2008 Woodie Awards
Online classes more difficult than first perceived
Lisa Vargas
Issue date: 9/13/06 Section: Opinion
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Online classes give me a false sense of hope. I used to believe that online classes were merely going online and doing your work, but I was way off.
You have to work harder when taking an online class; at least this is how I perceive it.
First you have to figure out if there's an orientation for the class, which helps explain the details of the class. Such as, what Web site you need to go to, how to log on, and how to reach your instructor.This is information that online students need to know.
So, when I took an online summer school class, I couldn't find a date for an orientation. I e-mailed the instructor for the class asking for the orientation date. All I got back was an e-mail simply stating, "There are no orientations for online classes……." I couldn't believe I got such a vague, period-filled e-mail from a teacher.
I finally got an e-mail from the teacher explaining the class and how we went about doing assignments. It finally all made sense but made me feel stupid for not knowing there wasn't an orientation for online classes.
Another hurdle with an online class is the connection. According to either the syllabus or the Web site for the class, it was highly recommended you drop the class if you have dial-up Internet; it made my stomach turn, because I'm one of 10 who still have dial-up Internet.
The reasoning for this was because of the timer that counted down the time you had for tests. I figured I'd try it once on my dial-up, and if it didn't work I'd simply just go to a friend's house to take a test if I needed to.
The first test I took went fine, I didn't run out of time and the timer seemed to be keeping the right time. I did not see a reason to drop the class. But I wish they had said something about this somewhere else, such as the class schedule, or on the BC Web site's section on online classes.
I decided to take another online class for the fall semester because I couldn't find a math class that fit into my schedule.
You have to work harder when taking an online class; at least this is how I perceive it.
First you have to figure out if there's an orientation for the class, which helps explain the details of the class. Such as, what Web site you need to go to, how to log on, and how to reach your instructor.This is information that online students need to know.
So, when I took an online summer school class, I couldn't find a date for an orientation. I e-mailed the instructor for the class asking for the orientation date. All I got back was an e-mail simply stating, "There are no orientations for online classes……." I couldn't believe I got such a vague, period-filled e-mail from a teacher.
I finally got an e-mail from the teacher explaining the class and how we went about doing assignments. It finally all made sense but made me feel stupid for not knowing there wasn't an orientation for online classes.
Another hurdle with an online class is the connection. According to either the syllabus or the Web site for the class, it was highly recommended you drop the class if you have dial-up Internet; it made my stomach turn, because I'm one of 10 who still have dial-up Internet.
The reasoning for this was because of the timer that counted down the time you had for tests. I figured I'd try it once on my dial-up, and if it didn't work I'd simply just go to a friend's house to take a test if I needed to.
The first test I took went fine, I didn't run out of time and the timer seemed to be keeping the right time. I did not see a reason to drop the class. But I wish they had said something about this somewhere else, such as the class schedule, or on the BC Web site's section on online classes.
I decided to take another online class for the fall semester because I couldn't find a math class that fit into my schedule.
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