Would You Take Online Classes?
SodaHead Sports
2012/07/21 18:45:36
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Online education definitely has its benefits. It can save students time and money in terms of cheaper tuition and less traveling to college campuses. Like many other things in life, online education can also have its drawbacks, as recently covered by The New York Times (Read more: "The Trouble With Online Education.") Online courses can be more good than bad or vice versa depending who you are.
If you are someone that needs more hands-on learning, being in a traditional classroom or lecture hall may be more beneficial to you. Having a teacher explain concepts to you front row center is sometimes a lot better than reading words on a computer screen, followed by a couple chapters in a textbook. Even instructional videos, as visually explanatory as they are, can't necessarily replace a professor that can sit down and walk you through everything.
As we mentioned before though, everybody is different. Some students are self-starters and can read chapter to chapter, cover to cover, and go through instructional videos understanding everything there is to know in a course. At the end of the day, no matter how a student does in an online course, there is a part of the college experience--the relationship with professors and classmates, enjoying the college campus, etc.--that they will be missing out on.
What about you SodaHeads? Would you take online classes?
If you are someone that needs more hands-on learning, being in a traditional classroom or lecture hall may be more beneficial to you. Having a teacher explain concepts to you front row center is sometimes a lot better than reading words on a computer screen, followed by a couple chapters in a textbook. Even instructional videos, as visually explanatory as they are, can't necessarily replace a professor that can sit down and walk you through everything.
As we mentioned before though, everybody is different. Some students are self-starters and can read chapter to chapter, cover to cover, and go through instructional videos understanding everything there is to know in a course. At the end of the day, no matter how a student does in an online course, there is a part of the college experience--the relationship with professors and classmates, enjoying the college campus, etc.--that they will be missing out on.
What about you SodaHeads? Would you take online classes?
Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/opinion/the-trou...
It really makes you participate in class more; you can't just sit back in class and coast through it. The computer monitored how much you were participating and posting comments on the site.
We also had a face-to-face component twice a year. So it wasn't entirely without the traditional classroom experience.
On the whole, I'd recommend it. Especially if money or distance is an issue. Studying online makes it easier to manage both.
He also had a mini-series where he spent a few minutes relecturing essential concepts on his own in front of the camera. That way, you didn't have to rewatch the whole lecture if you didn't understand covalent bonds. You could just click on the covalent bond video.
The last nifty bit of online assistance (beyond practice problems, quizzes, tests, etc) he provided were videos where his TAs would work out example problems. You could watch step by step how things were done in case you needed help on a homework or practice question.
Truly sweet class. That man was awesome.