Topic: Taking my first online course

[PyroMenace]

Its been easy so far but I have to say the website we have to use to access our information and assignments is pretty fucking awful. Its really disorganized, its hard to find what your looking for. The assignments tab doesn't actually show you all the assignments you need to be working, in fact I almost overlooked one. In some cases assignments are poorly worded and this one I'm doing now say I need to turn it in on the due date... and theres no date anywhere that I could find to when its due, ridiculous. I'm also having to hunt down the rest of the entries we need to be writing throughout the semester. Theres 15 total you turn in at the end, I thought only 3 had been posted but all of a sudden she posts 6, where's 4 and 5?!? This is a mess.

[Xessive]

I wish you the best of luck with it, man. Online courses can be challenging because of the guess work, especially with awkwardly worded stuff. Getting over the web interface will be your first challenge. Next is making sure you know your assignment objectives. Don't be shy to ask for clarifications; the instructor has to explain objectives clearly.

It can be a good idea to make suggestions, just make sure they don't sound like demands or the instructor might blacklist you! hehe

Kick ass, dude.

[Pugnate]

Its been easy so far but I have to say the website we have to use to access our information and assignments is pretty fucking awful. Its really disorganized, its hard to find what your looking for. The assignments tab doesn't actually show you all the assignments you need to be working, in fact I almost overlooked one. In some cases assignments are poorly worded and this one I'm doing now say I need to turn it in on the due date... and theres no date anywhere that I could find to when its due, ridiculous. I'm also having to hunt down the rest of the entries we need to be writing throughout the semester. Theres 15 total you turn in at the end, I thought only 3 had been posted but all of a sudden she posts 6, where's 4 and 5?!? This is a mess.

Are you taking classes from India?

edit:

Joking aside, that seems very unprofessional of them.

[Quemaqua]

Good luck, man.  I've thought about doing it for years.  But I never will.

[ren]

Lots of online courses have a deadline like 'the course must be completed within six months'. So you won't actually find any due dates on the assignments since you can do all of them in one day if you wanted to. But your one assignment having a due date just makes the whole thing weird. Where are you taking it?

[gpw11]

I've taken my fair share of online courses and they can be a blessing or a curse depending on how you go about them.  I've completed them from various schools and there's really only one thing ever in common:  Horrible user interface/layout.  Ridiculous really.

As for the due date, you're going to have to email the professor/instructor/marker.  If the course is also offered in a class room they could have just used assignment handout from that.  I have had that happen before.

My only advice would be to maintain communication (it goes a long way if you need your back scratched later), and stay on top of it from the start.  Slacking in online courses is a slippery slope for me at least.

[Pugnate]

What about the certificates/diplomas you get at the end of these courses? Are they worthless?

[PyroMenace]

I'm taking an online communications course, I'm going for an associates in radiological technology at this county college that have campuses all around here. Anyway, I think I've figured it out, I thought the paper is due this week but its not and I've found the rest of the entries, just got a bit frustrating dealing with the website. I prefer to have courses in a classroom, but this is for my speech and doing it online which was ironically available seems to be the best round about way to get it out of the way. So far it has been stupid easy aside from this little complication.

[Pugnate]

OK I get it now. I misunderstood about where the course was from.

[gpw11]

OK I get it now. I misunderstood about where the course was from.

Yeah, most universities now have online delivery options for at least some of their courses; it's not like an online degree or certificate. 

There is, however, a school in Canada; Athabasca University which is kind of renowned for offering distance education courses.  It's meant to offer educational options to Canadians travelling abroad or working professionals who couldn't otherwise attend to upgrade.  Online delivery, however, has caused an explosion in enrolment. The university has a pretty respectable reputation, although obviously not one on par with the likes of McGill or UBC.