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Online learning has revolutionised higher education because of the many advantages it offers. As an online student, you are able to learn at your own pace and time, at a much lower cost.
But studying for your degree online may also raise some questions and concerns. It’s a new and unknown experience, so it is natural to be uncertain about what to expect and how the process will unfold.
While your Student Adviser will walk you through the entire process upfront and will be there to support you every step of the way from first contact to graduation, we also offer the following brief highlights as an introduction to the Online Learning Experience.
Study anytime, anywhere, at your own pace, with no live lectures, tutorials, or seminars to attend. All materials (readings, videos, case studies, forums) are available 24/7 on the VLE. Tutors provide weekly guidance and feedback via forums or messages. You submit work by set deadlines but choose when to complete it. Optional live webinars and annual online conferences that may be arranged, offer real-time engagement, complementing (not replacing) the core asynchronous model; ideal for busy professionals.
The programme includes the following asynchronous activities:
Low-stakes tasks that develop learning through practice and feedback before summative assessment. Examples include quizzes, short written exercises, and peer/tutor-mediated tasks. They promote self-assessment and reflection, helping students identify gaps and improve.
Tutor-moderated spaces that are central to collaborative learning. Tutors post prompts, guide critical analysis, and encourage engagement with different perspectives. Students contribute substantively, respond to peers, and show progression in thinking.
Pre-recorded lectures, narrated slides, and weekly topic overviews hosted on the VLE for flexible access. They are supported by curated readings, case studies, and self-check activities to reinforce and consolidate understanding.
Ongoing academic support through timely written feedback, responses to queries via the VLE, and a tutor presence in forums. Where appropriate, tutors may offer one-to-one support via asynchronous messaging for clarification and guidance.
Reimagined as asynchronous, interactive activities such as simulations, reflective prompts, problem-based or scenario-based tasks. Students receive clear instructions and resources and complete the work independently within a defined but flexible timeframe.
Supervision delivered through formative tasks and continuous communication; primarily via embedded discussion fora, complemented by VLE messaging. Tutors provide regular, constructive feedback (especially in project-based modules) to prepare students for summative submissions. Students can seek clarification and further guidance asynchronously; tutors ensure timely academic support.
Formal, graded tasks (e.g., final projects, essays) that evaluate achievement against the module learning outcome and contribute to the final module grade.
While you're required to log in at least two separate days each week, you will, of course, benefit greatly from regular and more frequent attendance.
Your online course experience will take place on an advanced learning management system designed to facilitate the optimal learning experience for students. In addition to the educational platform, you'll use it to exchange written messages with faculty and fellow students, with communication taking place asynchronously rather than in real time. You'll also have access to e-textbooks offering you the capability to highlight, annotate, create bookmarks, search, download and self-assess.
Each module is carefully planned to align with an expectation of the depth and breadth of study required to achieve an award at a given level. In planning the learning activities within each programme, there is an expectation that the average student will dedicate approximately ten hours of total study time to achieve 1 'credit' (this approximation includes all asynchronous learning activities, preparatory work, independent reading, writing, completion of assessment tasks, and time spent engaging in asynchronous discussion forums or viewing pre-recorded virtual seminars and workshops). As an example, a candidate participating in a 20 credit module which lasts eight weeks could be expected to devote an average of 25 hours of study time each week (200 hours total) in order to achieve the learning outcomes of the module and complete the assessments. Whilst there is no hard and fast rule on this (for example, each candidate will have a unique profile in terms of the time it will take them to read and understand learning materials, or complete written work), the following list of tasks may help you to understand the time commitment necessary to successfully complete your programme:
Within a typical module, candidates will be required each week to:
Designed to mirror the learning experience of a campus classroom, the online programme includes extensive asynchronous participation and interaction with faculty and other students. All communication takes place in writing through structured discussion forums, message boards, and other tools where you can post and respond in your own time. You will also use the online platform to contact advisers, teaching assistants, and instructional specialists, with all engagement happening in a flexible, written, non-real-time format.
Upon successful completion of the programme, you will receive a collaborative degree awarded by Liverpool John Moores University and delivered online through Unicaf.
Module sequences begin multiple times per year based on demand, so you have the opportunity to enroll and begin your degree programme on more than one occasion throughout the year thus affording you the flexibility not often found in most face-to-face programmes.
You'll take one module at a time. This advanced learning method designed for adults allows you to concentrate your entire focus on one subject area before moving onto the next, while also allowing you to earn your degree in an accelerated time frame.
