This is my first ever blog and so I’m completely new to this kind of communication. The first couple of weeks have been an eye opener to learning online instead of a class room. I’m leaning more to the classroom environment because I miss the interaction between teacher and other students. I have not made up my mind just yet, but I’m giving this first two classes a chance, hopefully everything works out. The upside to learning online is you get a lot of interaction with your computer and how to work over the internet and like with this blog I’m understanding more and more. The only thing is, I don’t want to completely depend on my computer and lose the classroom environment feeling. I feel that this type of teaching/learning is great for someone who is distant or someone who’s schedule is very busy, but for me, I think that actually going to class would be better. I am retired and not working right now, maybe later when I need the money or when I’ve graduated. If this does go well, then maybe I will stick with it and do more classes online.
I can understand missing the face-to-face interaction with classmates and teachers, and I even miss just the “setting”… walking into a classroom with my books… (I don’t know if that makes sense to anyone else!) I have noticed, however, that I think I may have more direct communication with some of my teachers through my online courses than I did during in-class courses (especially the really large classes). I feel like I have more access to the teacher through e-mail, discussion boards, etc. and can get my questions answered relatively quickly, without battling other classmates waiting to talk to the teacher after class, or waiting for office hours. Whichever you choose, congrats on deciding to return to school!