So, the very first class I took for my grad school program was an introductory to online learning aka an intro to taking online courses. It was very easy and was a CR/NR or a P/F kind of course. Everything was already loaded on the course site, and you just had to submit assignments by the given deadline. It didn’t matter what order you completed the readings or quizzes, just that they had to be done by the end of the course. I liked this intro because it meant I could complete whenever I chose if I did it before the deadline (and when other classes started). In fact, I finished the course with a month to spare. It was what I thought my school experience would be like, but it turned out to be completely wrong. Well, not completely. Most of my professors so far have had classes set up where I am given the information/readings/materials/small assignments on a week by week basis. This meant I couldn’t work ahead. All the large assignments had previously set due dates, and the weekly postings were cumulative to the big assignments. Taking classes in this format makes me procrastinate like crazy. There have been numerous times where I would wait until the day before a big paper was due before I would start writing it (I already had all the research, the quotes I wanted to use, and worked my citations into APA format, all that was left was to write the paper). I would always end up with high or perfect marks, which is ironic because writing academic papers is not my forte and I stress over it from time to time.
I thought with online courses I would have more freedom with the course structure. If I wanted to learn things on a week by week basis I would have quit my job and moved to a different city to go to school physically in person. My mantra, so to speak, for my steps towards my MLIS have been “get ahead and stay ahead” – with the courses going week by week, this mantra only lasted a few weeks as the class and the work soon felt monotonous. That first class gave me a sense of false hope on how courses were set. Of course, it is also based on the instructor. One of the courses I am taking this summer already has everything loaded up into the site, and I just chug away with getting it done. I’ve already finished the discussion posts for this month, and now I can tackle one of the big papers coming up. I feel more motivated because it easier for me, this way, to be ahead. So far, I’ve finished the discussion posts for the month of June and am working towards one of the first big assignments. My goal is to finish this course well before the end of the summer (early August) so I have more time before starting my second to last semester of grad school. Wish me luck! -SJ
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"Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you." - Walt Whitman Archives
January 2022
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