matrick

I was looking for help regarding online courses. I plan on taking online courses during my breaks so I get done earlier with school. Can someone please explain to me what costs I would have ? Do you think I would get in trouble regarding the work load if I would do such course duringmy breaks? How do online courses look anyway? Do I have to do everything on my own? What about tests?

Thanks!

elearningpundit

First, please check with your advisor if the planned courses will transfer. Costs will depend on the school. You can pay as little as $160 per course all the way up to $2,000. Look at online classes through community colleges in your state IF for general education, such as freshman comp, micro/macro economics, intro to sociology, intro to psych, or first/second year math.

I advise against attempting to transfer courses normally taken during the last two years of bachelor's degree program without consulting an advisor and maybe even the department dean. Some schools are okay with upper-level course transfers while others are not.

Course work depend on you. One reason so many students drop out of online courses is the lack of interaction. Plus, it's easier to play games or surf Facebook when we are supposed to be studying through the computer.

divinebovine85

Hi!

There are actually a lot of online courses to choose from. It really depends on what your interests are. It's also good to be able to help people. People who needs guidance in their lives. I could suggest you take up a home-based course to become a counselor. I've heard this from a friend One of The Best Counsellor Courses available but there are many others that you can Google of course.

Anyway, this would be perfect for a busy person like you. You can study this course anytime you want and during any free time you have.

Remember, choose wisely so there'll be no regrets!

backafter40

It all depends on your own local college that you are attending. I've taken online courses for the last five semesters through my local community college and each instructor is a bit different with how they set up their blackboard classes so you can't just say they do it "this way" and that's how they all do it because it isn't that easy (unfortunately).

For instance: this semester I am taking 3 classes that are very different. I have 1 class that the instructor lets us do the chapter assignments on our own but we do not submit them and we will only be graded for tests when she posts them every few weeks, very simple.

In another class I post assignments on a discussion board so other classmates can respond to me and I do the same with them, then I do the tests every two weeks and I'm graded for all of it.

Then in another course I am to complete assignments in word and then submit all assignments through a drop box that goes directly to my instructor and also participate in a discussion board with my classmates and then she will post tests every couple of weeks for me to do. and in this class I am allowed to do it all whenever I want so if I chose to finish the whole semester in two weeks I can do that. She has every bit of it posted for us to do that, which of course I will not do, but it's available to those that want to do it that way.

So each of my online classes are very different this semester.

tlavelle

What are you trying to earn a degree in, and what level degree?

TransferStudent8

Costs vary from school to school but in my experience, online courses are slightly less expensive than the cost for physically attending classes. As far as having enough time to take online courses when you are on break from your regular classes all depends on how long the online course runs for. Also, elearningpundit makes a good point about checking with your college to make sure the online courses you plan to take will count for credit at your current college.

As far as the format for an online course, I have taken online courses at 3 different colleges in my area and all have had a similar layout. You start by receiving a syllabus, which details the assignments, the required reading, and test dates. Normally I input the due dates for all assignments and tests on my calendar with reminder alerts so that I don’t miss anything. The coursework and lecture information is separated by week for you to follow along.

In place of class participation, online courses usually require posting to a discussion board on a weekly or semi-weekly basis. Most of the courses I have taken have required an initial post to a question or topic provided by the professor and 2-3 reply posts to fellow students. Being a relatively quiet person, I personally prefer this. In a class I physically attend, I’m much less likely to participate in class discussions. The discussion board posts allow all students from the class to participate.

For test purposes, you can obviously use your textbook so the normal ‘short term memorization’ tactics for tests that you would normally use is unnecessary. Instead tests are either essay based so that you have to describe or compare concepts from the coursework to demonstrate your understanding of the material, or they are multiple choice/fill-in the blank and are timed so you don’t have time to be looking up every single answer.

While this format is used at the colleges in my area, online courses might work differently at other schools. Some schools offer a guest sign on to their online course website so you can see an example course for yourself. I would suggest checking with the college you plan to take online courses with to see if they offer a sneak preview or if they can at least describe the format to you.

iannalim

Try to check this one: College University Online Course

I hope you will get lots of information, here.