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Alumni stories: Online Learning Pioneers
By: Ruby Moore
Last updated: Tuesday, 1 December 2020
Sussex currently offers four Online Distance Learning (ODL) Master’s courses which are designed to share our thought-leadership, expertise and sector-leading courses flexibly, allowing more students to benefit from a transformative Sussex education.
In August, our first five students completed their ODL courses after two years of studying online. We caught up with Naylette Di Venere, Peiling Wu and Musad Afzal, who have all just completed their MSc International Marketing ODL degrees from the Business School. Here, they discuss their experiences and share their top tips for learning online.
Why choose Online Distance Learning?
Peiling was looking to complete a marketing masters abroad but had “to work and take care of my family at the same time”. She, therefore, felt that the online course at Sussex would best suit her needs. The “global students” and “good networking globally” that the Business School offered drew her to the ODL course at Sussex.
Likewise, Naylette’s course allowed her to “undertake the Master’s I wanted, in a language which I felt comfortable with and at my own time and pace […giving me] control over my personal life and studying by organizing myself and my own priorities.” Sussex became her first choice because of its “holistic approach to business […and] complete understanding about work/study-life balance” as well as its welcoming of “personal uniqueness”.
Meanwhile, Musad liked the “accessibility and flexibility” offered by an ODL course: “I didn’t have to stop my career and move to the UK for a couple of years.” While studying, Musad also found that he “was often able to use actual business cases as assignments[…]combing current academia with ongoing professional queries. It’s the perfect mix.”
Top tips for online learning
With all current students now experiencing elements of online learning, we asked the three graduates to share their top tips and any tricks they’ve picked up during their two years of online learning.
Naylette recommended that students use "alerts for assignments [...and have] a good notion of what's required for each module laid out in a calendar." She is also an advocate for handing in assessments early to avoid any last-minute, unnecessary stress or technical issues. To help manage stress, she also suggested students “identify their personal strengths and weaknesses so they can use them to their advantage”.
Peiling’s top tip was to prepare to learn how to manage your time because it can be hard to work and study at the same time, and scheduling your time can really help. “Buying the textbook instead of using an online textbook” was her other piece of advice. She found it much more convenient when writing her assignments and plans to continue using her textbook in her work now.
“Study something you’re passionate enough about to learn on your own. If you find yourself in a programme where there’s no motivation and you need constant affirmation, change programmes” says Musad. He also says that studying and working was “for the most part, a manageable balance”. Nonetheless, he feels you have to “hold yourself accountable through a vigorous system…don't play the catch-up game” to make sure you’re getting all the work done.
Career progression
The courses offer flexible continual professional development with all the benefits of an on-campus post-graduate experience with freedom of studying at your own pace and around your other commitments. We asked Naylette and Peiling how they thought their ODL courses would help their professional careers.
Naylette has already felt the benefits of her ODL course. "Thanks to the flexibility and control ODL provided me with, I have been able to move residence twice, learn two new languages, and undertake internships and different working roles for many interesting companies”.
Meanwhile, Peiling found her modules were “very practical” and could use “the knowledge…right away” because “all the courses are relevant”.
Musad, who is early in his career, also believes that his course aligned well with his career. He says it “authenticates my experience at work […and] can help me add value to the few years of experience [I have] accumulated”.
If you’re interested in taking one of our flexible, online courses to help with your personal and career development, Sussex alumni can now receive a 20% discount on all ODL Sussex courses, find out more here.