Where did you take your first college class? For me, it was at my high school, where a handful of other seniors and I met at 7:30 every weekday morning — an hour before regular classes began — for an English class that I now know would have been called dual enrollment. Students in the class received high school credit hours as well as college credit hours through the local community college.
For students today, their first college experiences might happen online. It’s common and even expected for higher education institutions to offer courses online; some schools offer all of their courses exclusively online. A few years ago, we might have perceived online education to be less rigorous than in-person classes, and we might have thought that only sketchy, faraway, for-profit schools offered web-based courses at all. Today, however, many public and private colleges and universities — two-year and four-year schools — provide many courses through web delivery.
Have you taken any web-based courses? If so, what were the advantages and disadvantages over classroom-based courses? Do you believe online courses offer the same rigor as in-person courses? How about value?
I took my first online course in the summer of 2006 at Northeast State Community College. I had just completed my first year of college and wanted to get a few more general education courses out of the way. I took art history online. The advantages of this course where the flexibility of time. I worked in the summers and this allowed me to complete assignments at my leisure and around my work schedule. The disadvantage of this online course is that I cannot even tell you the professor’s name. As I think back about my traditional classroom based college courses I can think about professor characteristics. My online art history class did not provide a relationship between the professor and myself. I believe online courses have become equal to classroom-based courses. The value is the same – you get out what you put in!
You get out what you put in — very true!
When I took my first college course, I never would have fathomed being able to take courses online. During my graduate studies, I even remember my cohort chair telling us about his endeavors to create the first online course for our program… at that was somewhere between 2001-2004. I took my first online course as part of the UNC-CH MSW program, but it was only open to those who had graduated… so I had to take it after graduation. It was a School Law class (for my school social worker license) and I absolutely loved it. I readily embraced the ability to work from my couch in my pjs and to have great debates via “discussion forums” with my classmates. Honestly, I felt the face-to-face program lacked this level of debate… there is a difference when you put your words in writing for all to see and respond to, thoughtfully. Face-to-face conversations in class seemed to lack that depth for me and my classmates (and I am sure myself included) often commented just to get the instructors attention and our points for the day…
. Others were very receptive and great participants and I do feel like they learned even more from each other in the forum environment.
That said, I have also taken a two other online courses in an MPA program I briefly pursued. One course was great, with a high level of student interaction and instructor guidance. The other course was awful. As students we craved feedback and interaction from our instructor but rarely heard from her. We were interacting as a group, but her guidance was missing which made this course a disappointment.
I have also taught one “hybrid” undergraduate BSW course. While I thought it was a good idea at the time, I quickly learned that a couple of students really took it as an opportunity to do minimal work and actually probably needed more of that face-to-face time to facilitate their participation. Despite my best efforts to guide them with clear expectations one or two of them just didn’t get it… and were very unhappy with their grades. Luckily, I had the electronic log to back me up
So, I don’t think there is any inherent difference in rigor. Rather, I think online courses can be high quality or low quality, just as face-to-face courses can vary. I do think instructor facilitation and student readiness are key factors in success.
It seems like some students might be better suited for online courses, and some for face-to-face courses. How students adapt to independent working might define their online success. Thanks!
I have not taken an online course before. It seems like music classes would be hard to offer that way, though I see banner ads frequently to get your music Ed degree on line.
Good point that music courses probably work best in person! Thanks for your input.
I appreciate what darcus2008 said: “So, I don’t think there is any inherent difference in rigor. Rather, I think online courses can be high quality or low quality, just as face-to-face courses can vary. I do think instructor facilitation and student readiness are key factors in success.”
As a traditional teacher (I like to see their confused faces in the classroom with me), I have an inherent distrust of online classes.
I have talked with many online teachers who bemoan how they are constantly getting emails from students who did not read the directions or who keep emailing asking if previous emails were received. I told one colleague that I would consider teaching online if he could get through a semester and tell me it was a good experience. He has since been worn out and retired, with no positive semester to report.
Another online teacher felt a student wasn’t doing his own work online, but could not prove it. (I believe this was a student I later caught plagiarizing in a traditional course.) We have many stories of students taking tests for each other in computer labs at one of our campuses……
It certainly does depend on the teacher and the student. I hear so many students say they didn’t want to take an online course, but it was all that was available.
I still like the in-person interaction.
Perhaps the hybrid situation is a good compromise.
Signed,
At Least I Don’t Use Chalk Anymore
“He has since been worn out and retired, with no positive semester to report.” I love it! I like in-person courses, too, but it seems that online courses are catching on quickly at TBR institutions. You are exactly correct about the issue of students being able to cheat or take tests for each other, and I’m curious to see how (or if) that problem is resolved. Thanks for your feedback!
Some great comments on here. I have not taken any online classes and was still able to comeplete a Master’s degree. I also agree with previous posts that a student will only get as much as they give, but this is true with any learning environment. The biggest deciding factor for me was the amount of self-discipline required to take online classes. I have no self-discipline when it comes to that type of learning. I know that I have to be in a classroom, hearing the material not just reading it, to really grasp it. So, I would say that before a student enrolls in/pays for any college classes, a honest self evaluation of his/her learning type is needed to ensure success!
True! A student who isn’t sure about self-discipline and self-motivation wouldn’t be a good fit for an online class. Thanks!
The farther along I go and the deeper I immerse myself in this world called online education, the more I am struck by the parallels and similarities to so-called traditional education, rather than the differences. Perhaps it’s because I’ve taken classes in both modes as a student, and I have taught and currently still teach in both ways. Academic rigor and academic integrity are issues for both. Cheating and plagiarism are issues for both. Student engagement, retention, and completion are issues for both. In fact, I become more convinced each day that instructors and students react to both situations — online or traditional classes — in the same manner with the same set of habits that they would if the course were face to face or web. The lackadaisical, disorganized, everything-in-flux instructor (or student) is a disaster online, just as he is in a traditional course. The converse is true, as well. My ultimate conclusions are that students definitely prefer traditional courses to online courses, but students then defy their own preferences and choose online courses far more often because they have little or no choice. They’re busy and this is the only option. That isn’t likely to change, either. A blended model of traditional face-to-face with a high percentage of online work: this is the best of both worlds. When I think back to the sterile, nothing-but-text web pages of my first online courses (as both a student and instructor), I almost chuckle. My courses now have interactive learning objects, video lectures, discussion boards, voice thread recordings, podcasts, and a wide variety of things that make learning online quite similar to being right in the same room with me. As the technology advances and changes the online world, there may be only two significant questions to ask: (1) how much interaction did you get with one another? (2) how well are you able to motivate yourself, avoid procrastination, and be a “self starter”?
Excellent points, Darren. Students might see online courses in a more positive light if the courses consistently delivered interactive learning objects, video lectures, discussion boards, etc., as ways to make the learning experience more effective. Thank you!
I have also participated in online courses as a student and a professor. I feel that their benefits far outweigh their deficits, many of which are now minimal due to enhanced technology. When I took online courses as a student in the early 2000′s, there were none of the bells and whistles Darren mentioned. You needed to be a self-starter, organized, dedicated, and focused on your goals. You also couldn’t require tutoring or extra help. It was figure it out yourself or nothing. I know from teaching totally online for about a year that it has improved vastly. I believe that if a student really wants to learn and a professor really wants to invest in students learning, then any classroom environment will be growth inducing to the student (online or traditional). My preference will always be face to face, but I find online to be no less challenging and maybe even more so due to the self-monitoring nature required for success.
My first class was at ETSU! it was World History and I thought it was amazing. As far as online classes, I haven’t had very much experience with them. This is really my first go around. I majored in Mathematics during undergrad and I can’t honestly say how I would have felt taking some of those classes online. I was very immature during undergrad and I truly felt that if there had been in rigor what-so-ever I would have failed out. Just too much freedom for me to handle at that age. Now, I don’t believe that all undergrads have that problem, but I certainly did. If my degree had been online, I wouldn’t be here.
That being said, I really like being able to take classes online now. I love working at my own pace. 1 hour here, 4 hours there, call it a week, pick it back up on Monday… maybe Tuesday. No need to fear going out of town and sick time is now when I get work done rather than miss it. Are they equally valuable? I guess that really depends on what kind of learner you are. Their value has changed as I have.