Dear Students,
I'm an on-campus student, however over the Summer I undertook a few Trimester 3 subjects. All of them were online.
First of all, I must say if you are not one for checking DSO regularly, if you know you won't go through any of the i-lectures or attend eLive classes, and if you know that you're going to leave everything to the last minute - avoid online subjects like the plague. However, if you hate the travelling, and if you have the means (good, reliable Internet access), then I can't praise online classes enough.
In my first post, I wrote about my sometimes difficult journey to Uni. Probably the biggest positive about online classes are that they eliminate the need to travel - perfect for me! Plus everything is readily available online, you can easily communicate with your peers, and did I mention there was no need to travel (which saves both time and money)?
My only warning though is that it is easy to fall behind. Personally, I prefer i-lectures because I can pause them and write my notes at my own pace, but at the same time I do find myself a bit more motivated if I'm actually on campus. The beauty of Uni is that it's you're choice, so go with what works for you.
Just a few tips if you do decide to study online;
- Pretend you're actually at Uni; studying from home has the potential for a loooooooot of distractions, try and pretend those don't exist (switch off the TV, close the YouTube & Facebook tabs).
- Build a routine; maybe check DSO at the same time every week, and make sure you know when you need to download your lectures or attend eLive tutorials.
- Enjoy the perks; get a good amount of sleep, eat well (chances are you won't have to buy junk food because you're out), and stress less!
Agree with all your points. Online learning can be great, and really flexible for many of us with demanding or complex schedules. But yes, it can be easy to fall behind and lose motivation. I like to combine on and off campus-best of both worlds :)
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has always studied online I totally agree with the ease of falling behind — sometimes I sit in on a lecture if I am able just to get the "student" feeling going again.If is it still the rule that all students 'must' complete one unit wholly online this is something that will be relevant to all students.
ReplyDeleteI only just learnt a trick over Trimester 3. If you go to the iLectures there is an option to cut & paste a subscription link for iTunes. Now when I open iTunes on my laptop it automatically updates/downloads them.