Blog 1--Online Learning

This particular online course has been very in-depth in the sense that there is a ton of material to cover in a short period of a week. Now I do have 17 credits and I work 35 hours a week, so time is very limited. Today was the first time all week I have had time to really sit down and get into this week sessions. Our professor has certain things that he would like us to learn and I do appreciate the effort and knowledge that he brings into this class. but this is probably my most difficult online course. Don't get my wrong I really like this course. I'm learning some very interesting things and it seems we will be doing some sweet projects. My favorite part of the class is our discussion forum. This allows us to express our opinion freely and we are able to clearly explain our points with an option to edit our thoughts if need be. My forum seems to have some bright students. The only thing is everyone agrees with everyone else. That’s not a bad thing, but agreeing all the time really down plays a conversation. I am going to make am effort to start taking the other side of things, if necessary. Another concern I have is the material isn’t available until Monday. It would be beneficial, to me at least, to have the material for that week up no later then Sunday. It would allow the students to be ahead of the game, if you know what I mean. That would be one advantage for actually going to a classroom. I’m not sure how long it takes my professor to get everything up on the site, but its not as short as this, “Tomorrow read chap. 4 & 5.” I can respect online courses however. It’s only fitting that we are taking an online course for computers in education. I really feel we have a little advantage over the students who have this course in an actual classroom. When students are being taught to use computers, software, and technology in general, it’s geared toward students being able to use it on their own. Some may disagree, but that’s my opinion. I will always try and take an online when possible, but I would not recommend to anyone. It's difficult being able to keep up with the work and understand it without having verbal cues which we are all used to. I really feel understanding is really learned through being able to actually “view” something, not just read it. People are just able to explain themselves in person. If taking other online courses I would stick to courses that had to do with either something with computers like an online typing course, or a CAD or C++ course. I like taking psychology courses online, because it basically deals with watching videos talking about the mind and that really interests me.