EDUCATION: Online Courses

Just an update…

I took the exam yesterday between 5 p.m. and 6:30, though there was a two-hour time limit set for the 50 questions.  Most were multiple-choice, but there were six that required short essay answers.  Usually the test is graded automatically and immediately, but with the essays, they will need to be reviewed by the instructor so I don’t know when I’ll know how I did on it.

I will say this, that I was pleasantly surprised to note that the questions and possible answers were very reasonable.  Even with the possibility of two answers, I wouldn’t say they were the usual tricky kind.  One thing I should have done but didn’t was to go back and go over all the questions to ensure that I had the best answer or that I didn’t inadvertantly click the wrong one.  But I tend not to doublecheck and was especially anxious just to get the darn thing done that I’ll willingly accept blame for my own stupidity if it shows up, and no doubt it will.

Of course these online courses are all open-book, which is something I never did understand.  All you have to do is know where to look up the answers quickly, and the result of the course is that while you may never learn the material, you have learned to do whatever is necessary such as listing terms alphabetically with page numbers or make charts to find the info fast.  I imagine that there is the possibility as well of having someone there to look things up for you!  No–I wouldn’t think of asking him, and neither would Jim help me.  The fact alone that I could look up the answers feels like cheating to me.

I have already downloaded and printed out the lecture notes and study guides for the next exam, mainly because I want to get this over and done with as soon as possible.  I did take courses in philosophy and psychology online, but at least with the philosophy course there were essays to write and e-mail in to the instructor which seems more telling of a student’s understanding of the material.  There were also planned debates as students paired up and chose from a select list of topics.  I took the pro position for eating meat and creamed my opposition on all fronts.  It was great fun, doing a lot of research on the government sites for statistics to blow her out of the water.

But getting back to this Nutrition course (during the entire exam I smoked and drank coffee!), I will post my results as soon as I get them.  I’ll also post regarding the severe static problems I’ve had and have notified the instructor again about it because they continue unabated on the next lectures as well.  She has admitted that while on her home computer there is no static, there is the same noise I get when she uses the campus computers, and has once again promised to check the problem out with the tech people.