Have you taken an online course lately?

[cantdrv55]

This summer quarter I'm enrolled in two online graduate level biz courses and I'm wondering what to expect. The last time I took an online college class was way back when the web was young and the fastest connection speed available to me was 9600 baud. There was nothing to download back then, just connect and get your assignments on the screen. Then, it was all book work from cover to cover. Totally tedious and lots and lots of reading. I signed up for the class thinking I could skate. I couldn't have been more wrong.

How about now? Are online courses more interesting what with Powerpoint, streaming video, etc? The classes I'm taking are Managerial Accounting and Data Analysis and Decision Modeling.

[Stanley]

I recently took a online real estate class. The teacher also teaches the class normally so all the lectures were available online via streaming video. He also made available the powerpoints from the lectures and made chapter outlines. There were 2 tests for each chapter, one vocab test and one multiple choice. There was a time limit for each test, but it since you could have your book in front of you they were really easy. I guess the teacher could changed the difficultly by giving you less time. With high speed internet accessing all this was very easy. There was also a few writing assignments spaced out through the term, I honestly really liked it since I could do things on my own time. I mostly just read the chapters and didn't watch the videos, but they were there if I wanted them.

[911Rob]

pilot training course; online.
(not the flying part )

[Tishabet]

I just took the final for an online class offered by Harvard's extension school, it was a grad level finance class. Essentially they taped the lectures and you could view them online with a split screen of the professor lecturing on one side and his slides/computer screen on the other. If you live in the New England area you had to show up in person to take the midterm and final, but otherwise everything was online.
I will say it was awfully handy to not have to schedule around a hard class time (I took an "in person" class at Harvard in the fall)... I would just catch up on lectures when I could, and put most of them on my iPhone so I could review via my stereo during my commute. All homework was emailed directly to my grader. Overall I thought it was a really effective way to take the course.

[tedward515]

I've taken on-line courses for both my degree and continuing ed for my job. Most are good but just like regular class it all depends on the instructor/professor. Some instructors will be difficult and some will be easy. I had one who completely missed one of the main reasons for taking an on-line course, which is scheduling. This guy insisted that everyone log on at specific times of the day(1:30 on a Tuesday) hello jacka$$ some people work. He would also give you your assignment on Tuesday and have it due that Friday. It made the weekend when you have the most time useless. Most instructors/professors just have assignments due the following week.

[Komenda Fan]

I recently completed Reading Part 1 - a teaching additional qualification course. I vastly prefer the online courses, no commute after work to a lecture, no having the lecturer go over the same stuff I read in the text, free to work on the course at times that suit me.

[Rick Lee]

California Online Traffic School. I might get my PhD in that.