What I did on my Epinion’s Vacation
Written: Jun 01 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: on line classes, inexpensive tuition, good course material.
Cons: need more on line courses to choose from!
The Bottom Line: The on line course I took was challenging, informative and kept me on my toes. An inexpensive alternative to high priced private colleges.
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| 4rhodes's Full Review: Framingham State College |
To maintain my professional teaching license, the State of Massachusetts requires that I complete a set number of continuing education hours over the course of five years. Last summer I had the privilege to attend Harvard University as a graduate student on fellowship. The two courses I took did not have enough hours to cover my entire license, as I am certified to teach in three different areas, so I have been looking for other courses to satisfy these requirements.
A colleague had taken a course on-line at Framingham State College, hereinafter FSC and raved at the course content, instructor and commute. I was intrigued, but didn’t want to pay the tuition, so I put it off for a while.
Why Framingham State College?
Living in the immediate metropolitan Boston area, I have many fine colleges to choose from. I received my Master’s in Education from Lesley University, a school well known for its’ excellent education curricula. Within a short drive, I can choose from Wheelock College, Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern University and Harvard, which all have superb education programs. The problem for me is that the tuition at these institutions is high and I am cheap. As I mentioned above, I received a fellowship to Harvard last summer. Fellowship is a polite word for free tuition. So, I am always looking for programs with little or no cost involved.
FSC is located 20 miles west of Boston and is a Massachusetts state school. Tuition for a graduate course is a mere $550.00. Compared to $1,450.00 per graduate course at Harvard and Lesley, FSC is a real deal. Also, the course I wanted to take was offered on line, allowing me attend class from the comfort of the work station I have set up in my home. Finally, my school district will kick in $350.00 per year for a graduate course as long as I can manage to get a grade of B or better. So for me, the opportunity to complete my state license requirements, learn some new skills, and use the graduate credits toward another degree all for the low cost of $200 (for me after the subsidy from my district), seemed like a very good deal.
Picking and Registering
Registration was simple. I went to the schools’ web site: www.framinghamstate.edu and browsed through their catalog of courses offered for the semester. I found the course I liked the best and had to decide which section I wanted to take. I emailed my friend for advice. The instructor she had was taking the semester off, so I didn’t get much help from my friend. I read the course descriptions for each section and decided that I was going to be too nervous to take a test on line, so I went with the class that had more assignments given in lieu of an examination. Not scientific at all!
I could have registered on line. The application required way too much personal information that I was unwilling to give over the internet (ie: social security number, date of birth and a credit card number, a hacker’s fantasy!), so I dialed their telephone number and signed up via telephone. The process took less than 5 minutes. Two days later I received an email confirmation of my course as well as directions and personal password to the Blackboard web site where the course would be conducted. Two days later, I received an email from my instructor welcoming me to the class and giving the first assignment.
The Surreal Experience Begins!
The entire class was conducted on line. I was required to complete a personal profile and post it to the Blackboard site for our class and encouraged to add a picture before the class began. The instructor would add a folder to the course materials each week outlining the work required for that particular week. After I finished my work, I dropped the material I generated into a digital drop box and was graded. My grades were posted to my account and I was able to see mathematically how my grade compared with others’ in the class (ie: if I received an A, or 4.0, I could see the class’ average might be only an B or 3.0).
Each part of the course had its’ own specific folder. The course documents folder was the assignments, the web sites folder was the sites that contained the reading material for the week, the communication folder was for virtual discussion as either an entire class or within our own groups. Within each of these folders was an area to review the transcripts from each discussion or to begin a live discussion.
There were 21 class members. We were required to turn in 15 assignments, 11 were individually done and the other 4 were group work. What a kick it was to work on line in a group. What a bigger kick it was for someone who has never chatted in a chat room to participate in a whole class discussion. My computer screen just kept jumping when the discussions would get lively. I was hooked!
My Equipment
I have an iMac computer. It is getting old in computer age. I use dial up internet access. I envisioned freezing and figured I would go DSL. I didn’t freeze and I’m still on dial up. Sure, I didn’t zoom as fast as others, but my equipment worked fine.
How Hard? How Easy?
On line education is billed as “work at your own pace”. Nope. My instructor posted the weeks’ material on Sunday night. I was on the site every Sunday night and it took me about two evenings to complete the readings (mind you that I work during the day, have very young children who need my attention after school and until bed time, so I truly only sat down to do my homework at roughly 9 pm each night), another two evenings to compose my essays, one night to let it gel and one to post.
The pace isn’t insurmountable, but, like taking any college course while working full time, it does take an extra effort. Getting back in the swing of reading, digesting and writing an essay takes a few weeks! I chose to take a computer class, so I was learning elementary html and web page authoring, so the newness of the material, accompanied by the pace felt fast. It was really strange to not meet the other classmates or have that outside communication you get when you physically go to the classroom. You know, the chat you have with a neighbor, or the way a class discussion can veer in another direction when someone isn’t getting the material? While the instructor was always around, I still missed the camaraderie of the chit chat at first. Then I realized that I was saving so much time by not commuting to the college.
There were times when I couldn’t see where I was making mistakes in my html and that was really frustrating. I would post my question and attach the document into one of the class folders and within a few hours (or overnight), I would get a response from either the instructor or another classmate with specific instructions on how to fix my problem. That was really cool.
I would compare the material to any other college course, not too difficult, not too easy. I found that as long as I kept up with the work, I was ok (a lesson I really needed to learn when I was an undergraduate!). The instructor was super helpful, very friendly and supplied great reading material.
But You’re In Boston!
The beauty of on line classes is that there is never the requirement to physically attend a classroom. There were times that I was in my pj’s, sipping cocoa (it was in winter) and taking a peek at the television while I was in class. My classmates could have been in Anchorage for all it mattered.
Consider taking an on line course from FSC if you are a busy professional who needs to update skills or learn something new. Consider taking an on line class if you live far away from Boston because for $550, you get an entire package on line and don’t have to wait in those book store lines to buy and then resell you books!
So, that is what I did on my Epinions vacation. It was fun, but I missed you guys! Thanks for reading and for waiting for me, I appreciate it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
4rhodes
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 - Top 1000 |
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Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Reviews written: 138
Trusted by: 81 members
About Me:
Thinking about writing more.....it has been awhile since I've published
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