If COVID-19 has made you yearn to take your life in a different direction, it can be hard to figure out where to start. Perhaps you dream of switching up your career, but can’t figure out how exactly to make it happen. After all, if you’re currently a parent, it can be enough to wrangle your child for digital learning while trying to keep pace working remotely as well. That being said, with the prevalence of online degree programs, it’s actually easier than ever to make the career moves you need to and pivot into a new field.
Online learning options and college degrees have come a long way in the past 10 or 20 years. When it comes to completing your degree program at your own pace, it’s hard to argue with pursuing college online. It’s also worth noting that there are hundreds of different programs that you can complete through online coursework, whether you’re looking to switch into the medical field, want to get involved in teaching, or pursue a creative endeavor like graphic design. Here are just a few of the easiest and best degree programs to look at online if you’re eager to open a new door in your life.
You can get a special education degree online.
If you have a passion for helping students, particularly those with special needs, then it might be worth pursuing an education degree online. Enrolling in an Applied Behavioral Analysis Program (ABA program) is an excellent way to get your master’s degree in education (MED), while learning skills to help students that have learning or other behavioral disabilities. Ensuring that these students’ needs are met in the classroom is vital to work and can be quite fulfilling, so finding an online program to pursue your master’s degree in education can really be a positive career change for you, and have an impact on others as well. You can also use the coursework requirements in an ABA program to become a board-certified behavior analyst, making you a great applicant for working with students with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities. While many programs do ultimately require some form of in-person practicum work, you’ll be able to learn the ropes online and have the knowledge you need to succeed when it comes to completing your practicum work and licensure requirements.
You can pivot to becoming a nurse online.
Pursuing your online nursing degree is another way to pursue becoming a caregiver and having the opportunity to work in a clinic or other work environment where you can really help others. For example, if you have a passion for helping those facing hearing loss or tinnitus, it may be worth seeing if you can use your online degree to help people get better hearing through conducting hearing tests at an audiology clinic or assisting an audiologist in this work. Once you have your degree, it’s simple to find a hearing center in Denver (or wherever you may live), so that you can have a short commute to work at a hearing clinic helping conduct tests and outfit patients with high-quality hearing aids so they can improve their hearing.
You can learn how to start your own creative agency online.
If you’ve always had a knack for drawing or design, maybe the time is right to launch your own creative agency! There are plenty of visual art and graphic design programs that can be completed online at your own pace. Or, perhaps you just want to brush up on your graphic design skills by taking a few core classes in the fundamentals of Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign and pair that with a business degree or MBA. Especially if you already have a degree from undergrad, leveling up with an MBA can be a great way to pursue a more lucrative field and start working for yourself and setting your own hours and rates.
