It depends on your needs. If it is a “core” topic to your major – by that I mean one that will be important to be competent in once you are a practicing professional, then I wouldn’t experiment with distance learning models.

But I am beginning to think that all students should experience this type of learning at least once in their college careers because they will certainly encounter it once they are in the workforce – might as well get used to it…

Not sure I understand the question about if the credits apply? they should be equivalent. Be aware that there is some bias against on-line learning (not really that much different than biases like public versus private or ivy league versus state-run institutions), but the accreditation should still hold.

I have taken two teleconferenced classes and they were horrible, but to be honest, I am not sure they would have been better if they had been “live.” I do know the credits cost the same, but the value wasn’t there.

Both on campus and online courses will offer credits, but there are pros and cons to each. I go to college full-time so I take all my courses on campus, and would have it no other way, but my mom does online courses and she likes it. Here are some pointers:

On-campus classes:

Good- You actually SEE your professor and classmates. You get more hands on learninhg experience, and usually more help because you can visit professors for assistance or work with the other students. Also, I think it makes it more interesting and makes you more committed to learn if you actually have to show up in the classroom. The work is more interesting and you get to be more creative in-class than you would were you to just be doing things by email and such

Bad- If you’re juggling a job, a family, and the rest of your life, it can be inconvenient to have to drive back and forth and spend the gas money and time. If you’re extremely busy and are looking for the most convenient approach, I’d consider the online courses

Online courses

Good- They’re convenient, can pretty much be done wherever you can get on a computer. They usually take less time to complete and the work is straightforward for the most part (though sometimes more boring)

Bad- You lose the “classroom feel” You probably never meet your professor or classmates. You might get easily distracted from the course work because there isn’t as much pressure to do well as there is in the classroom. It might be a little more dry and boring. And in my mom’s case, the professor wasn’t very helpful when she needed help and didn’t return papers promptly.

I had heard great things about online classes so to save time, I signed up for one. Bad idea, at least because it was a math class. It wasn’t hard material but it was really hard to keep up with. There were weekly tests and assignments that you had to do while logged in. I know it depends on the system and the school, but for mine, you had to stay signed in for the assignments. It would’ve been better if we could print them out and do the problems and email them in after we had worked them out. That way we would’ve been able to work on it a bit easier. The tests were weekly and we had a two hour window one day a week. If you had work or another class, you were screwed. I dropped it.

If it is a non-math class, or another class where everyday or weekly work was assigned, it seems like a good idea. I have had friend who took history and english classes online and they loved them. For the most part they just posted things and had discussions with one or two big assignments emailed to the professor.

The credits apply the same as if you were in a classroom. If you have the focus and disapline to tackle an online class, then they work really well. If it is a class that has a math-class-like workload I would skip it; also if you are the kind of student that needs attendance to keep you in class, online classes are REALLY easy to slack on if you’re not careful.

Good luck!

I recommend that you do go into school and attend. I currently take online class and it sucks. I already applied for on-campus classes next semester. The thing I miss most is probably all the girls I used to see on campus. Unless your a workaholic or need 2 jobs to stay alive. You should take online classes. You know what you can do? You can go to on-campus classes and take 1 online class at the same time. They call this “concurrent courses” or “a concurrent student.”

Online classes require you to keep track of your own schedule, do the work on your own, and study on your own. You have to be able to keep yourself motivated. The good thing is not being in class. I honestly didn’t feel like I lost very much from my online classes, they work okay for basic english classes and others. The credits are exactly the same as other class credits.