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Pros and Cons of Distance LearningDec 15 '00 Write an essay on this topic.Like a number of young parents, I am also a college student, part time. This past semester I had the opportunity to take advantage of an internet course for the first time. To take an internet course, you need to have a fairly good sense of discipline to do the work on your own without being in a classroom setting. I felt that I possessed this, so I signed up, purchased my books for the course in the campus bookstore, and logged in. My instructor had taught various other internet classes, but not this particular one, which was Expository Writing. Much of the class depended on a discussion board, accessed online, in which she would put our assignments, and we had a deadline to upload the completed assignment to her. We were also assigned groups. This is where I struggled the most, because apparently the two other students that were assigned to a group with me dropped out of the class. I did e-mail the instructor that I couldn't get ahold of these other two people, and she never responded or tried to place me with another group. For a class such as this, a group was vital, so you could discuss essay ideas and read rough drafts. I persevered and grabbed other online buddies I had and let them read my papers and offer comments before submission, but I felt rather short-changed. Taking an internet class is convenient, because you don't have to line up child care etc. in order to make it to class. If you are sick, no problem. Attendance isn't an issue. You can work at your own pace. At the same time, you don't get the instructor-student dynamic that in most classes is important to understanding exactly what the instructor expects from you. I received graded papers back, often late, with not much explanation for why I received the grade that I did. Emailing the instructor was often not effective. A good example would be my second essay paper. I received a good grade on my first paper, and she had marked errors in word usage etc. My next paper had no such errors, and a lower grade. I emailed her to find out how I could have improved my paper, and her response was if I wanted to revise it I could. Well, that was helpful. My advice is if you don't really crave a lot of instructor-student interaction, and you understand your subject matter enough to go it alone and take your chances-go ahead an take an internet course. If you think a classroom setting is more your thing, take a physical class. As convenient as distance learning is, you miss out on a lot.  |
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