Distant Learning Workload Comment

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Delta, Jan 14, 2005.

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  1. Delta

    Delta Active Member

    Often people tell me, "Oh, you earned your degree online!" I respond, "You're right! I should have attended campus classes, the workload doing it by distant learning was 2 to 3 times greater!"

    Don't let anyone tell you distant learning is bogus!

    Comments or experiences?
     
  2. cdhale

    cdhale Member

    To this point, (and I have taken quite a few distance courses - some online and some simply distance), I wouldn't say that I it was more work or less.

    It is simply different.

    I happen to be the type of student that if I actually attend class(speaking of B&M) all of the time (which I almost always did), then I tend to do pretty well grade-wise. Of course, there are the occasional projects, papers, etc that I have to spend outside time on, but for the most part, not too awful much. There were exceptions to this rule, but for the most part, that is accurate.

    But in DL, there is no class per se. Therefore, it is hard for me to learn in class. I have to spend more time on my own learning the material, rather than relying upon an instructor to impart it to me.

    My obervation is this: I tend to learn better via DL, because I must make the material my own in order to respond appropriately when being assessed during the course.

    So I don't know if I spend all that much more time on it, but the time I do spend is more productive via DL.

    clint
     
  3. chrislarsen

    chrislarsen New Member

    Well let me put my two cents in. I have a DL masters degree in clinical psychology from Concordia University in Mequon Wi. I am starting a DL Ph.D. in the same area at the Fielding Institute in California. I have taken several graduate level course at a B&M university. My DL masters degree coursework was much much much harder than traditional B&M coursework.

    I am a pretty bright fellow who has always been able to get good grades in a B&M environmemnt with relatively little effort. I'd attend the lectures, take the tests and write the requisite paper. Typically I'd get an A with no problem. Well in my DL coursework I had to demonstrate my mastery of the material by writing about it extensively. At Concordia, I only had two traditional tests, both of them proctored, for the statistics class. For every other class I wrote extensive essays and papers. In fact, I wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote. Then when I was done, I wrote some more. Indeed, I got a voice dictation system from "Dragondictate" to help since I am not a typist!

    The writing I did, and the kinds of learning they wanted me to demonstrate were inherently more challanging than in the B&M grad work. All of my essays were integrative and evaluative in nature. I not only had to discuss the facts surrounding an issue such as psychological development or social psychology, I also had to evaluate and synthesize the work in light of the other things I was learning or had learned. For example, when discussing Piaget's theories of cognitive development in children, I evaluated his work and synthesized it in light of current theory and research regarding cognitive therapy, a whole different area of psychology. In essense, being distance learning, I was required to demonstrate my knowledge by showing that I was able to take "open book" information and use "higher order" analysis and synthesis in the writing of papers. Anyone can regurgitate facts while having access to books and materials. My DL program asked for much more. Talk about WORK! Sheesh! I kept thinking "Why am I having to work so hard for my degree!" :)

    In the end I got a better, "higher level" education in which I became a much more independent and creative thinker and clinician.
     
  4. jugador

    jugador New Member

    My argument for the superiority of distance learning courses is that they are better organized, more comprehensive, and of higher quality than B & M courses in general. I have 45 semester hrs. of distance ed courses. I have only had one bad experience which forced me to drop the course -- the professor simply took an unacceptably long time to get my snail mail lessons back to me. But distance ed courses generally start on page 1, go all the way to the end of the book, and are VERY thorough. Never have I had to sit through a boring lecture, wait around for 15 minutes only to learn that the class was cancelled, or have the course taught by a TA who is clueless. I am especially proud of my courses at UNC, U of Texas, U of Tennessee, Texas Tech, and U of Wisconsin. For what ever reason (monetary incentive? ethics?) the RA universities take their distance education programs VERY seriously. The result is almost always a high quality educational experience. Plus, on a personal level, I find the whole concept of accountable (i.e., proctored exams) learning to be very gratifying. Frankly, I don't have the incentive to sit down with books to learn about Greek civilization on my own, but if I am to be tested on the subject, I am duly incentivized. Learning is a joy. Years ago I saw a scantily-clad blonde eat a bowl of live worms on "Fear Factor." I decided then and there I had better things to do with my leisure time than to watch the idiot box. Since then I've literally never watched anything except the news and an ocassional athletic competition. I spend my evenings studying, and I am a better person for it.
     
  5. stock

    stock New Member

    I have found that any DL course demands a lot of commitment, extra discipline and motivation. Sure it hurts when I have to miss my fav team playing..
     

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