What is an Online Class and Why Would I Want to Take One?

Since anyone can read a book on his own and moreover given all of the materials now freely available online, why would anyone bother to take a class to learn any particular subject? The answer in a single sentence is that learning via an organized class is simply more efficient than learning by yourself.

So often I am asked to explain what an online class involves. Most commonly it is pictured as either a series of video conferences or possibly a series of webcasts. Neither one of these, however, accurately describes our online classes. To dispel these misconceptions and to describe exactly what our online classes do consist of, I have put together the following outline.

The Textbook All classes, whether online or face to face, begin with a textbook. This is the first advantage of a class because presumably the instructor has examined the various textbooks covering the subject matter of the class and has selected the best available book. Moreover, since very few subjects can be learned by reading only a single book, the instructor can also recommend additional textbooks as well as steer you away from those books which are not as good as the others.

The Course Syllabus Every class has a course syllabus which sets forth the schedule over which various topics will be covered in the class. Generally this schedule will correspond to the arrangement of topics in the selected textbook for the class but not always. Typically in the syllabuses which I prepare for my classes I make a reading assignment of approximately 50 pages per week. Of course, it is possible to read far more than that in a week but I believe that it is useful to balance other learning components (lab exercises, classroom discussions, tests, online research, etc.)

Deadlines, a Predetermined Schedule and Tests

Most people work better with an externally determined schedule. Simple human nature dictates that deadlines can often provide the incentive that is neeeded to overcome procrastination. Therefore, my classes typically have three quizzes, a midterm and a final exam. The goal of these frequent tests is to generate the external incentive to read the assignments from the textbook on a regular basis as well as to frequently review these materials to try to improve retention.

Lab Exercises

In programming classes it really isn't possible to learn without actually writing some code on your own. For that reason, all of my classes have a series of programming assignments. In general I tend to favor fewer but more complicated lab exercises over a series of smaller, simpler exercises. Then, as time permits, I comment on the student submissions, advising them of problems which I see with their projects or praising them for exceptional work. One nice benefit of a more complex lab assignment is that you can show it to prospective employers as an indication of the type of work that you are capable of. 

External Resources

I believe that it's always important to constantly try to improve a class. With that in mind, every day there are more and more external resources available via the Internet. Lately, therefore, I have started to add links to some of these resources in my classes. Here is an area where a well organized class can be of tremendous help to its students. Technology advances rapidly and many of the online resources can quickly become outdated. If you are new to some area of technology, you may well not realize that some training video that you are watching is explaining something which is no longer accurate. Similarly, while certain materials are targeted at beginning level students, others are aimed at far more advanced students. Again, here is where the instructor can steer you away from those resources which are obsolete and those which are more suitable after you have learned more about a particular topic. This I can state from personal experience as many of the videos and webcasts which I have watched were not well suited for me at the point in time that I first watched them. I know that I would have been very grateful if someone had filtered these resources for me and had proposed an efficient sequence in which to watch them.

The Forum

Next an explanation of one of the most important elements in any online class: the Forum. A Forum is just a discussion group consisting of the students in the class in which each student can request assistance from his fellow classmates and from the instructor. When I was in college (many years ago), my classes were held once or twice a week. If I encountered a problem with anything between these classes, I simply had to wait until the next class in order to ask for assistance. Fortunately, now that we have the Internet, assistance is available much faster than back in the old days. Simply post a message on the Forum explaining what your problem is and other students or the instructor will respond with suggestions or solutions. The benefit for this runs both ways and it is often possible for you to learn something by providing assistance to one of your fellow students.  I have always believed that the Forum is the key element which substitutes in an online class for the regular classroom sessions which you have in a standard face to face class.

Remote Assistance

Nor is the Forum the only means by which you can receive direct assistance while taking a class. I fully appreciate that no one will be able to learn anything until after he has been able to install the requisite software on his computer and has properly configured it. For this reason, I have a standing offer to all my students that if they encounter some type of problem during installation or setup, I will be happy to connect to their computer and using something akin to Remote Assistance, step them through the installation and configuration process. I will even do this with respect to other (non-installation) problems when I believe that it would be much more efficient for me to simply correct the problem directly on their computer than to try to first diagnose the problem and then offer suggestions via a series of messages.

Other Activities

In some of my classes there are also Coding Standards assignments. Each student is required to select several such coding standards and both explain and evaluate the author's recommendation. Other students are then required to state whether they agree or disagree with the author and with the first student's opinion on this coding standard. My goal here is to familiarize all of my students with the existence of Coding Standards as well as to force them to thoroughly evaluate a number of such standards. In another one of my classes, I have a requirement that each student must over the course of the term prepare two Blog entries which will be posted (with attribution) on my blog (www.WPFLearningExperience.com). Blog entries are intended to cover tidbits of information which someone has uncovered which he believes would be useful to others who are interested in the same technology.

Free Software

And finally, the dressing on the cake. Any student who enrolls in any CTIS class at Foothill College can get a copy of twenty or more different software packages from Microsoft including, for example, Visual Studio 2005 Professional (or Team Suite) Edition, Windows Vista (Business Edition), Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, Sharepoint Server, etc. for only a duplication / administrative fee of $5 each. This software is full featured, no time-out software. You are not required to uninstall it after you are no longer a Foothill College student. The only restriction is that this software is subject to Academic Licensing and may not be used for commercial purposes. For more information review the Foothill MSDN AA program.

Summary

So as you can see if you have read this far, learning via an organized class will surely help you to learn faster and more thoroughly than you would on your own. And the simple reason for this is that in a class you learn with the assistance and cooperation of the instructor and your fellow students. I look forward to seeing you in many of my classes!