What is your opinion on online colleges?

I definitely agree with that. I think it's wonderful how the internet has grown and expanded to the point where people actually can get certification and degrees online. It's taken on a whole new convenience and it really is a good alternative to having to go to campus. Plus, a lot of people (like myself) learn better on their own. I can't focus if I'm in a class room for several hours every day, but if I study on my own then I can choose a time when I'm more focused to do my work and learn and it actually turns out a lot better.:) That and I never actually participate in campus classes unless I need to, but online I HAVE to participate because it's part of my grade, so it really gets me more motivated to work hard!

but would they be as effective as regular classes, where you really have to attend sessions?

there should be a little problem when it comes to motivation coz we tend to get lazy when we do it at home.

but then it depends on the person.
if it had helped a lot of people then why not?


the effectivity is just the question i guess.
if there are stuff that needs clarifications, how is it done?

That sounds really good and very positive. It clearly works well for you. I wish you the best of luck with it.

Patofgold, like you said, it depends on the person. As mentioned above, I find online classes to be more effective for me, personally, because they force me to participate and take an active role in things.

And if you have a question or whatever you an email your professor, just like in any college, and, just like with any college, the professors have "office hours" or times when you can catch them either in AIM or through email when they will definitely be there to answer questions. Plus we have a weekly 1 hour seminar for classes, where we an also ask questions if we need to.

That's a very good point. And there are actually a decent selection of online colleges that are accredited by the government nowadays and can prove that they are. I'm in an accredited online college (I wouldn't have joined one that wasn't accredited). And as long as you do indeed learn from the college and gain the skills necessary to perform in your field then I don't see how it matters very much whether you earned your degree online or not. You still are able to do your job, which is what really matters.

That's a very good point about not using a car or gas. That saved me a lot this year too, because the college I would've gone to if I didn't go to college online was about an hour away, so that would've been two hours worth of commute every day plus going to work and everything, so that's definitely worth it just by saving that much right there. xD

Congrats on getting your degree! Must be exciting to finally have it done and over with. I'm really looking forward to getting mine, but I've got a little while left still.:)

No shame in disagreeing. That's what makes these discussions interesting!:)

I think, however, you make a lot of generalizations.

1. Very few people like these pop-ups, yes, including myself, but that doesn't mean that ALL online colleges are bad because of this. That's like saying that the Jillian Michaels workout pop-up is annoying so all workout videos are horrible.

2. At the online college I'm at we take 4 classes a term. I took the same amount at my campus college. The only difference is that the workload wasn't harder on campus, it was harder maintaining a full-time job (which I need to be able to afford things) and spending 12 - 15 hours a week on campus.

3. Again, this is a rather wide generalization. Even on campus I know lots of people that put things off, yes. And sometimes it does happen online, too, but it really depends on the person. To be fair, this college does try to get people to be active, though. You need to post your first discussion by Saturday (the week starts on Wednesday) and then you need to log on at least two more separate days to comment on other people's discussions and we have weekly deadlines for all of our work. So you can still procrastinate, sure, but you can do that just about anywhere.

Yes, I definitely agree with that. It does take a certain amount of discipline to be able to do things online without the constant schedule of going to class. Besides, just because you graduate from an online college doesn't mean you don't know anything about what you were learning. Generally if you're paying that much to go to college you want to make sure that you learn what you can so that you can succeed and that investment will pay off.

Well, I'm in an online college, so everything I do is online. The due dates aren't as flexible as online classes from normal colleges, though. They have pretty rigid due dates and a 1 hour class seminar every week. It kind of incorporates the online experience with the campus experience at the same time, and it blends the two pretty well, in my opinion.:)

That's why I would only ever consider an accredited institution. If it's accredited it means that the federal government has recognized it as an institution of learning and gives it their approval (which can be both good and bad considering it's coming from the government...LOL). Besides, with names as big and popular as some of these schools if it was a scam they would've been caught years ago.

Really? That's a rather interesting system. We have something like that, sort of, that's a combination between your correspondence course and altogether online. They're called blended courses, I believe. You go to class every other week for a certain amount of time and then for the weeks in-between the meeting you do homework online and submit it that way, so you're only in the classroom for half the time. It's something sort of similar, I guess.

The only difference is we do not do anything online, and all the papers are sent only in snail mail (regular Post). Thanks for the information.

Yup, that sounds like the only real difference. My mother took a class like that, actually, come to think of it. It was when I was about 8. She sent in her homework through the mail and they sent her the grade back through the mail and she only had to visit the campus every once in a while. I'm not sure if many schools around here still do that or if that school even does it. Seems like most are trading it for online things because it's easier.