Thursday, January 22, 2009

Internet Courses: A Love/Hate Relationship

I have a love/hate relationship with internet courses. On one hand, they make life so much easier. I mean, I can do my classwork while sitting in bed in my pajamas, or after I've just worked out when no humans would dare to be near my smelly, unsightly self. I can even do my classwork while I'm traveling. It's super handy. On the other hand, you are basically left to teach yourself. Remember the old Mike Myers sketch "Coffee Talk with Linda Richman?" It's sometimes as if a teacher posts all the necessary information along with a syllabus, then in true Linda Richman fashion says, "Okay...talk amongst yourselves."

I feel like I've spent most of my week trying to sort through all of my class information and create some sort of workable schedule. I still haven't successfully managed to do that because there have been so many changes to the syllabi and, adding to the confusion, several different reading lists are floating around.

It's frustrating! I feel like I'm spinning wheels even though I'm trying to get ahead. For instance, I managed to read a couple of books this week (working on a third) and have written partial book reviews for them. I thought I was doing pretty well since--by my calculations--I need to average two per week. I also made arrangements for my observation & book talk times next week (which requires me to read another book in preparation for that). However, last night I got a call from a classmate concerned about an assignment that she found online that is supposed to be due on Monday. I'm glad she called it to my attention because in all the syllabus-change confusion, I had no idea that it needed to be done this week!

I hope that after next week's face-to-face class, I will have a better handle of the flow to these classes. Ironically, the one class that I'm taking that is entirely online is easily managed; it has a definite "flow" already. Of course, that may be due to the fact that it is a class about online education methods!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know how you feel, but don't let all the confusion get you down. It's still the beginnng of the semester, so expect things to be a little shaky, but I'm sure it'll all calm down very soon.

In terms of online classes, yes the Internet is a great tool of technology, but it can be a little tricky if you're not used to online learning. You have to be self-disciplined and a self-starter because much of what you learn will be on your own and amongst your online classmates in your virtual classroom with the professor being there to help in times of need. Once you get the hang of it, though you'll be rockin' and rollin', I guarantee.

I have been taking online classes on a full-time basis for two years now in the Liberal Studies program through the University of Illinois at Springfeild where the entire program is completed online. It has been challenging at times, but mostly quite fun and very interesting. Each semester brings new class dynamics, but as a whole it has been a life-saver for me since I live too far to travel to any other university.

Good luck to you and I hope everything will work out!

~Ray~

Anonymous said...

Sorry, I misspelled 'Springfield'. That's what I get for typing so fast, lol.

~Ray~