My Experience with Online Courses October 1, 2009
Carly is a Marketing Associate in the Boston Area. She graduated from the University of Delaware in 2008.
As a student at the University of Delaware, I had the opportunity to include a few online courses in my schedule each semester. Because I had responsibilities outside of school, online courses were an excellent way for me to take a full course load without spending my entire day in the classroom. The University of Delaware did not have a set outline for its online courses so each course I took varied in structure. All classes were taught by actual professors, but I noticed that the courses I took my senior year better mimicked the classroom environment than those I took as a freshman.
In the early days of my online course experience, things were pretty basic. You would watch the lectures online, do the required reading, and download the lecture notes whenever you had the opportunity to do so. You were given a week to take each exam. You would schedule a time to take the exam at a local testing center. You would go to this center, take the exam under the supervision of a proctor, and then be on your way. I took exams in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, South Carolina, and anywhere else I happened to be at the time.
The last course I took online was much more technologically advanced. All students had access to a message board where we were able to post ideas, engage in conversations with the professor and other students, and submit homework assignments. We posted pictures and bios of ourselves so everyone got to know each other, even though we never actually met. We worked on group projects using Google docs, Skype, Wikis, and other content sharing applications. Group collaboration and class participation were a huge part of our final grade in this particular course, just as if we were in the classroom.
No matter which format the professor chose to use to teach the material, I felt that all of the online courses I took were worthwhile. More importantly, online courses allowed me to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in four years, which is something that I might not have been able to achieve had I needed to take all of my courses on campus. I would definitely recommend online courses or degree programs to anyone who is seeking to earn a degree in their own schedule.
Hi, Carly — it’s interesting to hear how much more sophisticated the online delivery got in just 4 years! (I shouldn’t be surprised any more by how rapidly technology evolves, but sometimes it still strikes me that way.
So, now, when you went to a testing center in DE, PA, MA, SC, or wherever you happened to be, were all those testing centers affiliated with the University of Delaware? If not, what was the connection among all these locations that allowed you to take your tests there?
In your senior year, were the students you were interacting with mostly from the east coast, or did you have classmates e-connecting from all across the country? (Anyone from right on the UD campus? Anyone from overseas?) Sounds like the professor of your last online class was a star at online teaching & learning to have created such a collaborative environment and to have made the collaboration such an important part of your grade. What did he or she think of how the class evolved? Thanks!
BTW, I didn’t know University of Delaware dated back to 1743 — cool.
–The Editor
Thanks for your comment! I answered your questions in my latest post: Questions Answered About Online Courses
-Carly