Posts tagged with classes.

Why even bother going to class?

Kathy Dobson, March 19, 2009 at 9:48 AM

Thirty-plus years ago, when it was time to enroll for my CEGEP courses at Dawson College in Montreal, it meant physically showing up at the school. Then waiting in line for hours, only to discover that half the courses I wanted were already filled.

And then on the spot, having to improvise and reconstruct a brand new schedule from scratch.

Thirty-plus years later, my two oldest are first-year university students. Last week they did a pre-enrollment for their next semester.

This meant going online to complete an unofficial registration. Sort of like reserving their spots in line by selecting which courses they'd ideally like to get next September.

They didn't have to leave the house. Heck, they didn't even have to get dressed, brush their hair, or have a cup of coffee first.

Okay, they probably had to have a cup of coffee first.

I admit, I'm impressed by how much has changed since the beginning of my own post-secondary days.

Of course, 30 years is a long time. In terms of technological advances, maybe it shouldn't be any surprise that nearly everything related to an undergraduate degree can be done today without ever leaving the house.

Or dorm room.

Unlike my generation, thanks to laptops, podcasts, and the internet, my children can 'attend' virtual lectures, join in discussion boards with other students, and complete and submit assignments, quizzes, and tests.

They can also enroll in courses, drop courses, pay their tuition, and order their textbooks. All online.

Oh, and they can email any questions or concerns to their teaching assistants or course professors.

Uh, why bother ever showing up?

Of course, some programs, like engineering, can't be done from the comfort of home while lazing around in your pj's. And like many science students, my kids have also had to attend mandatory labs and tutorials in person on campus.

But they still have the option of doing lots of their work online, outside of the lecture halls.

My son is one of those students who really seems to benefit from podcasted lectures. Instead of falling asleep during lectures half the time like he apparently did during his first semester- missing half the work - he now chooses a time to listen to lectures when he's feeling more awake and alert.

At first I wondered if he was just being a slacker. Yet the results of a recent study found that students learning via podcast actually scored "significantly higher" on an exam than those in the classroom.

When I was in university, sometimes we'd have to wait weeks and weeks to learn how we did on an assignment. Today, thanks to being able to complete many assignments and quizzes online, my kids often know how they did immediately. The mark is displayed an instant after they hit 'submit.'

Of course, not all aspects of university life can be replicated on line.

And that's not a bad thing.

In addition to all of the extracurricular activities university students can get involved with outside of the classroom today, some of their most important lessons are definitely going to happen far away from the lecture hall.

Yes, 30 years later, some things never change.

Tagged with podcast, online, university, registration, classes | Comments (11) |