I'm beginning to dislike online classes

[Deja Q]

It's easier to lose track and mix things up.

Gotta be careful... Want my 3.95 average to remain that high for a while. :D (By the time I graduate it'll be lower, it's impossible to ace them all, but I'll be trying my hardest, ADD and Asperger's Syndrome and all... wish I could say the same for some of the neurotypicals who're classmates... :( )

[BuelahWitch]

1. What courses are you taking?

I've taken them for quite a few years. Some aspects of it are harder than others.

[Deja Q]

15. "Introduction to Business"

I find myself losing focus too quickly and spending more time than I'd like triple-checking my work (and one error slipped through anyway)

[BuelahWitch]

17. LOL, that one would put me to sleep too!

Businesszzzzzz:boring: :boring: :boring:

[noamnety]

2. I just finished an online program.

I found it extremely easy to lose track of due dates.

I ended up making a schedule at the start of each class of everything that was due, with color coding for individual and team projects and participation requirements. Then I checked off everything as it was due - I just didn't have the natural organizational skills to survive without that.

[mwooldri]

3. I prefer face to face too... but I got no choice if I want a degree.

Online will be the only way I can really complete my degree course without shopping for universities again and I don't want to be as bad as the present time Governor of Alaska in going to that many multiple schools to complete my education.

Mark.

[Odin2005]

4. This aspie would LOVE online classes.

Kinda hard for biology and chemistry classes that have a lab component, though.

Professors that assign group projects = EVIL!!! :grr:

[mike_c]

5. you'll want to stay out of my classes, LOL....

Most of the latest pedagogical research strongly supports the conclusion that cooperative, active learning-- read group work, problem solving, case studies, etc-- produces SIGNIFICANTLY better learning outcomes than traditional individual study in a lecture setting.

Most of my classes are EXTREMELY group oriented these days.

On the other hand, I design my classes to work very well as online classes if people want to use the online resources that way. Maybe you'd like that part.

[Odin2005]

8. I think a lot of that research is "one-size-fits-all" trendy silver bullet nonsense.

Everyone is unique, and making group activities part of one's grade greatly DISADVANTAGES people like myself who do terrible in group environments. I'm NOT an active learner, I'm a reflective learner and prefer that traditional setting.

[TZ]

10. I understand your issues Odin...

but since I know that you are a biotech major, let me say that you are going to have to do a lot of group work if you go into the field. So its probably best for you to try to learn how to deal with it now.
Its kind of a myth about the scientist who works by themselves in a lab. Especially in this day and age when resources are tight.

[Odin2005]

19. Oh, I know. Social interaction in that context doesn't bother me.

It's not group-work per se that I have trouble with, it's when it's a short-term group-work where there is not a chance for everyone to get "into a grove" and there is jostling over who is going to do what.

[mike_c]

13. dude-- the data are extensive, and have accumulated for more than a decade....

You're a science major-- you know that simply dismissing reams of significant results that don't fit your personal world model is just about the worst kind of bad science.

You're right-- everyone is different, but that doesn't mean there are not fundamental commonalities uniting all humans. The data overwhelmingly support the conclusion that learning is a social activity for humans, and that social interaction as part of the learning process reinforces learning outcomes FAR better than individual, "reflective" effort. There is certainly a place for reflection, too, but again, as part of a social interaction even individual reflection makes a greater impact.

One of the major factors impeding higher ed reform is student and faculty resistance to change, even demonstrably better change. And as another DUer noted, science is highly interactive and integrative-- you will NEED to have good teamwork skills to succeed in this field.

[Odin2005]

18. Uh, us Aspies are proof that it is not a "fundamental commonality".

It's just a MAJORITY commonality. I'm of the opinion that a lot of this stuff ignores personality differences, which is why so many kids are getting drugged up with Ritalin and why many gifted kids flunk out of high school. Such research needs to avoid essentialistic interpretations of that data ("Learning is a social activity for humans" is an essentialistic statement, "learning is a social activity for the majority of humans" is a more reasonable interpretation of the data). Essentialistic interpretations imply (not intentionally, of course, for the most part) that people that have trouble with those "fundamental commonalities" are "broken", or even "subhuman", and need to be "fixed".

Not that I'm dismissing the research, I'm sure for most people that research is completely correct, I'm just saying that researchers need to be careful when it comes to making statements about "human nature" when it comes to interpreting the data.

[truedelphi]

20. Plus sometimes study groups are invaluable.

I don't know much about taking on line courses. It has its up side - no commuting problems or looking for parking every day.

But the downside has to be not much itneraction with your peers. I assume people still get to interact with the teacher if some part of a lesson is not fathomable through watching it online.

[Deja Q]

16. I hear ya...

Group projects have me unable to function. :(

[Jennicut]

6. I never had an online class, just online quizzes. I forgot to do two of them.

I hate to write it down on a calender in my kitchen so I would look at it every day.

[jgodard43986992]

7. Same here, But

I much prefer it to attending classes.

[old mark]

9. How can you cut an online class?

I'm against it.


mark

[NJmaverick]

11. How do you know your classmates on an online class?

[mitchum]

12. You don't...

and that's the only thing I enjoy about online classes.
Well, that and the naked thing.

[mike_c]

14. good online courses build in plenty of social interaction among classmates...

...and with the instructor. They function much like DU, but with an academic structure imposed. Chats, online forums, mirrored "whiteboard" spaces, shared group assignments, journals, and so on provide lots of interaction among participants.

The old correspondence school model of simply putting a bunch of "lessons" online for students to download, study, and then be tested on is pretty thoroughly discredited and NOT a best practice in education any longer. That isn't to say that it is not still used a lot. It's the easiest model for the instructor to administer, by far. But it is not very effective.

[NJmaverick]

22. I hope the online class forums function a bit better than DU

;-)

[armyowalgreens]

21. I almost failed an online class because I forgot about due dates...

I hate them with a passion. I'd rather put the extra effort in to actually showing up at class.

[KamaAina]

23. You can do it!

I had a 4.0 at my first college. It wasn't 'til I transferred to Yale that it started to sink. Still made cum laude, though, which is more than Gee Dubya Boosh '68 can say (or spell :P ).