After READING Topic2, I had a deeper understanding of the course structure, which seemed to introduce the origin, development and mode of online courses to us. To be honest, I have never had access to online courses, especially university courses. Before the epidemic, I can’t imagine how online teaching should be conducted, or I have a subjective prejudice against online courses, which I think are terrible. However, after two years of the epidemic, I found that I gradually liked learning online courses, the most important reason is flexibility. At the same time, I worry about the quality of teaching, because that’s what matters most. Even though online courses have advantages, is the teaching quality the same as traditional teaching? In addition, in the current situation, most professors or teachers prefer offline courses. I think the main reasons are as follows: faculty members are accustomed to traditional ways, and offline courses have more interaction and supervision.
In the component of the course, most of them contain attendance and participation points, which is a guarantee for online dismissal. Although online courses can also be done, it requires more initiative from students. Admittedly, some students are just backstage in chat rooms, they may be playing games. So, I think that’s something that needs to be addressed. (By the way, I finally figured out why in some online classes, the professor asked us to turn on the camera.)
In conclusion, I personally think online courses are only suitable for special situations, such as teaching a course that does not require much interaction and technology, such as engineering, drawing and so on, during the current pandemic. Open learning online is a great way to give people who can’t learn but want to, and I sometimes go to Harvard’s open learning website to watch classes that interest me.
ziweixiong
July 13, 2022 — 4:55 pm
Hi Xu, I agree with you that online learning courses are more flexible, students do not need to learn and work on regular time, they can choose their most desirable periods to learn and work on the materials, that very convenient. I totally understand your worry about the quality of online teaching, students are responsible for themselves when they study in a online course, some students may find hard to focus on their course when they are facing the attraction of social medias.
jindichen
July 13, 2022 — 5:38 pm
Hi, Xu
It is true that many universities and special courses now allow more interested students to participate through online learning, such as Harvard’s open learning course you mentioned. Online courses can output knowledge much faster.
Jindi
yaqi
July 13, 2022 — 6:17 pm
Hi, Xu. Thank you for sharing. I also have a lot of worries and doubts about online education. However, after practice, I find online learning is more efficient for me.
From the imagination, we may feel that the offline attendance mechanism ensures that students will go to classes. But is it really efficient? There are a lot of people who fall asleep, play with their cell phones, or stare in a trance in class. Online education, however, only sets deadlines. It’s up to the student to decide when to study, or how to fragment it. This actually seems to really ensure that students learn efficiently.
Yaqi Zhang