How Online Classes Function and the Technology that Fuels Them

Posted by Jeff Davis on February 13th, 2009

My experience with online classes at the University of Phoenix consisted of having due dates each week that had to be met for items such as attendance, participation, team projects, individual assignments, discussion questions, and weekly summaries to name a few. As a student at this school, I was required to post two responses per week in order to meet the attendance requirements and four times per week to meet the class participation requirements. Each week there were discussion questions that each student was required to answer on a specific day. Meanwhile individual assignments consisted mainly of researching and writing papers while team projects varied based on the type of class and the program you were enrolled in. I can recall most team projects consisting of virtual organizations and creating business solutions for these by utilizing simulation type environments and team research papers.

My experience with the University of Phoenix’s online curriculum was remarkably similar to a traditional classroom, except that it occurs on a tightly compressed schedule. The first class of each course is held on a Tuesday, with faculty members assigning textbook chapters and articles to read from the electronic library and suggesting Web links for additional research.

Faculty members then deliver a weekly lecture, distributing it electronically as a text-formatted Word document, and then they post discussion questions based on the readings and the lecture. Students spend the greater part of the week participating in faculty-led class discussions online and working with other students on small-group projects using e-mail and group-collaboration software. At the end of the week, which always falls on a Monday, students turn in a paper or a project.

The technologies used by my online courses included having broadband internet access, Microsoft Office, Online Resources, Simulations, Threaded discussions, and Real-time live support. Included in the Resources were an electronic library of journals and newspapers, a reference library, and Web links. Simulations were made up of multimedia software programs that helped us to learn the more difficult and complex concepts that were part of the curriculum.

Working and going to college online

Posted by trinity9058 on July 16th, 2008

Everyone thinks that their lives are busy. Everyone is probably right. I, for one, know that my life isn’t just busy, its hectic. I have to work to pay my bills so my children have the things they need, I have to go to school so that I won’t be stuck in a dead end job my whole life, and I have to take care of my kids because, as a mother, that’s what I do. I am always going, going, going. I get up when my husband leaves for work at six a.m. and I go to bed when everything that I needed to do for the day is finished. The way that I accomplish all of this is with lists. I love lists. Whoever invented lists deserves some sort of award, like the Nobel Peace Prize. I’m sure that lists have saved countless people from doing bodily harm to other countless people. I do not, however, have schedules. My circumstances are forever changing and I have to adapt accordingly. If I have to be somewhere at a certain time, I will consult my list to see if there is anything else I can do while I am in the area. I don’t plan specific times for doing homework. I just have to do it while everyone else is otherwise occupied, which means directing people to activities that I have delegated to them. Delegation is a great thing. My family knows that my going to school will benefit everyone in the end so we all pitch in to do what needs to be done. This is the main reason I go to school online. It fills my need to better myself while leaving me enough time to work and be with my family. I have a work schedule that requires me to be at the office only four days a week. The rest of the time is for me and my loved ones. Another big thing that helps me is getting up before everyone and going to bed after everyone goes to bed. I know that this will not help everyone but I actually don’t do well on a lot of sleep. Over the course of my blog, I plan on getting a lot more detailed so if anyone has any questions or comments, don’t hesitate.