Online Education Review

I've taken several online classes throughout my college experience and some of them have run incredibly smoothly while others were much less effective. I like taking online classes because it cuts down on the amount of time that I actually spend in class. As a science major, I take one or two labs each semester, and the majority of them require that I am in class on campus at least 7 hours per week. When I've taken two labs in a semester it doubles, and basically that is really just a lot of time to be in class. I like that online classes give me some freedom in that respect.

One of the biggest problems that I've found with online classes is that some professors of online classes don't seem to make themselves very available, and many don't really spend time into developing a class that is effective and engaging. I think it can be so much harder to be engaged in an online class because there is no face time, and it's really hard to get to know the people in your class, or to get to know you professor. When I struggle to feel engaged in a class, I typically don't do as well/don't learn as much than I do in classes or with professors who really seek to engage you in the material. The other problem that I've noticed in most of my online classes is the lack of feedback. In the majority of the online classes I've taken, when I turn in an assignment, I get a grade, and no type of explanation or feedback into what I've done well, what I did wrong, ways to fix it. It can be really frustrating and makes the class that much harder to succeed in and enjoy.

Something that I've really really loved about this class is the amount of communication. I feel engaged and connected to the people in this class. I've never really felt lost about what to do or wondered how I could improve on something. The feedback in this class really is awesome. I like that we get comments and feedback from both the professor and from our classmates. This class has just been so easy to be engaged in. Each assignment is so clearly laid out and explained, and I have felt like there were resources for every single little thing. Making a website, and setting up a blog could have been really hard and confusing (particularly for me because I am not technology adept) but there really were step by step instructions that were essentially dummy proof, not to mention Laura Gibbs (I feel like I should maybe just say "you" since you're reading this?) is so crazy helpful. It's seriously practically impossible to be confused in this class, and also practically impossible not to enjoy this class. There is so much freedom in this class, but it still manages to be so structured and easy to navigate. Honestly I talk to my sister MacKenzie about how much I love it all of the time (she is still mad that she graduated and can't take your class again) and have recommended this class to everyone that I know.

Please say you've watched Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. If
not, please do so immediately. It's hysterical.

Seriously this class rocks, and is hands down the best, most fun, and most effective online class ever. Honestly its probably just one of the best classes ever in general.