Week 4 Posting 5

When I decided to go back to school last spring I found that I was very limited in the schools in my area that offered the degree I was interested in. I was a little nervous when I thought about online classes. I have always used computers and technology so I was not afraid of that aspect but just having a class given in a different format than I had ever even experienced before. I love online courses now and the freedom that they allow me to have. I can get up and get right to work on the computer instead of having to get ready and drive to where the class meets. I am able to squeeze my lessons in between other parts of my life, and as a result am able to spend much more time concentrating on my lessons.

In online classes the students must socialize differently than in traditional classrooms. They must rely on digital resources to interact with each other and with the professor. At first I was afraid that when I had questions that I would have trouble getting the answers. This has not been the case at all. In some of my past classes I got answers by email or online chats and others I just called and talked with the professor on the phone. I feel that with online classes I have actually had more personal contact with my professors than I usually did with my traditional undergraduate classes. At times I think that face to face contact would be beneficial but during the school year this is just not an option for me. I have gotten so used to an online setting that this summer I am taking a face to face class and am a little nervous about it. I think that I am more successful with online classes because I tend to go the extra mile when I see what others have turned in, it gets my competitive nature going.

I think that the potential for distance education is almost limitless. Teachers and students at the school and university level can all benefit from it. For one of the first times students who go to a small rural school have the ability to receive the same level of education and types of classes offered as those in large urban cities. This type of education has the ability to educate people without regard to location, disability, or any other factor that inhibited some from being able to receive instruction before. This is inline with my definition of what effective integration of technology is. This type of change to the “classroom” is a major one, but one that needs to be made. Little change has been made to the typical classroom in the past years and the integration of technology to enrich the lessons and help students learn in new and exciting ways should not be looked upon as threatening or scary, but instead, as a new and exciting time that will help teachers ensure the success of their students.