6 Reasons to Take Asynchronous Classes: Benefit, Costs, Accreditation


Last Updated on August 16, 2022 by David Shaw

6 Reasons to Take Asynchronous Classes: Benefit, Costs, Accreditation

Asynchronous class doesn’t really mean it has to be taken at a college or university. Today, there are tons of free asynchronous classes that are generously offered by top universities in the world for free. In fact, simply learning a skill from watching a Youtube video can be counted as asynchronous learning too.

Although not all types of asynchronous classes mentioned in this article is referring to those you can find in universities, taking any asynchronous class through any platform or institution can still help you in different ways that can definitely impact you in a positive way.

Let’s talk about the benefits of asynchronous learning in college that can possibly grant you a good accreditation or degree to your personal portfolio.

One more thing before we dive right into the article, we have no affiliation and don’t earn any commission from mentioning any of the services and platforms, so rest assured as we give our unbiased opinions.

Cheap Certification and Course Fee From Top Universities

Ironically, many free online classes offered by top universities around the world through platforms like EdX, Coursera and more are probably better than the average entry-level classes at a college near you. And you read that right, accessing to the lecture and the materials is free, which you can also optionally purchase a digital certificate, as well as graded assignment and exams services.

Although the only pitch from this option is to pay a small sum of money for a digital certificate upon completion of the online course, it is still a significantly cheap price compared to classes you pay for at a university. Here’s a list of courses you can find out of the 3000+ courses offered on EdX to give you some references.

InstitutionCourseOptional Certification Price
UC BerkeleyEnglish for Journalists$99
New York UniversityIntroduction to Programming in C++$332
Harvard UniversityData Science: R Basics$149
National University of SingaporeQuantitative and Qualitative Research for Beginners$99
Harvard UniversityCS50’s Computer Science for Business Professionals$199
IBMData Visualization and Building Dashboards with Excel and Cognos$99
University of CambridgeFoundations of Finance$199
Stanford UniversityStatistical Learning$149
MITCalculus 1A: Differentiation$100

In contrast, taking a class from university, online or physical, easily costs you anywhere from $500 to $3000 per class. If you can spend $99 on an online course from educational platforms* like Coursera or EdX, you can save yourself a fortune, and even have unlimited access to the materials in the future.

And like we’ve said, you can totally choose not to pay for any of these courses, which let’s you only access the materials throughout the duration of the course length, and finish the course without a verified certificate.

*There are many other similar platforms on the internet that offers free online courses, we mostly mention Coursera and EdX because they are well known in the industry and have very user-friendly interface.

If You Work Multiple Jobs With Irregular Shifts

If you’re working minimum wage, then you’re also likely working multiple shifts or jobs. Many people are working to earn a living while taking classes in hopes of getting a higher-paying job or a more solid career in the future, and we’re all in for that.

If you’re one of those hardworking individuals aspiring to secure a better paying job through good education and skills, then don’t let studying stop you because asynchronous classes are here to help you learn.

Whether you want to take asynchronous classes at college or online from a free platform, both options should work out just fine. However, choosing the option of taking free online classes can save you a great deal of money compared to taking asynchronous classes at a university or college. Additionally, you can also check out Summer classes, which are often short and cheaper in some colleges.

Also READ: 9 Helpful Benefits Students Get From Summer Classes

How asynchronous classes allows a flexible study schedule

If you’ve never taken asynchronous classes more, it’s actually more simple and straightforward than you think. Since asynchronous classes are online, lectures are typically all prerecorded for students to access, and you can work through them at your own desired pace. Besides, prerecorded lecture materials means you can pause, rewind, and rewatch lectures which greatly helps in solidifying new knowledge.

Egor Matveyev, a Senior Lecturer and Research Scientist in Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management explains that asynchronous learning makes lectures materials more digestible and is “an excellent option for deeper learning and exploration of concepts ahead of a live discussion,” where difficult concepts are broken into bite-sized modules to be absorbed and retained more effectively in our memory.

In the setting of asynchronous classes, assignments and exams are usually assigned and set with a due date on their learning platform or through LMS if you’re taken them at a college. With all the resources you need in place, your responsibility is to complete the work and submit it anytime before the due date.

That said, even if you work shifts at the most irregular hours, you can still effectively learn from asynchronous classes if you can reserve and spend 1-2 hours for studying anytime throughout the 24 hours of your day. So really, the only thing that’s actually stopping people from benefitting from these resources is just a lack of dedication and ambition.

Strengthening Your Resume or Personal Portfolio

Some people might ask, will stating the knowledge and experiences learned online make a person’s resume strong? The answer is definitely yes! Other than the fact you graduated from a good university to polish your resume, employers actually also look for more unique personal projects and accomplishments you’ve done aside from your academic accomplishments.

According to Glassdoor, “Highlighting projects on resumes provide hiring managers real-life and verifiable proof of your skills and experience and whether it is an ideal fit for their role,” and the benefits include “also show employers whether your personality traits are compatible with their company culture, “ and “help you demonstrate leadership skills, ability to take initiative, and project management expertise.”

If you think of it, listing our college degrees and probably a high GPA is just customary, and such generic figures and names don’t really dazzle your employees anymore, especially if they’re large organization and seeing countless of the same numbers and big university names.

Instead, if you take it a notch further by adding your additional experiences learned aside from your studies in school, it really makes you stand out among the large pool of other applicants.

In some cases, companies even favor and want to hire candidates who have expertise in fields that are not just solely related to their university’s study program.

For a quick tutorial, check out this article by Zety on examples of how you can list your projects on your resume.

Any personal projects that you put on your resume which is not directly related to what you learned in school reflect a lot of positive traits about you. If you have experience and expertise in certain skills that you learn on your own, it shows your employers that you’re a proactive learner, which adds as a bonus to consider you as a good candidate.

Save Money by Paying Lesser for Additional Expenses

If the thought of boarding, commuting, and rental expenses scare you from taking classes at a college or university, then asynchronous classes should be great news for you.

For those saving up for something or on a budget but still want to access quality courses offered by top universities. Institutions like Stanford, MIT, IBM, Princeton, Caltech and many more collaborates with many online learning platforms to provide anyone willing to learn with free access to top-quality lectures, with no qualifications required.

Also READ: Don’t Buy College Textbooks Anymore! Here’s Better Alternatives

It’s the year 2022, and there are really tons of free resources available for people to access and learn if only you have the will and grit to learn. If you dedicate yourself to a strict study routine and immerse yourself in the mindset, you can definitely make sure of these cost-effective platforms to turn what you learned into a 6-figure yearly paying job.

Type of InstituitionPublic
Two-Year
Public
Four-Year
In-State
Public
Four-Year
Out-of-State
Private
Nonprofit
Four-Year
Tuition and Fees$3,800$10,740$27,560$38,070
Room and Board$9,330$11,950$11,950$13,620
Total$13,130$22,690$39,510$51,690
Source from College Board

By just investing less than $1500 on a laptop, world-class education can be at the comfort and reach with a few clicks on your computer. If investing this small amount of money still cannot convince you, then the nearest public library from you can probably also get the job done essentially for almost zero cost. Since asynchronous classes are readily accessible, all you need is a computer and wifi to access a world-class education.

Also READ: Computer RAM for College Newbies- How Much Do You Need in 2022?

Most free online courses on the internet are really effective, costing you only between $40 to $200 for a verified certification. Let’s reassure you again that most lecture materials on platforms like EdX, Coursera gives you free access to the homework and exams, and you are presented with the option to pay for the digital certificate.

Easy Communication Exposure to Large Community Forum

No matter where you take asynchronous classes, you most definitely can communicate easily with peers, teaching assistants or the instructor through free internet forums or messaging platforms.

Since active participation is crucial for any mode of learning, an asynchronous class will definitely use tools like Discord, Slack, Discourse, Piazza which is often used as community or discussion forums to communicate. And depending on how large the learning community is, connecting or relaying out a question or discussion within peers from online classes is just from a reach of your fingertips in front of a computer

Depending on the size of the class, you often also get exposure to bright and smart individuals who are very willing to help, share, and participate in thread discussions relating to homework problems. And if you simply put in the time to involve yourselves in these discussions, you could easily establish a connection like a friendship, where you can potentially work together in the future.

A study community forum promotes healthy active discussion

Through these forums dedication for the class, no one is here to shame or redicule you for asking questions. people are often very positive and helpful since they’re probably also working on or encountering the same problem with a questions throughout the course.

And when these community forums dedicated for the class, you can often get very quick responses which answers your questions which otherwise is nowhere to be found on the internet. Plus, you’ll see all kinds of way people think, tools and resource they recommend using to make themselves more productive or efficient at certain tasks.

Train a Good Self-Discipline When Learning New Knowledge

If training good self-discipline have always been on your bucket list, what better way to sign up for a free asynchronous online class to test yourself? Given that there are many completely free online resources like those listed and mentioned above, many people never really finish what they started.

Part of why self-discipline is important when taking asynchronous classes is that it does lacks instant feedback from instructors. When you have questions, it’s not as simple as raising your hands and having instantaneous feedback or answer replied.

This is where we have the opportunity to practice our self-discipline in learning, which is by proactively looking for answers on the web or on forum discussion platforms used by your class. And by repeating the process, you would’ve acquired both the skills to harness the power of internet search engines, as well as train a good self-discipline when learning new things.

The key to success is not just about dedicating a minimum number of hours, but consistently is also equally important. If we stay consistent with the effort we output each day, we are passively training our self-discipline to stick to one thing at a time, even if it doesn’t produce tangible results in the short term.

And don’t ever underestimate minimal collective efforts because it always adds up. Here’s an few great examples that I often remind myself to give a little a day to produce big results in the long run:

  1. Reading 20 pages per day is around 30 books per year.
  2. Saving $5 a day is $1825 per year
  3. Running 1 mile a day is 365 miles a year
  4. Becoming 1% better each day is a 37x of improvement per year

So the next time you dream about achieving something big, remind yourself a small effort everyday adds up to big achievements.

It always seems impossible until it is done.

Nelson Mandela

So after all those tips, if you have a few hours of free time to spare each day, why not give asynchronous classes a try? We wish you the very best in the journey, and we believe everyone can do it if you take it one step at a time.

More Resources

9 Helpful Benefits Students Get From Summer Classes

Best Easy-A Classes to Boost Your GPA in College

Computer RAM for College Newbies- How Much Do You Need in 2022?

Don’t Buy College Textbooks Anymore! Here’s Better Alternatives

David Shaw

I enjoy blogging about the college experience, teaching people how to navigate and hack their way through college. I also enjoy promoting financial literacy among young individuals.

Recent Posts