How Online Classes Effect The Student Experience

Hello!  My name is John Knoke! Welcome to my Curation Project for Old Dominion Unversity COMM 372t.  MY project is focusing on how online classes effect the student experience.  More specifically I would like to focus on the different experiences those who go to school online get from those who go to actual campus for schooling.  Both can be rewarding in their own ways, as I myself attend college in a purely online manner.  Please browse my page and read the articles and opinions I have linked and feel free to ask me anything or reblog.  Thank you.

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Why You Can't Miss Out On The College Experience

A very pro college life article sharing personal experience and recommending everyone experience the full college lifestyle.

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This link to a quora post ( a question and answer site where users can share personal opinions or answer questions much like yahoo answers had a few good personal opinions on whether they felt they missed out on college life.

Most of the information in the posts seem to have an opinion sharing similar responses.  That while they felt they missed out on a few different things, they wouldn’t trade the additional expense of living on campus for that experience in question.  Some things sited were the specific college life functions, like living in a dorm, meeting strangers, etc.  These clearly aren’t worth the money involved to be a part of them.  Personally I would agree.

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This is a bit of an old post, but it is worth looking at as it still rings true today.  Most of the problems with going to college and living the college experience involve a time sink and time management.  With online courses this phase of the college life is completely ignored.  While this is nice while in college, this doesn’t necessarily gives you skills needed for the real world, though one could argue it does just in a different format.

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This is a very interesting article by northpoint.edu discussing religious colleges and their online programs.  In terms of religious colleges, part of the environment is spiritual, and being an online student in this program creates a bit of a conflict.  The article focuses on the strengths of fellowship and how the staff get involved in terms of the college online life.  As I said in a previous post, I think staff involvement is key to succession in a successful life, and it also makes everything more enjoyable for the student as well.  This is something I stand by and believe this article demonstrates.

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Get comfortable with being alone. It will empower you.

Jonathan Tropper (via onlinecounsellingcollege)

Very interesting quote that kind of embodies the stance of online learning.  People that don’t have the time to spend in class, take classes online.  Taking courses online is a very solitary commitment and you need to be prepared for that.  Being prepared for that however gives you the ability to do anything down the road.

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Tips for Online Classes

I have been taking online classes every year for the last 5 years, at both the high school and university level, so I thought I would make a post with some quick tips for succeeding in online classes! 

Make sure you know what time things are due. Obviously, knowing the date is important too, but when you are using an online dropbox, knowing the time it’s due is crucial. The link will disappear on you. I once almost failed an online class because I thought my assignment was due at 9PM, but it was actually due at 9AM! 

Email the prof with your questions. It’s a lot harder to a prof to know you or like you with an online class. You can’t get their attention by just showing up, because they can’t see you! This is what saved my ass in the above story… I had contacted the prof many times throughout the semester, so he accepted my assignment late anyways. 

Schedule a time to complete each module. There is no specific lecture time, obviously, which is nice but also makes it easier to fall behind. I recommend choosing one day a week that you use to complete the week’s activities, and can then forget about it for the week. 

Participate in small activities, even if they are only worth 1-2%. If something is easy marks, you should always do it, especially in online classes where sometimes participating in a discussion can take 3 minutes and get you a 1% mark. 

Remember what the prof can see. For example, don’t get heated on a discussion board that is moderated by the prof. Remember that the prof can see what you have completed on your checklist (what links you have clicked on) and how much time you spent online. In high school, I knew a girl who lost 10% of her mark because her teacher found out she was completing weeks of material in one sitting. 

Start by signing up for one online course to try it out. I really like online classes and try to take one each semester. It definitely has it’s benefits, but some people hate it. Don’t decide to do an entire semester or half your classes online if you’ve never taken an online course before. See how you like it first!

In the same vein, for your first online course, take something you are comfortable with. If you struggle with math, maybe don’t go with math for an online course. You are already dealing with a new learning environment and an unfamiliar interface, so piling “extremely confusing content” on top of that is probably going to be a bit much.  

Still buy the textbook and do the readings. Just because it is online, doesn’t mean that you don’t have to do readings! Also, because you can’t ask questions in real time, the textbook is a great resource if you don’t understand lectures. 

Know who/how to ask for help. I mentioned above that the textbook is a great resource, but you may need more than that. Figure out who your specific content is for questions, if there is a discussion board for questions, if there are secondary texts, and/or if there are any linked websites the prof said would be helpful! 

Hope this helps! Feel free to reblog and add your own. :)

[jknoke]

Found this interesting as people post tips on surviving an online class as if it is something specifically difficult.  I know there are students that attend our campus and do not enjoy having to take something online, preferring to take everything in person.  I think this shows that the online portion of the college experience isn’t for everyone, but can be if embraced.

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Please see my note above, used my other tumblr :)

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Class Poll

The facebook class poll unfortunately only had 3 results as well, 3 yes votes.  I wish that more people in my class had considered answering my poll as many others posted polls that same week and got much better feedback.  Personally I still feel that this topic is important and should be looked at more heavily than people do.  It feels as if it is taken for granted.

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Vote Now! [Better] [Worse]

My poll from strawpoll didn’t elicit a ton of response, but I did get 3 votes, 2 being yes, and one being no.  I don’t believe it is a topic people consider that heavily.  Will posting the facebook poll results shortly!

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Do you think online courses make the college experience better or worse?

Vote Now! [Better] [Worse]

Please give it a response, it is for a course :)

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Can Online Learning Reproduce the Full College Experience?

Online classes are becoming a common feature of higher education, and this has led some educators to explore whether all of the features associated with a college experience could be accomplished online. The Center for Policy Innovation invited Karen D. McKeown to share her views on this subject. Ms. McKeown, formerly a Graduate Fellow in Health Policy at The Heritage Foundation, completed her master’s degree in nursing online at Yale University.

This article does a very good job at describing just what the “full” college experience is and how it pertains to those students her learn online.  Personally as I stated in numerous posts beforehand I don’t know that is can be, but this article does a good job in giving both sides.  Something to consider is that in the right circumstances, with the right staff members willing to accept online learning as a thing of the future, the online college experience can actually become better than the normal one.

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Online Courses - Personal Experience

Personally the online experience has been one of great turmoil for me.  In my initial experience being a Hampton Roads student attempting to become an online learning student for Old Dominion is not easy nor is it something I would recommend.  For one thing, ODU is not forgiving in its needless hoops on how to get into the online curriculum when you live so close to the school.  If not for the help of one specific adviser I may never have ended up where I am, one semester from graduating with an Accounting Degree.  It is also something that professors in non-online oriented curriculum (Like Accounting) tend to shun and not particularly understand.  I had one professor email me and I am quoting directly “ hate the fact that ODU calls all its distance learning classes "Online."  Accounting does not do coursework in the "online" method students think of, studying and testing when they feel like it. “  What does that statement say to you?  How does that tell you professors view ODU online learning?  I will tell you.  For lack of better words, they don’t give a damn about my situation, nor my ability to take time off from work to take an exam that is only offered before 4:00 p.m. on a weekday.  This has created a very negative experience with college for me.  I will not ever look back fondly on what I learned and how I interacted with professors in a profound manner.  In my experience, they never care.

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Examine the Benefits, Drawbacks of Online Learning for Introverts

In the online classroom, introverted students can become active class participants, experts say.

Another good opinion piece on the benefits, drawbacks, and other implications of online learning.  This time however the article discusses how this affects those have a hard time dealing with people in the real world, or just react slower to their surroundings.  It does a good job weighing both the pros and cons of this scenario, especially in respect to the college experience.

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Education via the Internet has been overrated and could produce more dropouts than degrees.

This is a good opinion piece written in the NY Times on their website.  It goes in depth into the discussion on why Online Classes aren’t all they are cracked up to be.  Citing studies performed at Stanford University, the article talks about students lacking in skills and withdrawing from classes in an online scenario as opposed to those on campus and attending classes.  It is important to note that the article does not take into account the situations of these students surveyed, in a lot of cases attending classes on campus, or living on campus is impractical and not available.

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Hello!

My Name is Johnathan Knoke and this is my blog about Online Coursework the changing landscape of the higher education experience.  This introduction is a bit late in the semester as I thought we were required to submit them all at once later on, but now I don’t think that makes much sense so I am posting everything I have currently to catch up!  I am 26, I work Full-Time at a Water Park in the finance position and take most of my classes online.  I don’t have time to drive to a school, much less sit in class for 3 hours at a time, three days a week.  Online coursework plays a huge role in how I learn and achieve my degree and I plan to use it to further my education when necessary.  I do feel that people tend to abuse online coursework, but that it is the way of the future.  Hopefully by following this blog you will get the same sense.