And I just realized I haven't posted in a month- NOT GOOD!! My bad Ed! I am so bad at keeping up with online stuff. I guess this could be a good lead into my latest post.....
I love being online and all, but I cannot stand online courses. I tried taking one freshman year (FSN 101) and it went horribly. I ended up just not participating in the course and receiving an "L" in it.
--L stands for "Left", as in I had "left" the class-- woops.
I thought it would be a good idea at first because it would save me time from going to a lecture at a specific time every day and I thought I would be able to get my work done easier during season since I'm on the road so often. I would never miss a class due to traveling and I just assumed I would do well in it. Turns out I was SO WRONG. I actually did worse and fell further behind in this course than I ever had in any course I have taken here at UMaine. So after I "left" the class, I had to retake it the next fall. I ended up getting an A in the class when I took it in lecture. Weird how that works huh?
I also took Intro to Child Development over last May Term. At the time I thought I needed a course for eligibility (turns out I was actually fine, but I don't want to get into that conversation..), and I wasn't about to stay up at school for another month. I wanted to get home ASAP, so I decided to take it online. I managed a little bit better this time around seeing as I actually had a lot more time on my hands and didn't have any other classes or practice/games to worry about. And by a little bit better, I mean a C-, still not my greatest accomplishment, but hey "C's get degrees" right?
I've established from taking these 2 courses and having minimal success with both of them, that I'm someone that needs to be in lecture and physically see and hear my teacher. I do much better when I take down and write notes, than just read them on a powerpoint and hear a teacher talk over a quicktime recording. But this makes me wonder-- am I the only one like this? There's no way. There must be other students out there that feel the same way. So in a society that's moving closer and closer to relying on computers and technology over the classic classroom set-up, what happens to the students like me that struggle with online based classes?? It's interesting to think about. I like to consider myself a good student, I'm holding a 3.0 right now, even with those 2 online courses I didn't do so well in-- the fact that just taking a course in a different format effected (affected?) my grades so much, interests me. These grades didn't truly reflect my ability as a student, but I had to take them and deal with them.
So I guess I'm opening this one up a bit to whomever would like to comment. Does anyone agree or disagree with what I'm getting at here??
Until the next brilliant post of mine.....
Keep on keepin' on ;)
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Hi Alexis,
ReplyDeleteI too have mixed feelings when it comes to taking online courses. I have had some great online courses which were very interactive; however I have taken others which were just plain awful. The online courses that I did not find beneficial were lecture based in which you had to listen to the professor for a couple of hours on your computer screen and then you were tested on the information. I think anyone would have a hard time focusing and paying attention when this is the method of teaching.
I also have mixed feelings. I do take them on and off but I so much rather sit in a class and take notes. I guess you could call me "old fashion." Oh and I hate when you have to watch a lecture from your computer. It is so hard to want to focus. Sitting in a classroom it is easy, because you are there. For me I like more hands on learning. Sometimes, computer classes just don't do that for me.
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