I have recently discussed with some co-workers that I will be attending school again. When they asked me where was I going, my reply was the University of Phoenix. My co-workers looked at me funny, and I knew exactly what they were thinking. I told them that I was going to school online. They immediately were intrigued by this and started asking questions. Is it harder online? “No,” it’s easy. You just have to have a routine. Everything is done in weekly blocks. There is a calendar that shows exactly what assignments need to be done within the week.
You see all the course materials, and even an online library. There is no need to even buy textbooks. How does the assignments work? All the assignments are accomplished through “Forums,” similar to Blogs. The teacher posts a discussion questions and other assignments in the forum. All the classmates respond to the discussion questions and you receive feedback from the other students. All the responses thread onto each other creating what is called, “Threaded Discussion”. Are your conversations Live? “Well,” Probably not, but it is possible. What is great about forums is I can post my responses at anytime of the day from any computer. All the students post their assignments and Discussion Questions when they find it convenient for them, just as long as they are not late turning in their assignments. This is called, “Asynchronous Communication” How do you have time for school? The flexibility of this Asynchronous Communication allows time to do all the other thinks I need to do. The assignments are not too hard and do not take that much time. What do you do if there is a question you need answered? I can post a Question for the teacher in my private forum called, “Individual forum”. In this forum no one can see what I have written, just the teacher and myself. I can go to the “Chat Room” forum and ask other classmates on areas I need help. The councilors provides excellent help with any questions I may have, they are very helpful. Most of my co-workers have heard of online college courses. After explaining to my co-workers the basics of distance learning, I would say that they were intrigued enough to check it out for their selves. I definitely will recommend this to anyone.