NDSU ENGL 320 BLOG 2

 Online College Courses

    In my college career I have taken a pretty sizable number of online classes, in fact I would go as far as saying about 80-90% of my business classes for my Business Administration Minor have been taken online. Unfortunately NDSU doesn't offer their construction management program online or I would be taking some of those online as well. I took my first online class freshman year as a test run to see if it was a good fit for me and I loved it. One specific class I took online was the principles of real estate. Or in this case it was technically called BUSN 347 at NDSU. 

    As someone who deals with real estate daily as their profession, this class was super enjoyable and insightful. Although I had already known a good amount of the basics I still learned a great deal from the class. I really did like the format of the class and that there was a weekly checklist of tasks and assignments to do. This made the course easily manageable as I knew what I had to get done each week to stay on track and not fall behind. I really enjoyed that it was generally just one medium sized assignment and a short quiz for each week to get the necessary information across instead of other online course I have taken where there is a lot of short assignments due every week. To me this feels more like busy work then actually learning the content so this 347 course was specifically right up my ally.

    I do generally prefer online classes cuz of the flexibly they give me to work during the days and get my homework or assignments done when it is convenient to me. Having to carve out large chunks of my day to go sit in an in person class really pulls away from my time I get to spend working and growing my business which is very important to me. I typically take all the online classes I can because it allows me the most freedom. For example this semester I am in 3 in person classes and 3 online classes. Although this is a heavy work load with 18 credits, the flexibility of online class gives me the ability to get it all done. 

    For that real estate class specifically I would recommend both the class and the professor to everyone and she was very engaged in responding to emails as well as giving quality feedback on every single assignment, test, or quiz. This added a nice personal touch to the online course and made it feel almost as inclusive as an in person class. Typically that is the only reason I would prefer an in person class over an online class, because of the real time feed back and quick responses to questions I had. Courses set up like this that have a professor that makes it seem like they care about the success of a student and not just assigning stuff and entering grades is super helpful in the learning process as it feels like I am actually working towards something instead of just completing requirements like I have felt with other online courses.

    Online class however is not for everyone an can be quite challenging at times to hold yourself accountable. For example I try to carve out a specific time each week for each of my online classes to complete the work required. Thankfully one of my strengths is knowing I have the mental power to hold my self accountable and make sure my stuff is completed by the deadlines provided. However a big weakness of mine is that I like to sit down and get everything done at once. Like this class right now, I carve out my Sunday mornings to complete all the required work. Some people may view this as procrastinating which is somewhat true but it is also the only real time I have to work on this course. That being said I have still managed to complete everything assigned to date on time and with good quality which I would say is another strength of mine.

    Overall, everyone prefers a different approach to learning and that is completely fine as everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Sometimes in person classes are the only way for some people to learn and there is nothing wrong with that at all. Whatever works best for you is the approach you should take, as long as you know the path you choose will work for you, that is all that matters.