Is attending a college or university online basically like teaching yourself the material ? (best, universities)

[springfieldva]

There are lectures to watch, assignments that are due on or by particular dates, scheduled exams that require a lockdown browser and sometimes are monitored via video camera.

Some online classes allow you to go at your own pace which means that you have to have decent time management. Some courses require the students to follow along a particular schedule throughout the course and expect regular, real time attendance.

[Maryledoux]

I agree, it doesn't matter what kind of teaching it is, a lot depends on you but anyway the teacher plays a very important role in it.

[mitsguy2001]

Originally Posted by tnff

Depends what you mean by "teaching yourself vs brong taught to you."

At the freshman level, there is a bit more imstructor focus. But as you progress the instructor becomes more guide than teacher if you're thinking in basic school terms.

No serious college program, whether in class or on line will spoon feed you. You have to be a serious self motivated learner if you expect to learn in college.

As Professor Kingsfield said in Paper Chase, "You teach yourselves the law. I train your minds."

In other words, now professors who don't teach are a feature, not a bug. lol. While you may possibly have a valid point, I think this is proof that by paying college tuition, all we are doing is buying a piece of paper.

[ILTXwhatnext]

My wife took an online course in human resource management. She didn't go to college, so she was kind of buffaloed at the thought of taking the course. I reassured her that much of college is like high school but with more homework. And mind you, she had worked in HR so she should have had some confidence about it.

The first session she really liked. The guy who taught it really knew what he was talking about, touched on topics that people working in the field recognized as current hot topics, and she really liked it. I hoped she was going to have a good experience for her first college course.

But then it went downhill. She said every week they had a different teacher. The discussion became vague, like a view of the subject from 50,000 feet. It was general, not very useful from day-to-day operations, and it seemed like the school had used their one good teacher to bait the hook or something.

All that aside she didn't like on line learning. If she had a question she'd email the teacher, or if there was a group project she would email others in the class. But because they're often working and attending class on the side, it might be days before she got an answer. And what if that answer raised another question? She'd have to wait for that a few days. In contrast, doing things in person you can stop the teacher when you need to, hear what other students are asking in real time and so on.

They gave her a certificate for completing the class but she felt it was worthless and she wouldn't do it again.

Part 2. I have a niece who is a professor at a university. She said the university is pushing on line classes because they can get the profs to teach more students that way, enhancing their profit. I have another niece, also a prof, at a different school. She says today's bachelor's degree implies as much education as a high school diploma of 30 years ago. I think they're finding ways to get around people cheating on line, but that may still figure into it some.

[BigCityDreamer]

Most education is self-taught.

A teacher or professor is rarely more than a guide.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by BigCityDreamer

Most education is self-taught.

A teacher or professor is rarely more than a guide.

Agreed. Just about everything I ever learned, I either learned from books or videos. The college courses provides 2 things:

1. A set of instructions on what material to go over to learn the subject
2. Credit to apply towards a degree

At least for STEM classes, this is how it feels

[Boffking]

Yes, and that's exactly why it isn't worth it.
I tried to take some online courses from my State U to finish my degree (This was before COVID). It was like reading the world's most overpriced book.
If you want to teach yourself, you can do so without paying big bucks for a university's stamp of approval. Reading on your own and attending meetups or workshops related to what you want to learn is much cheaper and more effective.

[mikesparrow]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

The main difference is that the online college gets you a degree, required for most good jobs. Teching yourself gets you the knowledge, (maybe, if you chose good, accurate websites) but no one wants to hire someone who taught themselves using Google and Youtube. Having a relative that just got his degree online, they do have control to ensure no cheating, so you have to earn the degree. For example, your PC camera is on, with someone monitoring when taking exams.

You might say that again for the first part, pal. But things are changing and nowadays for the best jobs, it's important to actually have the knowledge, not the degree. Hiring managers will properly test your knowledge and skills before you get the job. You might get away with only having a degree for the most common jobs, but if you want to get hired in a highly competitive company you're no good with just a degree. Having the knowledge always pays off!

[ChrissFL]

Originally Posted by ILTXwhatnext

My wife took an online course in human resource management. She didn't go to college, so she was kind of buffaloed at the thought of taking the course. I reassured her that much of college is like high school but with more homework. And mind you, she had worked in HR so she should have had some confidence about it.

The first session she really liked. The guy who taught it really knew what he was talking about, touched on topics that people working in the field recognized as current hot topics, and she really liked it. I hoped she was going to have a good experience for her first college course.

But then it went downhill. She said every week they had a different teacher. The discussion became vague, like a view of the subject from 50,000 feet. It was general, not very useful from day-to-day operations, and it seemed like the school had used their one good teacher to bait the hook or something.

All that aside she didn't like on line learning. If she had a question she'd email the teacher, or if there was a group project she would email others in the class. But because they're often working and attending class on the side, it might be days before she got an answer. And what if that answer raised another question? She'd have to wait for that a few days. In contrast, doing things in person you can stop the teacher when you need to, hear what other students are asking in real time and so on.

They gave her a certificate for completing the class but she felt it was worthless and she wouldn't do it again.

Part 2. I have a niece who is a professor at a university. She said the university is pushing on line classes because they can get the profs to teach more students that way, enhancing their profit. I have another niece, also a prof, at a different school. She says today's bachelor's degree implies as much education as a high school diploma of 30 years ago. I think they're finding ways to get around people cheating on line, but that may still figure into it some.

The quality of any education largely depends on the teacher. I still chose a classical education at the university. But when we had lectures on computer science, they were given by a professor who was completely ignorant of this profession. But we had good training in algebra, physics and other exact sciences. Sometimes I used the online algebra help https://assignmentbro.com/ca/algebra-assignment-help to do my assignments. But more often than not, I had enough of the knowledge that we were told in lectures. I believe I graduated from some of the best colleges I have also tried online courses. If you find a good school based on Google reviews or other reviews, you might be in luck. In fact, it all depends on whether they can hire qualified teachers. I have never had a situation where I had to wait for a response for several days. We had a Slack chat and the teacher always responded quickly.

[ChrissFL]

Originally Posted by ILTXwhatnext

My wife took an online course in human resource management. She didn't go to college, so she was kind of buffaloed at the thought of taking the course. I reassured her that much of college is like high school but with more homework. And mind you, she had worked in HR so she should have had some confidence about it.

The first session she really liked. The guy who taught it really knew what he was talking about, touched on topics that people working in the field recognized as current hot topics, and she really liked it. I hoped she was going to have a good experience for her first college course.

But then it went downhill. She said every week they had a different teacher. The discussion became vague, like a view of the subject from 50,000 feet. It was general, not very useful from day-to-day operations, and it seemed like the school had used their one good teacher to bait the hook or something.

All that aside she didn't like on line learning. If she had a question she'd email the teacher, or if there was a group project she would email others in the class. But because they're often working and attending class on the side, it might be days before she got an answer. And what if that answer raised another question? She'd have to wait for that a few days. In contrast, doing things in person you can stop the teacher when you need to, hear what other students are asking in real time and so on.

They gave her a certificate for completing the class but she felt it was worthless and she wouldn't do it again.

Part 2. I have a niece who is a professor at a university. She said the university is pushing on line classes because they can get the profs to teach more students that way, enhancing their profit. I have another niece, also a prof, at a different school. She says today's bachelor's degree implies as much education as a high school diploma of 30 years ago. I think they're finding ways to get around people cheating on line, but that may still figure into it some.

Perhaps it all depends on what sciences you plan to study. If the exact sciences and get a classical education, then studying at a college or university may be better. After all, their diploma will be recognized better than the course certificate. But there, of course, it is important that the teacher be a professional and love his profession. And the school fulfilled all its obligations. If you want to study programming and in some college you will be taught by a professor who is 70 years old and who also programmed in Assembler, then it will probably be difficult. Many modern libraries, especially when it comes to the frontend, are changing rapidly and it will be good if the teacher is a practicing professional himself. Thus, you will not have a college degree, but the quality of knowledge will be higher. And you will not spend several long years studying. I think it all very much depends on what you want to study.