Jump to content

Anyone ever take an online class?


Captain Hindsight

Recommended Posts

I'm looking to advance my career/ find a job/ pay my bills/ acquire more debt and I found a program recently that is entirely online. Its 6 courses, 24 credits total

 

I've never taken an online course even while I was in school, so I guess i'm a little wary of if its hard to focus and keep track of everything and be able to communicate with the professors and classmates and such.

 

Anyone have an experience with this? It seems more and more programs now are entirely online

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do some research before commiting to an online "college", specifically pricing. Some long time colleges (Syracuse University and some SUNYs come to mind) now offer online courses while ones like University Of Phonenix charge up to 4 times more per credit hour.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do some research before commiting to an online "college", specifically pricing. Some long time colleges (Syracuse University and some SUNYs come to mind) now offer online courses while ones like University Of Phonenix charge up to 4 times more per credit hour.

This is at RIT. Its a good school I'm not worried so much about that. Ill do some more research tho and see what I can find

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do some research before commiting to an online "college", specifically pricing. Some long time colleges (Syracuse University and some SUNYs come to mind) now offer online courses while ones like University Of Phonenix charge up to 4 times more per credit hour.

 

definitely research. a good program isnt that hard to work within, as long as you are even remotely a self starter. problem is, its sometimes hard to tell what the worthwhile programs are.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually received my master's degree from Boston University and found the program was excellent. Like others have said, make sure you do your research first. :)

 

An online program requires a LOT more dicipline and planning on your part. You probably won't even have to attend lectures -- BU had live lectures, but if you couldn't make them, you could watch them recorded (or not at all...). It's easy to fall behind if you're not careful.

 

That said, a good program can be wonderful, and better than a live classroom in many ways. We had weekly discussion topics (basically a message board where you post your thoughts/ideas and back them up with research -- and reply to posts other students make), so tha tyou remain connected to students. I'm now friends with a few people who I ended up taking a bunch of classes with -- and we went to graduation together this past May.

 

I actually teach at Boston University now too which is pretty cool.

 

If you have any specific questions, let me know or send me a PM.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My sister teaches an online GIS course at Penn State. In many ways its just like a traditional "in class" program - syllabus, homework, lectures, etc. Its all just... online. She has regularly scheduled chat room times and a message board she answers. So, there's plenty of student contact time. Its all pretty structured and well laid out actually. I'd recommend it for anyone looking to advance their education level.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah they all have chat rooms and message boards for you to post your questions and chat with the professor and fellow students on. I took an online English class through GCC once. Yes it was a cake walk because it was online, but it was well run.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah they all have chat rooms and message boards for you to post your questions and chat with the professor and fellow students on. I took an online English class through GCC once. Yes it was a cake walk because it was online, but it was well run.

 

I imagine the cake walk assessment might be less than universal, just like any other class can vary

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I imagine the cake walk assessment might be less than universal, just like any other class can vary

 

English is one of those classes that having it online makes it a cake walk. You read something, you post homework written responses, you submit essays. No classes, just work on your own time. And when it's a transfer credit and all you need to do is pass the class, that's the definition of a cake walk.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I imagine the cake walk assessment might be less than universal, just like any other class can vary

Yeah, the Boston University program is anything but a cakewalk. I was putting in roughly 20-30 hours a week. Now part of it was because I wanted to excel (graduated with distinction), but there was a LOT of work to do.

 

Then again, it was a master's degree, so I don't want that to be watered down. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...