Jan 16 2009
On Online Classes
What’s the deal with all these schools offering online courses now? Biomedical sciences, creative writing, criminology, even culinary arts can all be taught over the Internet. My question is not so much how (though that is a valid question in itself), but why?
Why would anyone want to skip the standard classroom format? College is one of the most amazing experiences you can ever fathom. And it’s the friends you make, the skills you learn, the food you eat that are all an integral part of what college is. It’s a utopia of hippie youth, free-loving, free-spirited, curious, and confident in spending their parents’ time and money. A college is a commune, a microcosm of a city that runs on work, play, and an inherent belief in everyone that no matter what may happen to them during their 90 or so years in this stage of life we call life, they will never truly be alone.
And it’s fun. I’ve got countless friends who have purposely failed classes just so they could stay in school an extra semester or two.
So, get off the computer, enroll in a real medical school or cooking school and enjoy the lifestyle that comes with drinking seven Red Bulls while cramming for the next day’s final exam
I could not agree with you more. Not only do you establish lifelong friends and connections (important in the world today) but you get a multitude of ideas on how to approach any project or problem. My computer has yet to figure out the correct way to whip an eggyolk.
I used to think it’d be weird to take culinary classes online until my partner took a few himself. The way he explained it, cooking is about chemistry, and chemistry can be taught online. He also took a culinary history class, which was pretty cool. It was more about the focus of food and what role it played in cultures rather than actual cooking. So it is possible to take culinary classes online.
that is so true. The only thing I ever learned about the food industry from a computer was how to enter two big macs instead of one on the order screen. There are just some things that can only be learned by a hands-on approach. Great food preparation is one of them.
You know, you can have all that interaction online too. I liked it because I could study and interact with classmates on my own schedule, not dictated by how convenient it was to have a classroom full. I still have friends from when I was studying online two years ago. It’s 2009! Who sits in a classroom anymore?
I have been teaching for over 20 years both online and in the classroom. Personally, I feel more people are successful online. Yes, there is something to be said for an in-class discussion, but new technology supports these types of discussions online, in real time. I say whatever fits your learning style, go with that.
According to me, both i.e. online classes and the regular ones, have their own advantages. In a regular class you get less time to study, which is not the same in case of an online class. Another important factor is the cost of study which is much less in case of an online class. If you are a full-time working person and want to complete your unfinished college degree, then you can do this very easily with the help of an online class.