Myths of Distance Education

[sanantone]

1. Your instructors won't know you well enough to write you letters of recommendation.

This is true at any school with multiple adjuncts in the program. My master's program only had 4 full-time professors; I had 3 of them for more than one course. All 4 of them have written letters of recommendation for me. I still keep in touch with two of the instructors over a year later; I'm connected to one on LinkedIn. One even offered to go to a local university with me where he received his PhD trying to push me to apply to that program. Even though we've never met, he only lives about 20 min. away. I also took online courses at my local community colleges. Four instructors agreed to write letters of recommendation for me for the master's program I was admitted to even though one never got to the school for some reason. The fourth instructor was a backup. I'm also connected with one of my former CC instructors through LinkedIn.

2. You won't make any friends in online programs.

Since I'm an introvert, I rarely make any friends anyway; but, I did make two friends in my online master's program. I am connected to both through LinkedIn and one of them through Facebook. I regularly keep in touch with the one I'm connected to on Facebook and LinkedIn. We've given each other advice and details about jobs and doctoral programs. On the other hand, I've been in my on campus PhD program for a year. While everyone is nice, I haven't really made friends with anyone yet. I might start working on a research project with one person, but I'm not connected to any of my classmates through social media neither do I have any of their phone numbers.

I really don't think the problem with networking has to do with the mode of deliver; it has more to do with the type of school you're attending. In addition to my master's program only having a few full-time professors, I had a few full-time professors at the community colleges I attended. I had adjuncts too, but I would run into the same ones in the CJ program. When many people complete a program online, they are often at a school with multiple adjuncts who they might only have for one course. In my master's program, I got to know several of my classmates pretty well because I had them in multiple courses. When you attend a school with hundreds of people in a single program and there are rolling starts, you're not as likely to run into the same classmates multiple times.

[Bibby]

Whenever I've taken classes online, my classmates have shown little or no interest in socializing through e-mail or social media. I've added a few online classmates on LinkedIn, although many of those I've later met in face-to-face classes.

I can't say this is the case everywhere, though - at my college, even my professors have said that a lot of their students need to lighten up and take life less seriously.

[Devanna]

Whenever I've taken classes online, my classmates have shown little or no interest in socializing through e-mail or social media.

Same here. I finally gave up trying to connect outside of the classes.

[UptonSinclair]

I have been thinking about the communication issues in online education and have a theory. I believe Excelsior and TESC both hurt the open exchange of ideas by requiring certain formats for their class forums. When one attends a college course, there may be a bit of formality within the classroom, but there is often chatter before and after class. This chatter is missing from online courses. I have been attempting to push more communication in a course I am in at TESC right now. We have a final project that I want to be able to discuss with my classmates. I was concerned at first that collaboration may be seen as academic dishonesty, but the mentor approved the thread.

Look at this forum. There are a variety of styles used by the various contributors. If there was a given format demanded by the moderators, there would be far less activity. Online courses would do themselves a huge favor if they reserved the formality for papers and allowed the discussion forums to flow naturally.

[soliloquy]

I have been thinking about the communication issues in online education and have a theory. I believe Excelsior and TESC both hurt the open exchange of ideas by requiring certain formats for their class forums. When one attends a college course, there may be a bit of formality within the classroom, but there is often chatter before and after class. This chatter is missing from online courses. I have been attempting to push more communication in a course I am in at TESC right now. We have a final project that I want to be able to discuss with my classmates. I was concerned at first that collaboration may be seen as academic dishonesty, but the mentor approved the thread.

Look at this forum. There are a variety of styles used by the various contributors. If there was a given format demanded by the moderators, there would be far less activity. Online courses would do themselves a huge favor if they reserved the formality for papers and allowed the discussion forums to flow naturally.

None of the Discussion Boards I've ever taken at COSC required a particular format. I believe the only requirement is that your answer be substantive and that you respond to the post of three other students. What type of requirement does TESC and Excelsior have?

[bricabrac]

I have been thinking about the communication issues in online education and have a theory. I believe Excelsior and TESC both hurt the open exchange of ideas by requiring certain formats for their class forums. When one attends a college course, there may be a bit of formality within the classroom, but there is often chatter before and after class. This chatter is missing from online courses. I have been attempting to push more communication in a course I am in at TESC right now. We have a final project that I want to be able to discuss with my classmates. I was concerned at first that collaboration may be seen as academic dishonesty, but the mentor approved the thread.

Look at this forum. There are a variety of styles used by the various contributors. If there was a given format demanded by the moderators, there would be far less activity. Online courses would do themselves a huge favor if they reserved the formality for papers and allowed the discussion forums to flow naturally.

I have to disagree here Upton. In each OL class I took at TESC there was a note that you were encouraged to take part in a personal student discussion thread. The post was actually already sitting there. I no longer have course access so I can't do a screenshot.

The problem was no one really used it. Those who wanted a more public forum used the main student discussion boards (see below). You have to remember most students at TESC are older, balancing work and life commitments. It was enough to have to create graded DF posts and responses. It seemed no one wanted to also begin personal discussions within the small block of students in the courses as well. I found there was enough chatter centered around the graded discussions. There was one instance in my marriage and the family course where the discussion board got WAY too personal and students began attacking each other. I've never seen something so despicable in my time at the school; it became an all out pro-life vs pro-choice war zone.

There is also a separate myEdison® student discussion board. Many of the students dedicate a lot of time helping each other on that board (very similar to this one). Discussing courses, learning methods/techniques, school procedures, mentors (although gently as Dr Keel had an ear to the ground every time a mentor/dept issue was raised), and there is tons of personal chatter.

Often an overlooked resource, the Student Discussion Board/Textbook Swap is a forum to post your perspectives on a variety of topics, such as courses, exams, mentors and much more. Buy and sell used textbooks for courses and TECEPÂ exams from other students. The open discussions are located under the “Student” tab, within “My Resources” and under “Tools & Forums.” (Source: Thomas Edison State College: Blog)

Try the discussion board if you're interested in student camaraderie. What is wonderful about this forum is if you bring up a certain course/issue, you are now able to receive feedback from ALL currently enrolled students who have experience with the course/matter; not just the current group in your virtual classroom.

Quick head up, don't expect a lot of CLEP/DSST discussions on the boards. You will surprised at how 'traditional' the majority of TESC students are; most transfer in credits from other B&M universities, maybe take advantage of TECEPs but that's it. Heavy DSST/CLEP testers are the minority. I've found a lot of students simply prefer the traditonal learning style and an OL virtual classroom is as 'out of the box' in education as they are willing to go. Overall the reasoning is simple, it depends on the the goals/career/desires of the individual student, a lot of testing may not be the best course of action.

Good luck!

[cookderosa]

Other myths I've heard:

You can't study science via distance / can't take lab science- totally wrong. I completed all of my master's degree prereqs (science labs) online in addition, that same set of science classes gained me admission to all of the nursing programs that I'd applied to! Not a single "conditional acceptance" in the bunch. Intro to Biology, General Biology, Intro to Chemistry, General Chemistry, Anatomy & Physiology 1&2, Microbiology, and Physics (plus graduate level non-lab distance learning biology through Harvard Extension).

There's a bias against distance learning classes on your transcript. This is probably true, however, unless you attend an "online school" your transcript generally offers no clues that indicate the mode of delivery. Biology 101 shows up as Biology 101.

[cookderosa]

I have been thinking about the communication issues in online education and have a theory. I believe Excelsior and TESC both hurt the open exchange of ideas by requiring certain formats for their class forums. When one attends a college course, there may be a bit of formality within the classroom, but there is often chatter before and after class. This chatter is missing from online courses. I have been attempting to push more communication in a course I am in at TESC right now. We have a final project that I want to be able to discuss with my classmates. I was concerned at first that collaboration may be seen as academic dishonesty, but the mentor approved the thread.

Look at this forum. There are a variety of styles used by the various contributors. If there was a given format demanded by the moderators, there would be far less activity. Online courses would do themselves a huge favor if they reserved the formality for papers and allowed the discussion forums to flow naturally.

I've found required forum posts to be the most annoying aspect of distance learning, which is ironic, since I've logged in here EVERY DAY for about 7 years. I love forum style, so I'm not really sure what it is about the inclusion of classroom forums that I find so annoying. If I had to guess, it might be that in a classroom, it's not "really" a free exchange of ideas, it's a graded exchange of ideas, which just seems like a silly waste of time. Let me type my document and email it to the instructor instead. I NEVER disagree or engage in debate on a classroom forum, I'm all butterflies and sunshine.

[sanantone]

Other myths I've heard:

You can't study science via distance / can't take lab science- totally wrong. I completed all of my master's degree prereqs (science labs) online in addition, that same set of science classes gained me admission to all of the nursing programs that I'd applied to! Not a single "conditional acceptance" in the bunch. Intro to Biology, General Biology, Intro to Chemistry, General Chemistry, Anatomy & Physiology 1&2, Microbiology, and Physics (plus graduate level non-lab distance learning biology through Harvard Extension).

There's a bias against distance learning classes on your transcript. This is probably true, however, unless you attend an "online school" your transcript generally offers no clues that indicate the mode of delivery. Biology 101 shows up as Biology 101.

Another myth to add to that is that all labs for online courses are virtual labs. I know you completed many of your labs hands-on in your home.

[Bibby]

In my experience, for online or hybrid classes that use online discussion boards for academic purposes, students typically participate most actively when...

1. The discussion boards count for a significant percentage of their final grade (probably at least 15-20%).
2. The students don't have to adhere to a strict structure (like formal APA style).
3. Students are required to post regularly, preferably at least twice a week. In some of my classes, students are allowed to post all of their discussions at once, and then they never log on again until the end of class.

When professors value online discussions and use them effectively, online discussions can actually be better and more interesting than in-class discussions.

I haven't had a lot of conversations about non-academic topics in online classes, but on the other hand, most of my professors haven't really encouraged student-to-student interaction; most people are barely aware that the off-topic forum even exists.