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Love it, the worse part of college is the students, second worse part is the schedule.
It was great because there were no constraints with time like a classroom, I could take longer on some things, blow through other things that I understood. Group work was good and reflected what actually happens a lot in the business world, collaboration via online as people you are working with might not be physically located where you are.
I tend to dislike it because you wind up watching the videos and working the homework without the interaction and feedback that happens in class. You might watch the video on Friday night, be stumped by something, and have to keep moving on with that point missing. By the time you either get an email response or actually "see" the professor in the group chat a few days later, you've lost the context of the question and have moved on.
I have never taken on line classes. What is this forums general assessment of this form of education? Does it diminish learning or enhance it?
For myself, I can't imagine enjoying it. I like the classroom atmosphere, teacher give and take and discussion.
When I was going to college there where 3 types of classes.
1 - traditional classrooms
2 - independent/lab style
3 - online classes (these were just starting)
I had both traditional and independent classes. Both served their purposes fine. The independent classes
were courses/classes that you met once/twice a week with the instructor. IE: Monday you get your assignment, by Friday you needed to have it all in. You could email or hand it in depending on the class.
As for online classes, I don't like them much. I tried taking one several years ago, and it was a pita. I like using my computer for class work. But the online course setup didn't work well for me. It may have been the course I was taking. But overall it was a waste for me. I would have done better in a traditional classroom or independent/lab style class.
These new facebook/time classrooms don't appear much better to me.
I have never taken on line classes. What is this forums general assessment of this form of education? Does it diminish learning or enhance it?
For myself, I can't imagine enjoying it. I like the classroom atmosphere, teacher give and take and discussion.
I've done both an in-person Master's (full time, resident), and an on-line Master's (part time, while working), at large public schools. Both were in STEM fields, where there was usually an objective solution (some policy and law classes were not objective, but the majority of the classes were at their heart, quantitative or the solution wasn't purely theoretical).
My observations:
On line requires a kind of discipline most people bluntly don't have. Far too easy to blow off watching classes seriously and getting after the homework and projects. For in-person, at least, getting to class was half the battle-once you're in there, you're in there.
If you HAVE the discipline, on line classes can be an excellent way to review material as you go. Didn't get something first time? Rewatch that portion of the class, maybe after attempting a problem set, second time is probably the charm. Budget some time, but if you have that time and discipline you'll probably retain more.
Some professors get a little overexcited about forcing group interaction in on line, sometimes in less effective ways. An example: 'must post 250-500 words in order to reply to 2 separate posts' even when it's not a good week to do so. People then play a game of chicken on who will post first, because the first post doesn't count for your reply....
Just like in-person groups, you'll get free riders in group work in on-line classes, but it's harder to have a discussion with the free rider about group expectations.
You'll often hear people talk about how they 'learn more from their classmates' through in-person classes. They must have won the lottery on classmates, because mine were, by and large, a bunch of fools who apparently liked to talk to heat the room with their hot air.
Very difficult to bend metal in on line engineering classes if your discipline has a major lab or project component. You won't have adequate lab facilities at home and simulations just never really did it for me. A little less difficult to program, but I always found it easier to do so in a lab environment. I know that makes no sense, a virtual environment is a virtual environment, but it's easier in a lab to get into a programming mindset if you are surrounded by blinky lights and high-end boxes.
Drama in the classroom (people stressing out, personal conflicts) happened occasionally on the in-person classes, but not once during on-line.
Your opinions may vary. Being able to work while still adding to my knowledge was a good fit for me, but there was some obvious attrition during the on line program that I didn't see so much during the in residence program, so it didn't fit everybody.
Love it, the worse part of college is the students, second worse part is the schedule.
It was great because there were no constraints with time like a classroom, I could take longer on some things, blow through other things that I understood. Group work was good and reflected what actually happens a lot in the business world, collaboration via online as people you are working with might not be physically located where you are.
This. After English 101 on campus, it was a big, "Nope," from me and I switched to as many online courses as available for the next semester. Never looked back.
There's always that one student who wants to argue with everything the professor or other students say. Maybe this happens less in large University settings, but in a small classroom, it was like highschool all over again.
Then, there's always that one professor who really should see a therapist and uses class time to drone on about their personal problems, like their divorce or kid's drug habit. No room for that online!
I never had group work for online classes, or at least that I remember. We had forums, discussions, study groups that could meet up, and peer reviews though.
I like online college classes for the convenience, but I don't like that a few teachers make you do assignments due every 2-3 days rather than every week like as if you don't have a life outside of the online class, or that one can't go ahead in the material even if they finish the prior week early. Also, as a K-12 teacher, I liked that academic quality was much easier to maintain and offer which minimal distractions of bullying and mouthiness from students.
Not a fan. My MBA has had to switch to online. I’m only one weekend in, but I miss the classroom so much. Even though we are doing a full video conference with the professor, the dynamic of the classroom discussion is completely upended.
We are starting online for my 3rd grader tomorrow. I will be curious to see how it goes.
I enjoyed online classes for convenience. I was able to do my studies while working full-time. Had I gone the traditional route, I would've had to do evening courses at my local university, and I didn't want to drive to campus after a long day at work. I already had the discipline to balance online study with professional responsibility, so it was nothing to me. Did my Bachelor's and Master's online, and I finished my degrees earlier than traditional students. Once I did my last assignment and final exam, that was it. Done.
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I tried taking one several years ago, and it was a pita. 
