Online College vs. Brick and Mortar, Revisited
Posted by Sharon Cece on March 13th, 2009
When I was twenty I enjoyed attending college on campus. Because I rented a quiet Tallahassee apartment twelve hundred miles from my New Jersey hometown, a spirited university environment was vital to my well-being. I hung out with fellow FSU undergrads at the student union, opined in classroom discussions and delivered presentations with my cohorts. When I returned to college as a busy wife and mother, traditional courses would have been a hardship rather than a dynamic facet of my academic life. By then I already had enough responsibility tugging at me; I didn’t need to be on-call to my college schedule as well.
Hence, my online courses differed in one, very important, sense–I wasn‘t slave to a schedule. Those of you who work from home as I do appreciate the concept of waking up slowly, enjoying a cup of java or two and then (the best part) walking a few feet to your home office instead of commuting sixty miles every day in traffic. Online lectures, lessons and coursework operate the same way as work-at-home assignments. Everything is performed and submitted right where you are.
Yet, one can feel sequestered when doing anything from home, whether it be working, raising a family or participating in online classes. Dynamic social interaction is minimized or non-existent and replaced by lively online interaction. Coursework is primarily independent, though there are few occasions when you work collectively. In those instances, you don’t meet in the library or on the university lawn, you meet in cyberclass.
With regard to online papers…a paper is a paper. This is a simplistic way of saying that papers are executed much the same way for online courses as brick and mortar. You’re presented with the subject matter, you do the research, write, revise and revise again, take a few aspirin, stay up until 3 a.m. and, if all goes well, submit the paper on schedule.
Online exams, on the other hand, are substantially different from traditional. Imagine, rather than testing the standard way–whereby you drive to class, walk to class, take your test at a specific time, walk back to your vehicle and drive home–instead you just walk to your computer, log on and take your exam whenever you feel like it (within a certain window–usually 48 hours). Keep in mind, there’s a little clock in the bottom corner which serves to remind you that the exam must be completed in, let’s say, 45 minutes “or else” (my term). I never found out what the “or else” was–hopefully not your computer self-destructing. The first few times I tested online this little clock unnerved me a bit, I admit, as did the formidable pronouncement in the center of the screen that there was no going back once you start. Also keep in mind, when you take tests from home anything can and will happen–your neighbor will suddenly knock on your door to deliver that pineapple cake you‘ve been waiting two years for, every telemarketer in the contiguous US will concurrently ring your number, your child–who was sleeping blissfully ten minutes ago–will wake cranky and demanding your attention, the cat will heave that furball right under your chair and take it‘s time doing it. Be prepared for these distractions. Still, you can’t beat the flexibility of taking your exams from home, in your beloved teddy bear pajamas no less.
Nascent college students who experience test anxiety in public will flourish under online testing formats; those who eschew public speaking will also thrive in the online sphere. Communal students who love being around and studying with cohorts may miss the personal daily interaction that epitomizes campus life. One must naturally consider all the options. In some instances, online courses are similar to brick and mortar; in others, online courses and test formats are unique. For those with demanding and active lifestyles pre-existing, the choice to matriculate online is the viable option.
