Jun 23 2009
Are online courses too time consuming to become primary in Education?
First some self disclosure, I’m taking 4 courses this summer in an effort to get a majority of the course work done for my CDIT degree before the fall; taking 2 classes and working fulltime, leaves me no time for my family or any other life sustaining activity and so, the sooner I finish this degree, the easier it will be for everybody. Though I get praise from colleagues, friends, and strangers, the real workhorse behind the scenes is my wife; she must raise 2 kids by herself and take care of a husband that sits in front of a glowing box, for the short time he is at home.
So I think to myself, why is it so hard? I’ve worked fulltime before and taken 2 classes in traditional programs, and though difficult, I still felt like I had the resemblance of a life. 4 classes over the summer sounds like alot, but the term is only 2 weeks shorter than the spring or fall semesters and a normal fulltime load is 4 classes. I took 4 classes and worked halftime when pursuing a graduate degree in psychology; once again, it was difficult but I had a life. I certainly did not put in a solid 7 hours per day 7 days a week.
Now, I figure there are 2 possible major explanations for this, either traditional classes do not actually take the time they say they require, while online classes do. Or, online classes in general are over compensating for being online, maybe suffering from an inferiority complex. If we do the math, 4 x (9-12hrs) = 36-48hrs per week, I’m alleging 49. Ok, that is the maximum hours per class but it is what it says… So, I guess tradtional classes are not living up to the standard, why is that? What makes online classes more effective at keeping students on task? Let’s face it, the current organizational structure of university can’t survive, if all classes were online and designed competently. What college student is actually going to spend 10 Hard hours (not lounging taking to your friends hours) per day, 6 days a week, for 4 years to complete a bachelors degree (that’s 5 classes per semester x 12 hours)? Honestly, I just couldn’t and wouldn’t do what I’m doing now as an undergrad; I didn’t have the self discipline.
So, where do we go from here? How does this actually affect the design of our online courses? If we tool down towards the minimum 9 hrs per class, would that make a traditional semester possible for students to handle (just barely, if you do the math). What about people like me, teaching highschool? What can high school students handle? About how much time is reasonable for a highschool class? (remember, in a traditional school with 8-45 minute periods, 6-7 class periods per day is the norm)
Just some questions…
(2)
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4 Responses to “Are online courses too time consuming to become primary in Education?”
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Jim: you make some extremely engaging assertions in this post. And i LOVE your questions! I would love to see you dig a little deeper on several issues presented here. With links added from your investigations further into these topics.
FYI – Carenegie standards for undergraduate education = 3 hours outside work for every hour in class.
at the master’s level it is higher.
High school? cross cultural differences? very interesting.
me
one more comment over all:
your blog is great! Love the foto of Tuscany!
i would add categories to your side column and don’t forget to keep up with tagging and categorizing. It helps keep the blog organized and tidy over a long period of time. And makes it easier to browse and find things for new readers of your blog.
LOVE!!! that you categorized with the course and module!!!
sorry one more thing… just noticed the dates of your posts…
for future posts shoot for doing one post per week at the END of the week, so they can be reflections of that week and module. Use the blog assignment questions to guide your reflections, and be sure to incorporate stuff from that module or past stuff so i can see how you are processing the course content.
: ) me
Jim, (3)Thanks for doing the math. I have been thinking about this recently, and wonder how I managed to get through graduate school the first time! It was not online, but I took a full course load, including every long weekend and break opportunity for a credit or two, and got through it in a year. I also worked as a GA 10 hours a week, had a family 2 hours away, and worked on Saturdays.
I agree with you that online courses may be struggling to prove themselves ( or we are out to prove that it can be done). There is a point at which enough is enough. I doubt that an undergraduate student, much less a high school student would spend what is considered an appropriate amount of time online reading and typing. So, is the future as bright and solid for online teaching and learning if it continues to get ramped up in terms of difficulty? Anne (2)