Of all our discussions this past week, I think what intrigued me the most was getting to hear my classmates’ views on online classes. For some, this is the very first online class they have taken. Others, like me, have taken quite a few. This is a topic that everyone has an opinion on, and seemed open with sharing why they had strong feelings one way or another.
In terms of benefits for traditional setting courses, I think the major one that was discussed reflected how beneficial and sometimes time efficient the face-to-face interactions can be. While I do enjoy online classes, I did have a few thoughts on this concept. For example, it can be much more time efficient to answer questions in a more traditional class setting. In a face-to-face interaction, the professor can answer a question in front of the whole class and therefore they are less likely to have to repeat themselves in a series of ten different emails from students asking questions. However, this problem was solved in this online class due to the professor providing a forum strictly for asking technical and genre questions about the class projects. Still, then it is the student’s responsibility to read through everyone else’s questions and the professors responses to see if their question has already been answered. Then if it hasn’t, they would need to present the question and wait for the professor to get online to get back to them. Also, if you ask someone to re-explain a concept, they can tell fairly well from your body language if you understand the explanation or if they need to change their tactics and start presenting the information in a different way. You could go back and forth for days asking professors questions online and either not wording your question correctly or having them miss explaining what it was that you were really asking to begin with.
There are many benefits to taking an online course as well. With the Biology example as well as other classes, I find the in-class time to be useful and interesting...however, I generally have to take the information home to learn it. I enjoy seeing the presentations and learning how the concepts link together, but in order for me to actually get a grasp on the material to the point where I remember it, I need to work through it myself. Still, I use the notes I gathered from the presentation and the professor's power points too. The only exception to this that I can think of is in math. For me to understand a concept in that, I have to focus and learn that as they are teaching it...it would be much harder for me to teach myself those concepts later. Personally, my brain just isn't wired for math, and that's all right! Going along with the "learning at your own pace" sort of idea...for me, the benefit of online classes for me is that I don't have to sit in the lecture hall for 2 hours and then come home to re-teach the material to myself. I just go through it on my own and ask questions when I need help. It's far more of an efficient and independent thing for me I guess.
Something I consider to be a major downfall in terms of online courses though is something that has actually affected me this past week. If your internet is down, then you are kind of stuck. You might miss out on important information or turning things in by their deadlines. Then, your grade could possibly suffer. I’m hoping that since I’m doing my best to submit now what I have in terms of what I’ve been working on (Even though it's a couple days late! Sorry!), I hope that my grade won’t suffer too badly. Technology can be a very beautiful but frustrating thing sometimes!
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