Online Courses
Choosing an online course can be a very stressful decision. Many Canadian students become accustomed to classroom lectures and wonder if they will be able to handle online correspondence. After all, without the help and encouragement of fellow pupils, the task of getting a university credit over the Internet can be daunting. Then again, taking courses over the World Wide Web can increase a student’s productivity the following semester, by giving them a chance to focus on only one or two sets of textbooks as opposed to several different curriculums. Luckily Canadian students and those seeking a Canadian education abroad have access to a wealth of long distance learning opportunities. Almost every Canadian university offers courses over some form of digital distribution. I am currently in the process of taking a course online, and have already run into several hurdles in my cyber-education. In this article I’ll outline my own experience with studying abroad and online, and hopefully offset any difficulties you may experience.
One popular method of taking courses over cyberspace is the use of the Video On Demand (VOD) method. At Carleton University, for example, students can sign up for online courses through the university’s website. Once the transaction has gone through, students are able to access digitized lectures straight through their modem or Internet router and straight onto their computer. Lectures are stored in the student’s user account, with option to stream the lecture at any time day or night, as long as the student has access to a mouse and an Internet connection. This is the method that I chose to use. An added bonus that I discovered when I first logged in was that there were already several weeks’ worth of material available for viewing. This is because most courses, especially full-year courses, are recorded during the previous semester. Therefore many lectures are available right off the bat. This is extremely convenient if you know you’re going to be away from a computer for longer periods time, as it allows you to stay caught up with the course despite having a sporadic schedule.
Besides this added bonus comes the standard benefits of taking an online course. You can pause, fast-forward and rewind any and every lecture. If you get an hour into a lecture and need a study break, take a nap and before going back online. Even if you’re borderline narcoleptic in lecture halls, you will find it is almost impossible to miss any pertinent information while doing online correspondence courses.
However, before you log in to your respective universities and pay tuition, they should be aware how the exams of each course are conducted. Certain courses may only require students to fill out online tests or complete take-home exams. Generally, this is not the case. Most schools require students who watch their lectures electronically to travel to a physical location to write their exams. Most exam writing centres are based in areas that have a high population. For example, Carleton University students who live 160 kilometres away from Carleton University are required to write their examinations at once of two test centres in either Toronto or Hamilton. Make sure that you have the time and means to attend both the online and offline requirements of your digital course before you take a course over the Net.
If you have established that taking an online course credit is something that still sounds like a viable option, you should also take into the account the status of your computer. Video on Demand services require that you have access to high-speed internet, as well as computers that must support certain programs. When I first signed up for the children’s literature course using Carleton University’s Video On Demand service, I was unable to watch the lectures over the web using my Apple Powerbook G4 laptop. I feared that my computer’s software was incompatible with the university’s digital distribution service. After going through the online support centre, I found that there was support for my laptop, and that I needed to download the video program RealPlayer in order to watch the lectures. Conveniently, Carleton provided online links to the program enabling me to download the application as quickly as possible.
Once I was able to resolve my online issues, I found that I had a real-world problem; I didn’t still needed textbooks. Depending on the course that you’re taking, procuring textbooks can be a real hassle. While my course required many texts that could be found at any public library or bookstore, it also consisted of a textbook that was almost impossible to find anywhere in Toronto. I tried ordering online directly from the Carleton bookstore, but they didn’t seem to have them in stock. The University of Toronto and York University online bookstores were hard to navigate and I ended up empty-handed once again. I eventually found the book on Amazon.com and got it delivered within two days using priority shipping. It was a hassle I wasn’t expecting and seriously detracted from my course study time.
When all was said and done, I learned a lot about taking university courses online. I found that it really frees up my time, allowing me to maintain a full-time summer job while studying on nights and during weekends. On the flipside, I found that you really have to step up your dedication to actually logging in and streaming the course. The convenience of online correspondence has its advantages and disadvantages. Making sure that you can acquire textbooks for your online course credit is something that I didn’t anticipate having some trouble with. Unfortunately the relative ease of accessing courses over the web does not translate to procuring school textbooks. Having to scour the Net for course material was not something one would expect considering the nature of the course.
Other than those minor complaints, I have no qualms about distance learning. Taking credits online can be an incredible tool for students who wish to learn while living a great distance away from their university of choice, or simply for students who enjoy studying from the comfort of their PCs.
