So i'm trying to convince my mom that she CAN do a course DE over the summer, and work full-time. She thinks she can't, b/c of her experiences with DE courses at wake tech three years ago - namely, scheduled class chats that might be when she has to be at work, problems with Blackboard, and on-campus meetings.
I think, and this is what I'm asking folks to tell me if I'm wrong on this, that the DE classes are, by and large, completely DE - no more of this meeting on campus for exams, orientations, and things like that during the semester. Also, are class discussions on blackboard more of a message board, and less of a chat? I.e., instead of having to be online and doing this from 7p-830p on a Sunday night, having it work more like WebCT, where there's a wider timeframe for contributing.

It's so hard to convince her that she doesn't NEED to allocate 3 hours a day for studying. I think she's fallen into a mindset of despair about school that makes it easier to handle each semester that she's not able to be in classes.

3/21/2006 8:36:39 PM

I've taken lots of DE, and unless the course syllabus specifically says "campus visits required", you can assume no visits are required.

Plus, it's 99% asyncronous now, so she can log on whenever & wherever to do her work. Also, every class I've had dealt with some form of class "message board", but never a scheduled "chat". Tell her times are a changin'.

3/21/2006 8:48:55 PM

I've told her all of this. I think she might be moving from "It'd be nice..." to "Let's see how work goes..."

Thank you.

3/21/2006 9:07:06 PM

Have her talk to a: the professor of the course she is considering. See how he/she is really planning on teaching it. and B) if its NC State's course, have her talk to Rebecca Swanson, director of Distance Edu. Rebecca_Swanson@ncsu.edu

3/21/2006 9:18:12 PM

Do you mean for a Wake Tech DE course or an NCSU one?

3/21/2006 9:19:16 PM

I took ENG 112 online (not sure if that's the same as DE) over the summer through Wake Tech, and only stepped on campus to enroll before the class and pick up my transcript afterwards. It was EXTREMELY easy, I intended to get a C and didn't even do 25% of the assigned work and for whatever reason still made an A in the class. I had no problems whatsoever with Blackboard once I did a little orientation on it and figured out how to use it. At the very least if she is computer illiterate like my mom, you should be able to guide her through the steps and get her set up.

3/21/2006 9:21:58 PM

Oh, definitely a WTCC class.

Quote :

"At the very least if she is computer illiterate like my mom, you should be able to guide her through the steps and get her set up."

This is the best part. It's a computer basics class that somehow counts as a math class. She said from what she recalls of the course description, they start with booting up your computer. Yes, this is a DE class. It's like she's taking this partly b/c she needs it, and partly because it'll be a breeze for most of the semester, but at the same time, is preparing to devote the same amount of time that she would for a 400 level History class (or something with a huge amount of research and writing).

One of the problems she listed with BB was that during those scheduled chats, students' connections kept being dropped and they weren't being able to get back in.

I'm so wanting her to be back in school [and thus happier] that I've told her that if she decides in time, I will do everything in my power to make sure she has a computer that's up to par for a DE course (she's got an emachines that's ~4 years old, with either 128 or 256RAM [I don't know whether dad ever did take care of that], Windows 2K...you get the picture), and make sure that all she has to pay for for the course are the books/whatever they require. Her computer was one of her other (and quite valid!) concerns about a DE course.

3/21/2006 9:29:25 PM

yeah a POS computer with dial-up might pose some real problems

3/21/2006 10:53:09 PM

Call my buddy and director of the advising program out there- she might be able to tell you more about the class, the prof, the requirements. Her name is Gwen Matthews. Don't have her number handy at the moment, but you can probably find it on the wtcc website.

3/22/2006 5:52:34 AM