped us develop our ideas and figure out where our misconceptions lay.
All in all, it was very valuable to have other working nurses in the class with me. They brought their experiences, their perspectives, and their viewpoints to the table. And a lot of those ideas were new to me. I am very much a supporter of Cleveland State’s Nursing eLearning program and I believe students can learn a great deal from enrolling in these online courses.