I'm taking two on-line classes this semester to finish my co-reqs. I've got a psych and sociology class and after taking these classes I have to say I think that on-line degrees are a complete joke. Granted I needed the flexibility of being able to finish two classes without being out of the house 2-4 nights a week, otherwise I'd never see my kids. I think there are many people that can use the flexibility but I wonder if it's really as good as a class in person. I can see how they could be well done, so maybe it's just mine that aren't. In one class, 85% of the grade is multiple choice exams, in the other it's 50%. The remaining 15% (and 50%) are based on the discussion boards. The professors do nothing to facilitate the discussions or give any feedback. One professor posts maybe one post a week, the other has never posted a thing. The exams are supposedly "closed book", but the distribution of grades is extremely high. I never remember classes in college where no one scored lower than 80% on exams, so yes, I think that some people are cheating. Especially based on reading the quality of the answers posted by some students. For me, I've already got a BS and MS, I'm not taking classes that are the basis for what I might be doing as a nurse, so I don't care much. But I think that some schools are offering these on-line classes as a way to get some easy money and they're really giving out credit for sub-standard classes. Anyone taking GOOD on-line classes. Are you writing papers or getting good interaction from professors? Just wondering.
