Hello everyone, this is my first blog in this class and my first blog ever. Going into full time online learning has been a little bit harder than I thought it would be. One of the strengths for me when it comes to doing online classes is that I get the freedom of doing my work wherever and whenever I feel like. This has been very nice for me because I have such a busy schedule. This may be my favorite thing about online learning, and it has been very nice compared to doing things in a class room.
A big surprise that has been shown to me by being at school here at OSU is the amount of work that each class has. I have gone to two other colleges and OSU has the most challenging academics that I have seen so far. This is a good thing I think because even though I am surprised about the level of academics I am learning, it is good for me to broaden my knowledge of the things I learn. I think no matter what you do in college or any level of school there will always be surprises in the things you learn or experience. My personal view is that these things are what make up learning. I think realizing that learning is full of surprises can make the learner use this as a strength.
My strengths of online school for me are a few different things. The first thing that is a strength for me personally is I am good with computers and typing and online learning seems to have a lot to do with those two things so far. Another strength that i have been shown through online learning in the past three weeks is that being flexible with your hours is okay in school too. I am always on the go and I have two jobs, so being able to use my crazy schedule with my school work really helps me. The last strength that I have noticed I have with online learning is that being a outgoing and talkative person can really benefit you. I am naturally a outspoken person and not actually being able to be with your professors makes it harder sometimes to get help when you need it. I have seen that all my professors are every willing to help me as long as I reach out to them through an email or something else. This has really helped me when things get confusing or become very tough.
My biggest struggle relates to some things that i said earlier in this blog which is the amount of work that i have. It goes hand in hand with a surprise for me as well as stated earlier. In all honesty the first week and a half of school was pretty overwhelming for me. I kind of got freaked out and I just felt lost with all my work and all my classes. After persevering through it for the past two weeks has made me realize that I can do my work I just have to be very organized and structured. If I procrastinate or get behind on my work, I have seen that it is super hard to catch up. So a goal for me personally throughout this semester is to minimize procrastinating and to make sure that i am always doing my work. I hope the past three weeks have been good for all of you guys.
-Joey Cramer
I think the amount of work for online classes is a lot but that is a good thing specifically because the work itself is of a high caliber. The computer class I am taking is not a slow paced class in a programming language that is normally seen as “easy”. As well, the topics and exercises that we do are very challenging which should result in us being better students and inevitably better job candidates (if that is your primary focus like I am). I think that your struggles with the schoolwork could be due to not really having a central place to see all the things that you have to do. I suggest having a calendar or a planner or a journal even where you can write down all the assignments/readings you have for a week or a month and plan accordingly. While having the actually planning tool I useful, actively using it is what is going to get you a more relaxed approach at getting things done. You just have to actively engage your to do list/planner on a daily basis and take pride in getting little things, like blog post, done.
It seems you’ve already had some great insights toward being successful in this environment. After five terms I support your observation that staying on top of assignments and not procrastinating is a fantastic goal. And, as the previous poster noted, finding an organization and time management tool that works for you and that you WANT to engage with is imperative. Good luck!