My opinion on:

Teaching Online Classes

 

There are advantages to both online courses and regular courses.  I believe that both online courses and regular courses would be good depending on the needs and abilities of the student.  Some students may like taking classes online because of the flexibility, but some may like to take a regular class because they need better clarification on the topics presented.

 

If I were teaching a course I think that it would be easier to teach it online whether it was synchronous or not.  The advantage of taking a synchronous course could be that the students that might need more explanation on subjects sit in the regular classroom when available, so that might be a little easier. 

 

I think the flexibility of taking classes helps both the teacher and the student a lot.  The student can do their homework early when it’s convenient for then, and the teacher can grade the homework as it comes in so they don’t have to do it on their weekends.   The teacher can offer almost any course that they could offer in a regular classroom and the teacher may also offer students accelerated courses for those students that are ahead.

 

The disadvantages of teaching an online course would be the procrastination of the students.  When they procrastinate, the teacher has to grade a lot of the homework or papers all at one time making the teacher have to hurry to get things graded on time.  For the students, the classes may also be really expensive.

 

The alternative to online classes could be blended learning where the students may go to class for less amount of time and then also do online homework the other time.   The online homework would be a follow up to the material that was taught in the classroom.  This way of teaching would be good for the students and the teachers because the students would get flexibility and would be able to ask questions during, before and after class.  The teachers would also find advantage with this type of teaching because they would have to answer less repetitive questions from the students.

 

Overall I do believe that teaching an online course would be easier for both the students and the teacher because of flexibility and availability of classes. 

 

http://www.knowledgeability.biz/weblearning/default.htm#Blended%20Learning

 

 

Last updated: Wednesday, April 12, 2006

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