Strengths and weaknesses of the distance learner

Since each student is different, their strengths and weaknesses will also be different; they are determined by the skills and the interest that students have for the courses being taken; a student may have the ability in one area of study and succeed, but find difficult another and fail.

The main strengths that are essential in students are organization and hard working. For students, being able to coordinate and give the time to as many courses they might have is imperative. Organization goes together with hard work, which includes keeping up to the studying schedule. Working hard may involve spending too much time in libraries or in the house preparing their homework and projects.

Having a good level of reading comprehension is a valuable strength for students since most of their work, being on distance, will be on written texts.

           On the other side, the most common weaknesses seen in students are lack of motivation and procrastination. Most students begin a course with great expectations, but as time goes by, they might lose their motivation due that they find the course boring, difficult or too hard to keep up with it. But what seems to be the biggest weakness of students is procrastination. Putting off assignments or waiting until the last moment is can lead to a bad grade or adding months, if not years.
           Distance education can be a pleasant and satisfying experience. But, distance education is not for everyone. While some persons do well on the autonomy and liberty offered through such classes, others find themselves regretting their decision and craving they had enrolled at a traditional education system.