Being an online student...

 Discuss how you feel about being an online student. Do you like the anonymity, flexibility, and self-directed style of the courses? Do you have ideas on ways to create a closer class community? 

As with anything, being an online student has pros and cons. I love being able to schedule my classwork around my family life. Because of the flexibility of the online platform, I made it to every single one of my son's football games this year! The biggest downside I've found to being an online student is that many people don't look at it as "real college". They don't understand that I am working toward the exact same degree as someone who goes to classes on an actual campus. I find it incredibly insulting when someone starts asking me about school and brushes me off as soon as they find out I'm an online student. I work just as hard as the students who attend their classes on campus...the only difference is that I save myself the commute by doing everything at home.


I feel that the discussion boards and this blog are both great ways to establish a close class community. Perhaps a closer one could be achieved with some group projects. Although, group projects can create a divide as easily as initiate a friendship if two people working together don't see eye to eye. My medical terminology professor created a class picture...everyone emailed a picture and she put them together on a power point for us. It was nice to put faces with names and I think having that established a closer connection between the people in that class.


Overall, I am very happy being an online student...there are some kinks in the system every now and then but the flexibility alone makes it worth working through the kinks! :)