{"id":25867,"date":"2024-10-16T09:00:06","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T16:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/?p=25867"},"modified":"2024-10-10T11:57:06","modified_gmt":"2024-10-10T18:57:06","slug":"open-space-online-courses-offer-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2024\/10\/16\/open-space-online-courses-offer-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Space<\/em>: Online courses offer freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Online courses have gotten a bad rep due to COVID. That\u2019s fair: they aren\u2019t for everyone. Being forced into a learning environment that doesn\u2019t work for you is awful. However, there are benefits that shouldn\u2019t be overlooked.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve taken online courses from three different institutions over three decades. Delivery of distance education has significantly improved.<\/p>\n

In the mid-2000s, I completed my entire paralegal certificate without any lectures; that\u2019s how it was done. Technology has improved the delivery of education; a lack of lectures is no longer acceptable.<\/p>\n

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This story originally appeared in our October 16, 2024 issue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At Camosun, I\u2019ve taken both asynchronous (pre-recorded lectures) and synchronous (Zoom lectures) online courses. I prefer asynchronous for the flexibility of doing schoolwork whenever I want to during the week. The time-saving factor of Zoom lectures makes them more attractive than in-person classes.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll let you in on a secret: I wear pajama pants to Zoom lectures. It\u2019s what I wear at home; why change if classmates can\u2019t see my legs? I\u2019ve also attended lectures from bed on my iPad (I loathe all 8:30 am classes).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Taking an asynchronous online course can be a time-gap filler. This semester I wanted two courses that were on Wednesdays and Fridays but left a three-hour gap in my schedule. I couldn\u2019t fill it with another in-person course, so I went with an online course.<\/p>\n

Yes, I could have just done my homework for my two courses during the gap; it\u2019s what most would do. However, by taking an online course, I was able to reduce the number of days I was on campus. That\u2019s one less day I had to bus to campus, a savings of two hours each week. And that\u2019s two hours I could spend on homework at home or have to myself.<\/p>\n

However, life doesn\u2019t always go as planned. This semester was completely derailed by illness, and I was faced with the option of taking fewer courses or taking my whole semester online. I\u2019m grateful the option existed for me because I\u2019ll still graduate when I planned to.<\/p>\n

Attendance is always part of our grades. It\u2019s the easiest mark we can earn\u2014simply show up for class. Some days I\u2019m too sick to get out of bed, but I can do a lot of schoolwork on my iPad. Not having to get ready for class and take the bus saves me energy that I can invest into my homework.<\/p>\n

Now think about all the time commitments outside of school. Can an online course allow for more shifts at work? Can\u2019t make the time of that in-person class? Maybe it\u2019s offered online.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll admit, online courses aren\u2019t for everyone. I\u2019m an introvert; being around people drains my energy and I find being on campus exhausting. I don\u2019t need the socialization.<\/p>\n

The lack of engagement is a big deterrent to online courses\u2014that\u2019s reasonable. It takes a lot of effort from instructors to get student engagement in Zoom lectures. However, if students aren\u2019t answering questions or turning on their cameras, who\u2019s fault is that lack of engagement? Why aren\u2019t we using discussion boards more? We need to take some responsibility. If you have Zoom lectures now, please take part in discussions during class and turn on your camera; black boxes are annoying.<\/p>\n

Consider the benefits of online courses when planning your schedule next semester.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Online courses have gotten a bad rep due to COVID. That\u2019s fair: they aren\u2019t for everyone. Being forced into a learning environment that doesn\u2019t work for you is awful. However, there are benefits that shouldn\u2019t be overlooked. I\u2019ve taken online courses from three different institutions over three decades. Delivery of distance education has significantly improved. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25866,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,319],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-views","category-october-16-2024"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25867"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25868,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25867\/revisions\/25868"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}