Attending an online class has come a long way in just a few short years. I’ve seen a lot of the transformation first hand. I’ve not only worked for a college that has an online education option and I’ve actually taken classes and completed a degree by primarily taking classes online.

So grab your trusty pen, phone or computer however, you take notes best and let’s take a look at online education.

Definitely convenient, without a doubt much more so, taking classes online saved me so much time! When I was taking classes I was working between 8-10 hours a day, combine this with family responsibilities, and outside commitments, plus commuting about an hour each way, gotta love construction season in Chicago! Some of those I was in class with were taking classes at the campus and online, so I heard about the frustrations of taking class and working in addition to their responsibilities.

I didn’t miss the four hour class lecture time, and then the commute home after 10 pm only to be at work the next day at 9 am.

I could simply focus on the homework and learning for the week. I had everything at my finger tips when I was taking classes online.

• Resources to help me with each assignment,
• Outlines for what was to be turned in,
• A library for my research,
• Additional resources posted by my professor, plus I had access to my professor, through an e-mail address, and frequently a phone listing the days and times that they’d be available to answer questions and help out.

My online classroom was set up similarly to a black board dialogue.

I’m not going to assume that you know what a black board is; most of my students were not sure. It’s similar in a way to a forum. There would be a couple of topics for discussion posted by the professor related to the lecture, which is something I could easily read through in about 5-10 minutes, so much better than the four hours in the classroom with my schedule.

After reading the lecture and the chapters for the week I’d jump into the discussion and answer the questions in each forum discussion. Typically there were two discussions set up that I had to respond to three separate times, this was the initial requirement. Some professors requested that you were online an additional time per week if you wanted an A in the class. So it is up to the professor if they want you to go above and beyond to get a great grade.

 

I understood that, he wanted to see that the students who really wanted to be the top of the class do to prove it.

 

I had home work that needed to be turned in weekly whether this was a paper or a project that had to be completed, I could schedule time during the week to make sure that I finished the assignment and turn it in.

A common question is how do you turn in your homework? That’s easy, you pick up the paper or project as an attachment from your computer and post it on the site where instructed. My school had a specific button which allowed us to turn in our assignments. Some schools just have you e-mail the assignment as an attachment. The principle is the same; there is just a difference in the delivery.

If you are taking classes online, be sure to check to see how your school and professor want your assignments turned in.

Tests and quizzes, how do they work?

Well for each college it’s a bit different obviously, but in each class there were either mid terms, and or finals that accompanied the homework.

Side Note: An online class should have all the components of a traditional classroom. This is how they stay in compliance with the accrediting requirements of the school. If you are a little confused about how accreditation works take a second to learn more on my article about accreditation. http://www.sophiemaddox.com/2009/11/05/accreditation/

Our quizzes and tests were open note, but timed. So if you didn’t follow the study guide and actually understand the material it would be difficult to pass the test. Just because the test was open note doesn’t mean that it’s easy. In my experience, I’ve found that the opposite was true actually, the open note tests were even harder than tests in classes I’ve taken traditionally where you cannot use your notes.

This is how my classes online were structured.

Now that’s not to say that there weren’t problems, any time you have a class online you can have problems, simply because of the format. But the best thing that helped me was to get a head start on the class, was once I was registered I began learning everything I could about what was needed for each class and what computer requirements I needed to pass the class. I had some project management classes so the software had to be up to speed. I had to make sure that for each class I had the right software put on my computer; in addition I had the tech support number within easy reach.

So in summary, this hopefully will give you a better idea if taking classes online will work for you. You have everything at your finger tips for taking classes online, but can you process information through reading easily?

Do you know your learning style? If not check out my post on understanding your learning style it’s very helpful and by asking yourself simple questions you can see what this is for you and understand more about your ability to learn to assess if online is the best option for you.

http://www.sophiemaddox.com/2009/10/29/unique-learning-styl/

 

I do want to say that if this is not something that works for you that this is okay! Don’t feel that you’re unable to get where you want in attaining an education just because online classes don’t work for you. That’s not a problem. There were certain classes I wouldn’t consider taking online if I have an option for taking the class physically. There are simply some subjects where taking classes online would be a bit difficult to say the least. This is simply a way to see what it’s like taking classes online and finding out more clearly if this is for you. http://www.sophiemaddox.com/2009/10/29/discover-if-co…ight-for-you-2

Look at other options for education see my post on alternatives to college education, perhaps one of these will fit you better for gaining the information you need to get where you want to be with your life.

Share