online english literature degree

online english literature degree

Exploring the Benefits and Opportunities of Pursuing an Online English Literature Degree

1. Introduction to Online Education in English Literature

Distance education is considered a resource that enables students from different social segments and coming from different regions to access, in a convenient and flexible manner, quality education. In the twenty-first century, especially with the explosion of innovation in technology, an innovative vision was perceived in this area. Thus, a new perspective that questions the use of specific times and spaces is established. Distance learning came about with the purpose of creating an opportunity to offer education to those who would not consider other traditional forms of learning. However, over time, the distance teaching model has been revised and studied. The online modality has been highlighted and established itself as a format that allows flexibilities regarding place, time of study, and pace of learning of the education process.

Distance learning, in addition to other approaches to teaching and learning involving the use of technology, has grown steadily in the post-secondary field across the last few years and is vastly changing the higher education landscape beyond traditional and face-to-face teaching and learning scenarios. In the English Literature area, the use of technology has smoothed the way for the development of the online degree higher education programs. Thus, a significant number of learning opportunities that are stemming up have been welcomed by the learners to acquire distance learning experiences in the pursuit of undergraduate and graduate degrees while prioritizing the establishment of a learning culture focused on training and the development of higher-order skills of the students, comprising a rich and meaningful communication in which learning occurs.

2. Advantages of Pursuing an Online English Literature Degree

To further enhance these skills, students have the opportunity to join book clubs and compete in different online literature contests. Such competitions will challenge students to write and articulate their interpretations about literature. Through these sections of literature-related growth, students of English literature will be able to shine well as professionals, capable of speaking with confidence, poise, and elegance.

Foster interpersonal and communication skills. To fully comprehend the power of English literature, students are required to develop communication skills that set them apart from individuals careless and uncultured about life-changing pieces of literary art. Whether it be reading novels, plays, or poems, taking multiple English literature courses taught by individual professors will grant students more time discussing their interpretations with others, resulting in the student becoming more receptive to different perspectives. As students find themselves talking to diverse groups over time, they become more experienced when articulating their thoughts, ultimately helping to develop interpersonal and communication skills.

For individuals who enjoy reading mysterious page-turners, unraveling Shakespearean plays, and discussing ambitious literature with friends or even complete strangers, earning an English degree in literature may sound as exciting as it does immensely overwhelming. Difficult to master, an English literature degree can be quite intimidating, especially for an individual who has other responsibilities. This is why, by understanding the benefits of pursuing this degree, one can further appreciate the value of earning it.

3. Key Components of an Online English Literature Program

Unlike science programs, which require students to engage in branded lab work and time-consuming internship and practicum training, the majority of course material for an undergraduate degree in English literature can be made available online. Core components of any conventional English literature program usually consist of such courses as Medieval Literature, Shakespeare, 19th Century Novel, Writing Across the Media, Women’s Literature, etc. These traditional courses, under the guidance of an English literature program’s curriculum committee, usually tack on select new courses every few years, including contemporary topics, new materials, and recurring teaching themes. Standard English literature course materials are composed of reading material like novels, poetry, and essays. These days, most, if not all, of the reading material can be digitized, with the remaining reference material transferred to the librarian’s database, museum databases and Websites, such as Project Gutenberg, Bartleby, the Modern English Collection, the Milton Reading Room, and the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore. Complete text service, anthology, dictionary, and grammar resources should also be made available for the free use of all online students.

With the increasing popularity of distance education, many established schools are now offering online English literature degree programs. Future students looking to enroll in an online English literature degree program will likely consider the program curriculum, school reputation, professional accomplishments of faculty members, level of student satisfaction, and tuition cost. As such, most of these points can be explored online and further clarified with direct communication with the school they are interested in. However, limiting one’s consideration to such information does not provide a comprehensive profile. In actuality, there are many other unique, revealing factors that contribute to the success of a distance learning program, such as the school’s background, design of the course material, learning platform, student-faculty ratio, opportunities for student interaction, integration with traditional campus-based education, and readiness of the school to utilize the latest technology. An example of the last point is a program’s readiness to use the iPad in education or to utilize the emerging trend in m-learning.

4. Career Opportunities and Paths for Graduates

While the last two career paths may not be related to career opportunities so much, such as a job as an English teacher, an online degree in English literature provides those wishing to pursue a career in this field the qualifications needed to teach from the comfort of their homes. In addition to the aforementioned positions, a degree in English literature provides graduates with the background and knowledge of English and the particular writing skills desired to succeed in other career-related professions. Other career paths linked to the degree are TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) instructor, research assistant, work in publishing, journalism, law, performance arts, public relations, media, internet start-up, marketing, and professional writing.

Graduating with a degree of any kind opens the doors of your future, and having an undergraduate diploma allows you to begin the journey of a defined career. An online degree in English literature prepares those passionate about working in this field with a writing portfolio and skills that many companies or organizations are seeking. The main known job routes are the following: editor, blogger or copywriter, journalist, librarian or researcher, lawyer, online teacher, retail buyer at establishments that sell books.

5. Conclusion and Future Trends

The aforementioned future trends are interrelated and interdependent, so they may influence one another, but they must be analyzed independently to be better understood. Two hypothetical future scenarios are discussed because their implications are expected to widely affect the demand for the studied British online BA program in English Literature. The first is the worldwide expansion of online undergraduate education, made by means of the practical development of appropriate technology, programming deemed difficult, and authoring of high-quality content, approached associated with faculty training and motivation. In sum, this scenario can provide competitive high-quality academic education to unprecedentedly large and diverse masses, who thus may fulfill their aspirations improving their chances to sustainably prosper and benefit from the resulting societal, economic, and political nurturing.

It was concluded that pursuing an online BA in English Literature from universities with the highest competitive research status and the most experienced distance and online learning extended their studies to locations and schedules that would not have been possible, provided the opportunity to gain a quality education from quality faculty, and have a professional or academic future in which they can convert their educational investment into meaningful economic and social benefits. The latter are key to the economic and social development of both the country where the university is settled and the graduate’s country of origin but is not always recognized by policymakers. Policies to facilitate the growth of international students in such courses are also required.