Online Learning
I’ve been taking an online class on dog nutrition, and I love the format. It’s a video of someone speaking, and switches into different slides and photos with a voiceover. I went to a small college in 2008-2012, so online classes were available but didn’t have a wide range at my school. I never took any, and this is my first experience with internet-based learning.
What I like:
I can stop and rewind the video! When I realize I got distracted, I just back it up two minutes and then continue on. Amazing!
I can pause the lecture to take notes! And then restart when I’m done writing. This helps SO much because normally I would start taking notes and then just end up with a nonsense jumble because I couldn’t write as fast as the concepts were being explained. Forget shorthand notes - no idea what that mess means later. Being able to pause is heaven. (I find that writing out notes helps me retain information better, so I keep that habit.)
I can take the course anywhere! I’ve mentioned before I love being outside, and it helps me focus to be able to do something I enjoy while listening to a factual lecture. I lay outside in my back yard, pause the lecture when I need to take notes, and get through with better focus than if I had to take the class in a white walled room. On cold days, I sit in front of our fireplace and experience the same joy of my favorite surroundings while accomplishing a goal.
And of course, there are a few things that are harder:
I can’t ask the lecturer a question if I don’t understand something. I just have to pause it, and google my question while hoping I can find the answer somewhere else. Or I keep going, hoping the answer is later in the presentation.
There is no societal pressure to pay attention. In a class setting, I know that I will frustrate my neighbors when I’m bouncing around and being distracted. The anticipated irritated glares keep me paying attention. At my house, I can suddenly stop the lecture to go make a snack, pet my dog, fold two towels and then maybe come back if I remember what I was doing.
This course is for fun, so the only schedule I have is my own. Knowing a specific time and place that I have to go to a lecture, as well as going through the ritual of getting ready, was a motivator in itself to attend. With this, I can do it on my own time, which gives me infinite chances to put it off.
Overall, I like it so far. I don’t know that I could do an entire education this way, and I’m definitely feeling for the kids who are going through the sudden transition of online education (and missing the most valuable part - interaction with peers). But would I continue to purchase individual courses like this? Absolutely.