Online Education, is it worth it?

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Permalink Reply by Maria Fleyshgakker on January 15, 2009 at 10:06am

"I don't like on-line studies."

I think it was 2003, NYC Board of Education offered a course on line to become a certified online instructor. I was one of the lucky people who got this license :) I was absolutely fascinated with the idea and the process and spent all the time on the computer. I couldn't eat, sleep, or work. I was reading and typing :):):) We had an amazing instructor who showed us the way we can teach and learn new material at the time of our choice and in the comfort of our own home. I learned how many colleges and universities offer on-line courses. I even tried to become a post graduate student at Phoenix, changed my mind though :( So, I love online education and teaching, but

my daughter had to withdraw from an online course, it was not her thing. She needed to sit in the classroom and hear all the conversations and discussions, feel the warmth of the people around her. She hated to be home alone :)

Now I think it's good that there is always a choice to study online or in class.
Maybe it's not what you are asking about?

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Permalink Reply by Cooper Zale on January 27, 2009 at 4:25pm

My son Eric unschooled rather than go to high school. He directed his own learning during those years by starting with the New York Times online edition as his primary curriculum and then using Wikipedia as his major repository to look up more detail on anything that interested him. He has been using this approach for years now and it has worked well for him.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Krening on January 28, 2009 at 9:22am

Online learning enables student-centered teaching approaches. Every student has their own way of learning that works best for them. Some learn visually others do better when they "learn by doing." I think online education can be a really good option.

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Permalink Reply by Kiwi Commons on March 19, 2009 at 8:25am

I think with online learning, it takes a great amount of motivation, self-monitoring, and self-discipline. If you're a student who has no problem allotting their time to their studies at their own discretion, then online learning can be very beneficial. My major complaints are limited interaction with peers and the facilitator. Support is also limited, even the support that is felt in an interactive learning environment where people are accessible.
The limited interaction online learning provides between instructor and students is a major disadvantage.

Real-time, however, makes certain things impossible, like carefully reflecting and analyzing a topic in order to formulate a substantial in-depth response. This is made possible online. Also with online learning, students can choose to engage in whatever areas they need improvement in. In that sense, they can customize how and what they're learning to their own needs.

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Clarkson on March 20, 2009 at 11:06am

oddly, i do well in online classes *because* I allocate my time poorly, and I'm a night owl.But the nature of my misuses of my time ("Why have I been reading about Norman Lear sitcoms from the 70s for 3 hours?") is that when I start into something *online*, I can immerse in it completely. I welcome in-person classes as a change, and could not deal without one or two a term, but i'm fine with the rest of them being online, in the end.

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Permalink Reply by Enrique Guevarra on March 22, 2009 at 1:46am

Online studies is quite challenging. I had tried one during the spring semester. Although we still met our professor twice for the semester but the rest of the days are online. One has to exert much effort in doing stuff online. At first , I had difficulty in doing such. But as days unfolded I began to enjoy learning from my colleagues online. There is one course I am considering for an online study. It's a three-year program that requires pure online learning. I am bit excited of this event.

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