It’s summer time and collegiettes are rejoicing over the 3 month break from school. Some of us are working, some are doing internships, and some are taking courses over the summer. Having some structure in our day keeps us from getting too bored, but what happens when your class is online…
Taking online classes may seem like a good idea at first. You think you’ll have time to go do all the fun summer things you’ve dreamt of, be a little lazy and still get all your course work done.
That’s where you’re wrong.
Classes during the summer already pack a lot into each day, you’ve only got about 5 weeks to cover what is usually done in a semester, and with online classes there’s even more to worry about. You don’t get the interaction with your professor and peers, which means less people to help you with studying and comprehending the material. You also have to rely on yourself to get up out of bed to check the online syllabus and watch the lessons, when normally you’d just walk into class and take a seat as your professor gets the day started. Let’s be honest your bed is too comfy to move from, you’ve got Netflix, and you’re probably thinking about the river you’re going to float down that afternoon. The online class just doesn’t take priority here.
Online classes can be a real witch with a capital B, especially if you’re the type to struggle with getting up and going to the library to get started on your work. You’ll probably end up pushing off your work until the day before it’s due. Pushing off the work just leads to even more work, especially with online classes. Your professor is likely to put up a few quizzes during the week and a project at least once a week because how else are they going to track your progress and see if you’re actually learning the material? The verdict is still to be decided if it’s better to have a lot of work to do to prove you’re learning or take a big test…
The silver lining in all this to remember is that you’re doing these online classes probably to catch up or get ahead by some credits. You also have a little more liberty to go where you please as long as you can hop online to do your work. Usually online classes have all the work for the week due at the end of the week, so if you get a head start on it you can float down the river with a beer in hand and enjoy the warm weather longer.
Don’t let online classes give you the summer blues, make a schedule for yourself and stick to it. By working hard you can play even harder!
Image Sources:
http://blog.bookrenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Homework.jpg
http://www.ritutorial.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/reading-child-unhappy-teenager.jpg