Online Courses–The Gain

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With all of those downers about online courses in my last post, why wouldn’t you just give up, hunker down under the covers with your notebook and get a gig as a bottom level help desk worker for customer returns?

Because you want your academic career to move forward, and there are ways to compensate for those disadvantages. And also, because there are some distinct advantages that on-line courses have over the physical classroom–distance learning has been thriving decades before COVID-19. Today focuses on the pluses–feel free to add to them!

First off, the main reason you may be enrolled in online courses this year can’t be lost. You are less likely to get sick or to bring sickness to people you care about. We’re all part of that community of responsible caring.

Then, in no particular order, by taking an online course rather than taking it on campus you can:

  • save a tremendous amount of time in travel
  • encounter a different style of learning that may well fit you
  • find it easier to participate fully if you are a bit of an introvert
  • have the home-court advantage–you are on your own turf when it comes to responding quickly to instructor queries and to make class and break-out room contributions
  • find that instructors are more accessible through emails and Zoom office hours
  • have greater access to lecture recordings and slide decks
  • find some professors more organized and easier to follow than they previously were, now that they have had to adapt to online delivery
  • gain the potential to connect with more students than just the few sitting close to you (this can apply to students whose contributions you find interesting, or to students you just find interesting . . .)
  • gain facility in online research–a critical skill for senior undergrad and graduate level work
  • make greater use of online campus support services and workshops
  • find it easier to catch up if you are sick or miss a lecture (this can be a trap, however!)
  • find it easier to organize meets for group projects
  • find group work more efficient
  • get full credit for your contributions in group work through online documentation

Not all of these plusses apply to all online courses, but each of them have been reported by students taking online courses long before COVID-19.

So sometimes being on campus is the better experience, and sometimes working online is the better experience. Our work is to make the best of what it is that we’ve got–and we’ll start on that next week. 

What is the best on-line course you’ve taken thus far? [email protected]