Online classes good enough?

caliotter3 · Apr 8, 2010

Most schools show no indication on transcripts that a course is online, so it makes no difference. I would contact the school you are considering taking a particular class from and ask this specific question before enrolling in any online course. Also, if you do some reading here, you can find out which schools are most popular for transferrable online courses.

JasMcK · Apr 8, 2010

I took A&P I and II online at Northern VA community college. The transcript does not indicate anything about being an online course. From what I've been able to tell, the courses seem to be acceptable at all of nursing schools in the DC area. I would just make sure that the courses are taken through a regular, regionally accredited, not-for-profit school

One1, BSN, RN · Apr 8, 2010

I never had a problem with my online classes not being accepted, and it will not show on your transcript if they are online. I even took APII hybrid (lecture online, lab on campus - not a fun class to self-teach though..) and am taking Chemistry online with a home-lab kit. I took PSY, Statistics, and Nutrition all online.

caliotter3 · Apr 8, 2010

All of the other classes you listed can also be taken online, but you might want to consider your learning needs as well as the teaching style of the instructor. Some instructors do not put much effort into online courses while others go whole hog with their delivery and making themselves available to help their online students. So, you might want to be prepared to drop any online class that does not meet your learning expectations.

Addy3 · Apr 8, 2010

Thanks guys, that's good advice. I know that A&P can be taken online, but I think that I will need to take it in-class. I want to prepare myself for closed book tests......LOL.

What made me wonder is a friend of mine took a bunch of classes at Phoenix Online, and her current cc would not accept them. That might be exclusive to that online school though.

Anyone taken any math online? Does the teacher post video of the problems being worked out or what?

One1, BSN, RN · Apr 8, 2010

Is Phoenix regionally (not nationally) accredited? If not, that might be why the classes do not transfer. Make sure your school is regionally accredited and you shouldn't have any issues. State schools and community colleges for example are.

I took Statistics online. Many science classes use the textbook's website for practice assignments, and/ or homework. My class was completely set up online. Exams, practice assignments, and homework were all multiple choice type math problems, unfortunately that means you do not get partial credit if the final result is wrong. "Lecture" part was really self-study. I read the textbook and did the online practice assignments before turning in homework and exams. If we had questions, we could post them in an online forum and the teacher was great about getting back with us, but there was no video taping or other recording of our teacher explaining anything to us. That is why caliotter has a good point about it needing to meet your learning style.

Addy3 · Apr 8, 2010

Thanks!

Im have a strong read/writing learning style, so the classes I have been taking work really well for me. When it comes to math though, I need to see someone work out the problem:/

One1, BSN, RN · Apr 8, 2010

I think some of the practice assignments might have had the option of seeing a step-by-step solution process, but I am not sure how helpful those were (I only used them a few times to see where my calculation went off). You could always google the topic though or see what youtube has on the topic. I sometimes do that with my chemistry class, and there are plenty of video clips of class recordings on there.

dandk1997RN, MSN, RN · Apr 9, 2010

All of my online classes have been accepted, but they were all through colleges that are part of my state's university system, so nothing on my transcripts indicates that they are online classes. My nursing program doesn't care as long as the classes are from SUNY schools (or other acceptable schools.)

I think University of Phoenix isn't taken very seriously, but there are many state schools that now offer online classes. SUNY has a website devoted exclusively to helping students find online SUNY classes- I'm even taking micro- with an at-home lab- online over the summer.

Veganmom · Apr 9, 2010

I'm taking a Statistics class online right now. The teacher expects everyone to learn the material without her help. She has some powerpoints available but they consist of the figures from our textbook, so they are basically worthless. I bought the online tutorial from the textbook. It helps me a lot by providing step-by-step demonstations of how to do the problems and plenty of practice problems (with assistance if you are getting them wrong). I chose to take it online because the only professor with a classroom statistics course at my campus is a horrible teacher and the online course seems to be working out much better for me than his class.

I've taken a few other courses online and they have worked out well. It's nice to have the ability to work at my own pace, and to not waste so much time commuting and waiting for class to start. The nursing schools saw my online courses positively because they also offer some of their courses online.

tap87 · Apr 9, 2010

Most schools that you transfer to won't have a problem with online classes. I work part-time at the school I am currently attending...our school puts down that the class was taken online, but the only problem I have ever seen is only one local University wanted to see the course descriptions, etc. from the school handbook to make sure it is the same material taught in class and online.

I like online classes, I took a few and found them to be writing intensive but I like writing so it wasn't a big deal. They save a lot of time too, in my opinion.

Good luck!!