In the age of the Internet, it’s become increasingly more common to do things online, such as shopping, banking, and classes. Throughout my college career, I did online classes in addition to attending regular classes to attain my degree. Here are some pros and cons of doing online classes while in college.
One of the biggest benefits that comes to mind when doing online classes, from the comfort of your home, is the no pants option. Rolling out of bed and staying in your pajamas all day, working at your laptop is a hermit’s dream!
From my personal experience of doing online classes, I found the workload to actually be heavier and the material at times to be more challenging than face-t0-face classes. One class, in particular, a music course I took, we had roughly 20 quizzes every 2 weeks period. These quizzes would touch upon the individual chapters which covered composers, the era in which the composers existed, art movements during that specific era, and the instruments used in a specific song (i.e which instruments are being played in Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik?) On top of chapter quizzes we also were required to listen to numerous clips (sometimes more than 20) of these composed pieces and identify yet again the instruments, and if any vocals were present, if they were in alto, soprano, baritone, etc. It was a history, a language and art class all in one. And you have to do all the quizzes, with no help from any classmates or instructors.
Another major benefit many might see to doing online classes is that you work around your schedule And while it’s true it’s not the same as reporting to an eight AM class promptly, there are still deadlines students must abide by when doing online classes, especially if you have real-life professors on the other end, assigning the work. They have lives too, and want to grade your work in a timely manner so you can be done with the class by the end of the semester. Unless your entire college career is online through one of those specialized schools, but in many cases, these classes will be through your university. While it’s nice to not have to wake up super early, put on pants and leave the comfort of your home, procrastinating with online classes usually doesn’t work out.
A major drawback to doing classes online is that you never meet your professors or classmates face-to-face, and while this might seem cool, it can be stressful especially if you have concerns or questions. Of course, email is an option for addressing your concerns to your instructors, but face-to-face conversations are still the best mode of communication even in our technologically advanced ways of living. It’s especially true if there is clear miscommunication between the parties, and there is a misunderstanding, which can easily happen in writing.
One of the main reasons students end up taking online classes is because the course they need that semester isn’t available any other way, and they have to take it to graduate. Another reason students go the online route is to take an extra elective or filler course, because they need those credits. Either way, online classes can be really great for that! It allows you a little flexibility with that class you might not otherwise be able to take.
A huge downside to doing online classes is the technical problems that can arise. Websites crashing, files getting lost, corrupted, or deleted. One of the online classes I experienced, the website in which our quizzes were assigned, crashed numerous times during those quizzes. Unfortunately, I was at fault for these, regardless of the issue, and had no choice but to take the less than stellar grades those half-completed-never-to-be-finished quizzes gave me. Other issues that can occur are a faulty Internet connection, which can occur randomly, leaving you with a similar issue I had: incomplete but sadly submitted work you can’t redo unless your professor is super-duper understanding.
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