Comments on: 5 Things Real Students Hate about Online Learning Degrees

By: 5 Things Real Students Hate about Online Learning Degrees | GetEducated.com | Designing Learning in the Digital Age | Scoop.it

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 13:25:58 +0000

[...] Online learning degrees are convenient and affordable, but watch out for these 5 biggest complaints from online learning students [...]

By: 5 Things Real Students Hate about Online Learning Degrees | GetEducated.com | Online Student | Scoop.it

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 09:39:52 +0000

[...] Online learning degrees are convenient and affordable, but watch out for these 5 biggest complaints from online learning students… [...]

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 18:24:05 +0000

If it wasn’t for reviews (good and bad) things would only get worse. Future students need to do their homework and really try to find an online school that will work for them. Communication is a huge part of it. With all the advances in technology things should get better.

By: 5 Things Real Students Hate about Online Learning Degrees | GetEducated.com | The Online Report | Scoop.it

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 20:16:10 +0000

[...] Online learning degrees are convenient and affordable, but watch out for these 5 biggest complaints from online learning students… [...]

By: Vicky Phillips

Vicky Phillips — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 13:55:19 +0000

Hi Rishona,

Well said …

I think you are right that these same issues can be as prevalent on campus as online. We did not find that online students were disappointed a majority of time, and it did appear that some schools in particular have problems with poor student responsiveness.

The lack of direct communication in online learning is bound to make communicating more difficult since one has mostly text messaging to rely on.

The one biggest issue — lack of involvement or response from a professor — has plagued distance learning for a century. I personally believe that the use of adjuncts and the creation of large mass enrollment classes online is leading to less of a sense of engagement in some online degree programs.

Thanks again for your insights.

Vicky

By: 5 Things Real Students Hate about Online Learning Degrees | GetEducated.com | Tech in education | Scoop.it

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 10:48:07 +0000

Hi,

Great edtech information. I have added this to my Scoop It, under great ed tech resources and info on online learning[: “Online learning degrees are convenient and affordable, but watch out for these 5 biggest complaints from online learning students”

By: Vicky Phillips

Vicky Phillips — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 20:05:06 +0000

Hi Matt,

Are you saying the real problem may be students who are not willing to work at learning?

Tell us more.

Vicky

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 19:02:29 +0000

As an online instructor, let me open up another side to the first problem above. I do everything to open up my class to students. I respond to email within 24 hours. Yet I am told I am too slow to respond to an email that was sent at 2am. I let students turn in rough drafts of projects so that I can give them free feedback and help them to get better grades. Less than 2% of the students will send anything in early at all. Then I am told I don’t do enough to help. I have a Meebo chat widget open 15 hours a day most days – Only 2 students in 5 semesters have ever used it. Then I am told I am not available enough. What I do get is a mountain of excuses why students need to be let off the hook, not do the work, copy from Wikipedia, you name it. Students completely ignore instructions and then complain that I am “giving” them a bad grade when they lose points due to the fact that they left out a major component. And also didn’t send it in for free feedback. Usually there is no communication, feedback, or support because the student just wants to show up in the last week, turn in some paper they copied off the web, and get an A. When you don’t let them do that, they start complaining about how there is no communication, feedback, or support from the instructor. We need to start looking at the REAL problem in these courses.

By: Rishona

Rishona — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:18:50 +0000

Excellent points; and I’ve experienced of these pitfalls in 5+ years of online collegiate learning. However I also have several years of full-time, on-campus college experiences as well. And you can have very similar (if not the exact same) disappointments in face-to-face learning. The big difference, in my opinion, is that you have an easier time dealing with these situations when you are on campus as opposed to being off. I went to a fairly large public university, and I clearly remember going to a class the first week of the semester and then changing my section because I didn’t like the time or the location. With online learning, you do not really have that flexibility in regards to course availability. Also it may take longer for you to realize that there is a problem and then it is too late to make any adjustments, so you just grit your teeth and bear it.

In my personal experience, online learning has not really been more or less positive then on-campus learning (except for the fact that my online courses enabled me to complete my degree due to physical limitations). However I’ve only taken such courses at two schools. If you have the opportunity to speak with current students or recent graduates of a particular online program, you should definitely take it. Be sure to ask about the issues presented in this article. It could make or break your decision about a particular online degree program.

Kudos again on such a well-written piece!