I go to a major university in Canada and for various reasons I would prefer not to spend my last semester on campus, one of them being that I’m sick of the city. The most preferable option is for me to go on exchange for that semester, but it’s unlikely my department will allow it. The other option I can fall back on is to take a full course load (five courses) entirely by distance education at my university. I’ve taken a language course via distance ed before, and I found it really easy. However, I’m wondering how it will be with a full course load and non-language courses, like how the work load compares with on-campus courses and about the whole self-motivation aspect.
So how are your experiences with distance ed, especially if you’ve done a full course load?
I did my LLB completely by distance education, as a part-time student. It took me five and half years. I thought it was a great way to study. You just need to be very organised with your time and work consistently throughout the semester.
I teach at a university both in the classroom and online. The biggest advice I can give you about taking online classes is the same as Cunctator said–it is vitally important that you keep up with the assignments and submit them by the due dates.
Our system is set up so that the assignments become “active” on a certain day and then are removed at a specific time days later. Once they become inactive, you can’t submit your assignment unless you have a very good excuse, with documentation. I have had quite a few students fail because they just didn’t turn in assignments on time, so they received 0s for those assignments. Many of them say that they aren’t used to online classes and have trouble managing their time.
Also, teachers are there to help and WANT students to contact them with questions, so don’t think that just because you aren’t physically in the classroom, you can’t contact the teacher. We offer email and iChat and spend lots of time answering student questions through those. Take advantage of that.
One of my motivations for distance ed is that I can do it anywhere in the world with an internet connection. So presumably, I could be working on a beach in Thailand.
Do you happen to have experiences with students who did that? (e.g., worst students ever!)
Many of the students with whom I studied lived in fairly remote rural areas. Others spent periods during semesters overseas. Distance study can be very flexible.
I’m currently completing a Bachelor of Computer Science via distance education. I’ve taken CS, maths (applied and pure), philosophy and communications units all through distance, and I’ll be doing my Honours next year in CS via distance as well. (Cuncator, did you go through UNE? That’s who I’m with.)
You just need a lot of self-discipline. Last semester I took Game Programming, and the unit coordinator was pretty much AWOL the whole time – I really felt like I was on my own. But dedication and perseverance got me through.
In short, be prepared to be your own teacher – anything more is a bonus. But it is certainly achievable.
I did distance education in the UK, with the Open University. They had 3 or 4 seminars per term that you could attend if it fitted with your schedule and you wanted the extra input, but they weren’t compulsory. You did have to turn in your assignments on time (or with a good excuse and prior agreement by your tutor, an extension), either by post or online submission. There was also an exam at the end of the class, but that did need to be done in person. Your tutor was available by phone or email for extra input too.
When I came to the states, I continued my courses over here, with shorter deadlines, given the length of the post time from the US to the UK, and I had to fly over for the exam.
You do have to be very self motivated and organised and push yourself to study. And be prepared to email or phone or whatever your university has available to get extra information if you have any issues or don’t understand the material. It’s very different from regular, attended, study like that - usually you have fellow students you can discuss things with and resolve stuff before it becomes an issue. Distance study, you have to be very aware of your own progress and when you’re bogging down in things.