next »

[notaprof]

My daughter has been placed in two on-line courses next semester at her bricks and mortar institution and she is not happy about it - neither am I.  She wants to be in a classroom, not on a computer.  She doesn't have a computer at home and will have to go to campus, 30 minutes away, to do her classes - with my car.  If she were to take public transportation, it would take over an hour each way.  She is working two part-time jobs and going to school full-time.  She is managing all this fine this semester with her regular face to face classes but she and I are both concerned about how to make this work.  The on-line courses are biology and public health.  This just seems like a bad idea all around to me and I am trying to think of tips to give her to help this next semester.  Any wise tips from forawhiz on-liners?



PS I know that having to go to campus to do her classwork is really a non-issue but it just seems to add to the inconvenience of this situation. 

[neutralname]

Time to buy a computer and get Internet access. 

If the course is taught well, it will probably be about twice as much work for her as taking the course in a classroom.  Depending on the course policies, she will probably need to be much more diligent in keeping up with the class than she would have to be in the classroom. 

Good luck to her. 

[notaprof]

Thanks neutralname, that is what I was afraid of.  She had a laptop that just died but I have my name in for a lottery at my campus to get a desktop for cheap.  I'll keep my fingers crossed and pass it on to her if I get lucky.  I almost feel like the school should have to pay for her internet access since she is paying tuition for a regular class. 

Twice as much work is not a good mix with my daughter, it has been a difficult path that has gotten her to this point in her college career and I am almost unhappy enough about this to become a helicopter parent but my daughter takes pride fighting her own battles.  She is not happy about this but is trying to just deal with this hand she had been dealt. I know that this is not a good option for her and I feel rather frustrated that this has happened to her when she has just found her passion for something in college.  Biology is not her passion, but is needed for her major.  If it were some other class, it might be more workable.

[goldenapple]

I'm sorry to say it, because I know that it is a significant expense, but she should get a laptop and internet access before the semester starts. Imagine this scenario -- a sad and not uncommon one -- she waits, she has trouble keeping up in the class, starts falling behind and misses messages and discussions, and half way through the course ends up buying a laptop anyway. The result: she doesn't get as much out of the courses and she saves no money.

She might contact the school (student services? IT? book store?) and see if they rent out laptops. Many schools do. You can get refurbished laptops (directly from the manufacturer, with warranty) for less than normal retail prices, as well.

[littlefred]

Yes, I agree. I would suggest trying to find room in the budget for a computer and internet access. Taking online courses DOES take more effort from a student, and this is one thing I see frequently as a big hurdle for students.

I have to ask though... I have never heard of a student being involuntarily enrolled in online courses. Ever.  usually students must agree to online courses, or at least, during admission, they must agree to the possibility of taking them. Did you daughter agree to this? Has she discussed this with her adviser?  

[notaprof]

I had never heard of it either but the only class that was open by the time her registration time slot came around.  It was in the schedule as having a time and an instructor that was listed as  "TBD" and she thought that was odd but was going to plan to rearrange her schedule around it because she has to take the class this semester or get even further behind since it is a pre-requisite for other classes she needs to take later.  It was only after she registered that she learned it was an on-line class.  She'll know in the future and perhaps she did sign something when she enrolled at the school (it's a Cal Poly) but she was not aware of on-line classes.  Biology just seems like an odd course to do on-line but she does have a lab with it, that will not be on-line, obviously.  

[polly_mer]

I had never heard of it either but the only class that was open by the time her registration time slot came around.  It was in the schedule as having a time and an instructor that was listed as  "TBD" and she thought that was odd but was going to plan to rearrange her schedule around it because she has to take the class this semester or get even further behind since it is a pre-requisite for other classes she needs to take later.  It was only after she registered that she learned it was an on-line class.  She'll know in the future and perhaps she did sign something when she enrolled at the school (it's a Cal Poly) but she was not aware of on-line classes.  Biology just seems like an odd course to do on-line but she does have a lab with it, that will not be on-line, obviously.   

This situation is how I ended up with a statistics class that will savage me in the evaluations.  While everything I saw, including all electronic and printed class schedules, listed my class as a hybrid (one meeting a week in person and the rest online) with a big warning about substantial online work required, my first class meeting went horribly as most of the students had not gotten the messages of what they were supposed to do that week since they were not prepared for a hybrid course.  The course continued to trainwreck because of excuse after excuse by students that they don't have access to the internet on the near daily basis that is required to succeed in one of these classes.  Thus, they don't check their email.  They don't do the work on time because of the difficulty of finding internet access.  Every week, I hear hardship whining about how "the system" wouldn't let them do any work or they just didn't have time to go to the library that has good internet access.

Even for the students who don't claim internet hardship, the lack of frequent class meetings means that the students must be together enough to do essentially an individual study with specific deadlines.  Many students are not that mature yet.  They may not need spoonfeeding, but they certainly need more guidance and gentle nudges to ask questions than the online environment provides.

[larryc]

It is unprofessional of the school that this was not clearly labeled as an internet class. It seems like this is a really bad choice for your daughter. Surely there are other classes she could be taking and wait for bio to come around in the classroom again? Or Could she take bio at a nearby CC and transfer the credits?

If she does end up with the online class you absolutely need to buy her a computer right now so she can get used to it before class begins. There are a lot of netbooks that would work fine for her for under $300. Or look at today's special on Woot.com, a fairly good desktop with Windows 7 for abound $300. You can get an old tube monitor at a thrift store for $20 or less. Or go on Craigslist for a deal on a used machine (make sure you get all the install disks so you can start off fresh).

Good luck!

[creamcity]

Also be sure to check on student discounts -- at every campus I have seen -- although do comparison shopping, as those prices can be beat these days at a lot of stores.

I got my Acer netbook, a beaut, for $150.  Not the thing for sizeable assignments that need a laptop's larger screen but certainly sufficient for checking for messages, bringing up online readings, and the like.  A reason I like Acer is that the netbook has three ports (good for flashdrives to store larger assignments plus still ports for a mouse and more).  But of late, it looks -- from students' netbooks I've seen -- like Toshiba is a good deal. 

Just the thing for that holiday gift before her semester starts, but also consider a gift card to cash in on the post-Christmas price drops, if that is the pattern again this year.  However, also watch this week for Black Friday deals; students and family members working in retail suggest that those deals will be great this year.

[creamcity]

p.s.  I ought to have added that I was resistant to online courses until I saw my own progeny in college do so well in them, particularly in stats and science courses, not their prowess.  Having all of the prof's lectures and materials online for review at my progeny's own pace, and for review repeatedly if need be, worked very well.

[merce]

Boy, I am steamed on her and your behalf.
What a crock!
Could she go to see the secretary of each dept to ask to be wait listed for the non online classes?
(that is the way things are done here)
Perhaps she could also keep her eye on the "regular" classes to snag a spot when someone drops.

It seems ironic that while people usually imagine online classes as being easier to fit into a person's schedule, you're suggesting the opposite is true for her. What a shame.  Of course, if she can't switch out and you do get her a laptop then perhaps it will help her already-tight schedule.

[polly_mer]

It seems ironic that while people usually imagine online classes as being easier to fit into a person's schedule, you're suggesting the opposite is true for her. What a shame.  Of course, if she can't switch out and you do get her a laptop then perhaps it will help her already-tight schedule.

It's only easier if one is already an online denizen.  Otherwise, online classes are often a terrible choice.

p.s.  I ought to have added that I was resistant to online courses until I saw my own progeny in college do so well in them, particularly in stats and science courses, not their prowess.  Having all of the prof's lectures and materials online for review at my progeny's own pace, and for review repeatedly if need be, worked very well.

This situation is hit and miss.  Many times online classes don't have lectures akin to classroom lectures.  Mine don't, because we have a crummy server and you wouldn't believe what I would have to do to get a three-minute lecture put on the site, let alone a couple hours per week like a classroom lecture.  There simply aren't enough hours in the day. 

Review of materials repeatedly can be useful, but that only works if students can and do do that.  Students who are very uncertain of themselves as students often cannot pull off the self-study required for an online class.  Students who also don't know how to do anything with any kind of lecture in terms of taking notes will be worse off in an online environment where I, as the instructor, can't say, "Now, you do one just like the example while I walk around the room to answer targeted questions."  I was somewhat horrified to discover exactly where many of my students were having problems.  They weren't having problems with the material of that chapter; they were having problems with prerequisites to prerequisites to prerequisites (i.e., material that they should have known cold before they set foot in my classroom, physical or virtual).

Thus, while online classes can be great for some people under some circumstances, someone who knows that she or he needs more interaction or a different kind of interaction for a specific class would be advised to not take the class online.

[creamcity]

Oh, I agree -- from what I see in my online students -- that such courses are not for everyone.  So I empathize with the parent who sees his progeny being pushed into online courses.  I hope that there is a way around that . . . etc., etc., per all of the above by others.  However, if there is not at way around this, I also am hoping to give some encouragement -- as other indicators are that OP's daughter is a good, motivated student.

[polly_mer]

Oh, I agree -- from what I see in my online students -- that such courses are not for everyone.  So I empathize with the parent who sees his progeny being pushed into online courses.  I hope that there is a way around that . . . etc., etc., per all of the above by others.  However, if there is not at way around this, I also am hoping to give some encouragement -- as other indicators are that OP's daughter is a good, motivated student.

Sometimes, being good and motivated isn't enough when you need something else.  I wouldn't take many science or math classes online and I'm an excellent student in those areas.  While some online education works, I'm leery of sending non-majors through science in a non-hands-on setting.  If the class is simply rote memorization, then online could work.  But I doubt that many online science classes worth their salt are set up for people who are timid in that particular area.

[creamcity]

I guess that there's a purpose to affirmation to the parent that this is just terrible and will ruin his daughter's college career. . . .  I'm just responding to what the parent asked.  Got tips?