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Hi Everyone!

I used to post here frequently before starting school but since then, my life has gotten very hectic so I've not posted in quite a while...I'm just now getting back into the groove of things.

Anyway, I'll get directly to my question...has anyone here taken any of their nursing courses online? My school just offered this option over the summer for students who had to withdraw from the program (which I did due to having a baby) and due to my family situation at the time (I had a brand new baby and my Mother-in-law passed away just days before this option was presented to me), I decided not to take the course. It has now been a year since withdrawing, and i'm ready to enroll to finish off my last semester of nursing school and I'm thinking about taking the online course option. I'm assuming that since it is being offered again this semester, that it was a success. Now I'm wondering if I should take it. It would be nice to not have to "go in" to school twice a week and it would also be nice not to have to worry about getting someone to watch the baby if for some reason DH couldn't for those two hours. If I were to take the online option, I have already decided that I will leave the house for at least 2 hours per night and go to the library to get my studying done...in peace and quiet so I don't have to worry about what my little girl is doing.

I know the last semester is very fast paced and I have to stay on top of things...and in all my other courses thus far, I've not run accross anything in class that I couldn't have learned from my books...it was just further re-inforcement that I think I could have done without. I also think the classes enabled me to slough of a little...I will actually have to read everything instead of relying on lecture to fill in the blanks on the stuff I didn't read. I don't know...What do you all think?

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Elizabeth Hanes, BSN, RN

14 Articles; 297 Posts

Specializes in Freelance Writer, 'the nurse who knows content'.

Bean, take this with a grain of salt.

I haven't taken any nursing or pre-nursing courses online, but I've taken other ones (English, communications, etc.). Based on your comments, I think your perception of online classes may not be accurate.

The online courses I took (and the ones my friend takes, earning her Master's in accounting online) were very interactive. It wasn't just a matter of reading material on your own time and then taking tests or writing papers. Instead, we were given an online discussion question or issue each week, and we had to participate with our classmates using a sort of bulletin board type system (that was very ill-designed). We also had to download assignments from the site on a weekly basis and turn in weekly assignments (no "go at your own pace" option).

We also had to do group projects and write group papers after being paired or grouped by the instructor. This can be a real pain in the backside because all of your communication with your group members is by e-mail. If you think it's hard to get people to show up for in-person meetings, try getting them to show up for online meetings using a crappy Web interface! :eek:

In my friend's case, she is required to be online in the discussion module at certain times during the week, so don't assume you won't have to "go in to class" at regular times. Find out what your school requires in this regard.

The online course interface used by my university is called WebCT, and I can't say I recommend it. The discussion interface, which is so important, is very clunky. Aside from that, you have to click on several different areas of the site in order to gather all the information you need for your weekly assignments. (For instance, you have to click on one link to find the reading, then you have to click on another link for the assignment, yet another link for important announcements from your instructor, a different link for the discussion, etc.)

As you might surmise, I found that online courses did not work well for me. You definitely have to be a self-starter to get through these, and you also need to be extremely organized.

Good luck to you!

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