Slashdot Mirror
Do Online Schools Provide A Quality Education?
"After the dot com 'boom' settled down a bit, and I was no longer required to work 80 hrs a week, I decided that after ten years of being absent I would go back to school and finish up that elusive CS degree. Well, after shopping around a bit I found a very good, well known, University that was offering the degree, online.
'Cool,' I thought, no classes, all on my schedule, save gas, and I could work at 2 am if I wanted. I thought I had found the perfect way to learn.
BUT, after just one semester, I am starting to have my doubts. I am sure this is the way to go in the future, but I'm not so sure that the schools has got all the kinks worked out and I am beginning to believe that the professors, and possible even the schools, see this as a way for them to teach a class with a minimal amount of effort and cost.
You basically have a public conference area (a web based discussion group for comments) that you, the other students, and the professors participate in. This works very well because your assignments are given out on a weekly basis and you have a whole week to post comments and complete your assignments. You are required to participate in the discussions and then post your answers to quizzes in a private portfolio where it is graded by the professor and then returned to you.
Most of the professors participate in the conference like you are in a real classroom; with student asking questions and the professor responding, though, it is not real time.
But some of the professors only want you to post to the public discussion groups and never have you post to the private portfolio, basically this means they don't have to do anything accept scan the conferences and give out more assignments. They don't have to look over your work and give you any feedback. I bet it takes less than an hour a week to do this. Also, this allows other students to see the answers and just repost them.
The only thing this person seems to be doing is sitting on his butt all week; telling the students to just follow the syllabus for reading; and occasionally surfing the discussions groups to see who is there. That sounds like a very good deal for them, but I am not getting much out of this.
I also feel that ALL of the professors are very behind-the-times when it comes to IT. Just today I had a professor tell me she would not allow me to post a PDF file to my portfolio because she was worried about getting a virus when she read it?!
A few questions come to mind: Is this a quality education? Should the professors be required to show what they have done because they don't have a real classroom to attend? How much effort should a professor put forth for an online class? This has always been an issue in a real classroom, but now we have a whole new twist. Shouldn't professors be required to be a little more techno savvy before they give a course like this? Shouldn't the schools be reevaluating the 'new teaching style' and making some adjustments?
I am so angry with the way the school has set this up I will probably return to a normal class environment here at a local college, at least I know the guy is going to show up!
Has anybody else been to an online college? What were your experiences?"
They give me a quality education, from EXPERIENCE I ALREADY HAVE!!!!!1111 I signed up right away and my degrees from a FULLY ACCREDITED university were hanging on my walls within days.
And this class is part of a CS degree?
Hmm, it seems, from your question, that you may, want to take some English classes, to reform your overuse, of commas.
Wow, that's excellent! Was PKing allowed?
the whole idea of "on-line" is that you don't attend ... unless you can convert yourself into electrons or light pulses and shoot down the cat5 and fiber, in which case you certainly have a marketable ability/talent already.
Since it's leaving you feeling cheated, when they ask for "real" money, fax them a copy of a $100.00 bill. When they complain, tell them that you're giving them virtual money for a virtual education. If they had given you a real education, you'd give them real money.
Mind you, you have learned a real lesson, I hope ...
Unless some jock figures out a way to beat you up over the internet, you don't get the experience of a real school!
Mr. Pot, please leave Mr. Kettle alone.
the most important thing I learned in college was how to slide by with the minimum amount of effort.
I think online courses would be outstanding in this capacity.
If you mod me down the terrorists will have won
Welcome to college.
I once went to a class after skipping it for a while, and was worried that it had moved because no one else showed up. A few minutes after class was suppose to have started the professor walks in and says, "It's someone different every day." and then proceded to give a lecture to the center of the room ( I was sitting at the edge.)
Who knows, maybe they use Slashcode.
Well, that would explain the poor quality of postings and why there are so many "IN SOVIET RUSSIA" goatsex, etc. posts when they should be discussing class stuff.
** You could do it, but there would be something missing. **
Nothing would be missing.
*grinz*
Laugh, it is a Zen joke.
Well actually my brother got an on-line degree in circumscision. They showed you pictures of where to cut, and which end to cut, and they had Power Point slides about it and everything.
It cost him $48,00 but he has a good job now at the hospital. He gets 100 skins a week, and a chance to get ahead. Really.
He got his certificate by email, and he printed it on his color printer, and it looks really great up on his wall.
He hardly ever makes many mistakes.
It worked for him.
Shorty
> I never assign my students busy work
Hmmm, a professor thinking that his/her assignments are all completely useful and relevant.
When in traffic, I only exceed the speed limit when I have a good reason. I never speed without a good reason.