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Online Classes vs. In-Person
Hello all. I wanted to discuss the topic of online courses. When I was a student at NC State, I took some online classes, but I did most of mine in-person. Online courses certainly have their benefits, and they can be especially helpful for students with disabilities. However, I do recommend that other SMA individuals make an effort to do as much on campus as they can so that they can be socially active. I think it’s good to have a balance of online and in-person classes, so as to create a flexible and manageable schedule.
What are your thoughts? Do you like taking online courses? Or do you prefer the structure of traditional classes? Share your thoughts here, and feel free to ask questions as well.
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4 Replies
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Have to say I’m a bit old school when it comes to this topic. Most of my classes were on campus, although I did take a couple online for convenience. It just seems I retain the info better when I’m in a classroom setting. I definitely tried to group my classes together to make the effort of getting to campus worth while. College was my first experience with independent living, so I’m glad I pushed that comfort zone.
Did you have note takers? I never did, but struggled to keep up sometimes. Wish I would have had my service dog in college too. Countless pens and pencils were lost to the halls of SSU.
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I am a parent of a High School Junior who has SMA – I will recommend to him to take his college courses both in-person and online – leaning heavier to online courses where available. Though I attended college years before online courses were even an option, I lived on campus – my last two as a floor adviser in a freshman dormitory – and recognize the importance of the social aspect of attending college: learning how to manage your time and priorities is one of the key objectives of attending college IMO. That being said, as part of my occupation, I am required to obtain regular, yearly continuing education – some of which I have taken in-person in the past, but more recently take a majority of my CE via online courses. Having taken the same courses both in-person and online, I have to admit I believe, personally, the online education is more thorough and one actually learns more with distance education than in-person (for the most part). In-person classes tend to be spread out over several months where as online courses may offer the same material in a more condensed time frame. Everyone is different, and everyone learns/studies/prepares differently – but I have become a big fan of online education and consider it superior in general to in-person courses.
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Sounds like a great plan for your son. I love that these days you can almost customize your education to what suits your needs.
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Thanks for sharing! Yeah, it’s really a personal preference. My recommendation is to have a balance of both, but like DeAnn said it’s amazing how you can customize your education and schedule in today’s world.
And DeAnn I did have note-takers while I was a student, as they were provided by NC State’s disability services office. This was extremely helpful, and all of them were either undergrads or grad students. I became friends with a few of them, and they were all really cool people.
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