online classes

I'm taking two on-line classes right now. I thought that they'd be easy, but they are harder then regular classes! I don't mind writing papers at all, but it seems like we're having to "analyze" minor things that hardly need analysis! One of my classes has a weekly assignment of 5 questions. BUT, to answer the questions I have to read about 25 pages of text and then scour another 10-12 web sites (which each have several pages to them). The answers are usually 5-7 paragraphs each. I'm saving drive time and gas, but I long for a multiple choice test! Or even a blue sheet essay!

"Only a life lived for others, is the life worthwhile" - Albert Einstein

Online classes require a lot more committment than regular classes. I've been working on my degree for the last two years, and the majority of my classes have been online. You have to really be motivated, and stay on top of them. You can't slack off at all - and be sure not to overload yourself - don't take too many credits at once. Deadlines can be hard. I find myself frantic on sunday afternoons trying to get all my assigments posted. And heaven help you if your computer freezes up at 11:55 sunday night when your test is due at midnight lol :)
Good luck!

I needed to take 2 classes on AZ constitution and US constitution for my teaching certificate since I had moved here from out of state. I figured, "I'll just do them online, how hard could it possible be???" It seemed like an awful amount of "busy work" we had do scavenge the internet for answers to silly quizzes...that took forever! It also required a lot of written assignments, 2-3-4 pages. The only plus side was the instructor always had my assignments graded the next day, so I could move as quickly as I wanted to through the course. Also, I could do it all at night while my daughter was sleeping. This was through Northland Pioneer College...don't even kow where it is located, I just heard it was the cheapest. It worked out in the end, but depending on what type of course you are taking and how late you can stay up looking at the computer at night you may end up doing more work for your credits online. I would also recommend the online class if you are in a hurry to get courses completed, these online universities seem to be very willing to expedite the process, and transcripts, to meet your needs.

Ugh...after reading all of your experiences, if I ever wanted to take another class, I think I'll stick with going to school, in person!

Plus, you get to look forward to that one night/week that you are out of the house, not on kid-duty! :)

Happy2BMommy, is a stay-at-home mom who just turned 40 (argh!) with a 7 yr. old daughter and a 5 yr. old son, and is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com living in Scottsdale.

My brother got both his BS and his MS online with University of Phoenix, and, except for asking me for a little help on his two theses, he did okay, and he was never an eager student. If you do decide to go that route, I highly recommend subscribing to Questia. It's an online library/one-stop shop for research.

I took calculus online when I was completing my bachelors degree and it was no problem. As long as you have high speed internet access you should be good. I have no interested in going back to school, but I totally agree with the other poster about having a night away once a week.

You need to be self motivated to stick to the class schedule. Taking a geography class is much easier than taking an advanced math class because of the limited amount of feed back and directions. Good luck!

soccermom of a 12 yr old boy and 15 yr old young lady