Online Courses vs. In Class Courses

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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This Fall will be my 1st semester of school.. I had no choice but to take one of my courses online. I was trying to avoid it because I feel I won't learn from it as much as I would in class.

Am I being silly to think this way? What are your experiences with online courses?

Specializes in ..

Susie, your experience sounds a lot like mine (especially the part where you felt like a fraud! I used that exact expression when I was taking the class!) I got through the class by going through the motions, but I never felt like I 'got it'. Surprisingly, I got an A in the class; it was the first and only time my grade wasn't a general reflection of what I thought I learned in a course.

Thankfully, that class is behind me. I do have to take Research and Biostatistics for grad school... I sure hope I can bluff my way through this one!!!

Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
Wow, everyone has given me great input! Thank you! I guess it really does depend on a lot of factors. Well, I guess we'll see how I do with my 1st online class. :)

Trying out a class is a good way to get a feel for how it works. If at all possible, don't make the first class a critical or too complex class, but instead one that's not too demanding and that you'd be able to survive dropping if worst came to worst.

ETA: reread your original post...I see you have no choice as to what to take :)

Specializes in Oncology/hematology.

I am absolutely hating online nutrition! I don't feel like I'm learning anything at all. And, even though I still have an 88% in the class, I got my first ever F on a test. I just like being in the classroom with lectures. I am realizing that I'm not a good self teacher.

This is my 2nd online class. I loved my first one: online running! :lol2:

at present i'm re-taking psychology 101, a pre req course, online at ivy tech and currently have an 'a' in the class which i am very happy about! i have a high 'b' in my online women's issues class (had to pick something doable re: receiving federal loan $$...)

i had been hesitant about taking any online courses because i'm not very disciplined. however, taking these online classes has made me disciplined which is a good thing. a person has to "get the feel" for what his/her instructor wants. a lot of the work involves participating in discussion board posts for these classes. the women's issues class that i'm taking involves db posts as well as writing a few (research) papers.

good luck in your courses!

ha ha ha.. yeah i'll have to go hide somewhere.

i've actually already started studying my med terms. oh lord, i'm such a nerd.. i know.

do you have children? are they interrupting you?! if so, i have the same problem! if i have to, i'd go to an ivy tech satellite location and work on homework, but so far i haven't had to resort to that. i am only allotted 1 hour at the public library, and that's not enough time to do what i need to do...

good luck!

Honestly, I think that I learned a lot more with my online classes. For example, I took A&P II and Chemistry online, and received A's in both. However, the courses were very fast and I had to keep up with everything on my own. Before deciding to go back to nursing school, I was a chemistry and biology major, so it was a bit easier on me. Bear in mind, though, that most professors online aren't going to remind you when something is due, so I would get my due dates the first day of the class and write them in my planner. That way, nothing could sneak up on me. I like the online methods because you don't really have to get used to a teacher's personality as much as you would in person. For example, some teachers in person decide that the only way they want their students to learn is by their methods. That doesn't really work half of the time because each person learns differently. There are also several valuable websites to use when in online classes, such as YouTube for reinforcing concepts and others like about.com and Khan Academy.

Yes, I have an 11 month old at home. The baby isn't the one that interrupt me.. it's my husband! LOL He sometimes doesn't know how to entertain the baby so the baby will end up crying and my husband ends up interrupting me. (>.

I will definitely have to find a place to study .. outside of the house.

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