Online Courses Catch On in U.S. Colleges

See the article by the same title here: Part I

As the semester winds down, I find myself with more time to read and more time to blog. Who'd a thunk it?!

A colleague and friend sent this story to me and it made me think. I never took an online class until I began the ILT program at CU Denver. It's not that I had any specific feelings about them one way or the other; I just didn't think about it. I finished my undergrad in 2000 and started grad school in 2006. Maybe I missed the big launching point of online classes, or maybe I got in kind of in the early stages anyway.

A couple of points from the article that I'd like to comment on:

1. I agree that online classes seem to take more time. As a student, I spend more time reading and writing posts in discussion forums, and thinking about what was said in a discussion forum.
2. Asynchronous discussion threads seem to have more intelligent/relevant conversations. Participants have the ability to think about a response, and write/revise/rewrite as much as necessary before posting a "final answer."
3. I team facilitated a week of online learning a couple of semesters ago and facilitating online seems to take more time as well, than f2f facilitation does. Part of the reason for that was my lack of familiarity with the topic we were teaching, and part of it was my lack of firm scheduling. Instead of stating at the beginning "I'll be online from this time until that time" and sticking with it, I felt a need to log in and check discussion boards all the time. I didn't necessarily want to respond, but I did want to keep up with the conversation.
4. Students who take online classes generally take the class more seriously "in the moment." I signed up for online classes with CU Denver because I knew I might be moving out of state. I didn't want the hassle of transferring to a new school or having to travel for class. There have been times (ahem, possibly weeks at a time) when I've "tuned out" of class, but when I'm tuned in, I'm completely there. In f2f classes in the past, I've sometimes found myself physically in a classroom because attendance was part of my grade, but I wasn't mentally there anyway. I can't accidentally log in to my online courses, so when I'm there, I'm there and focused.
5. From a facilitator standpoint, it is harder to "wing" an online class. It's harder to communicate with people at first because you can't see facial expressions. I can't tell a silly joke online with a wink like I can in person.
6. Relationships in online classes can be just as strong as f2f classes. I agree. However, I also believe that meeting some of my classmates face to face has strengthened the feeling of community that I share with them. It's made our relationships stronger and I consider many of my classmates friends. I flew from Phoenix to Denver to attend an ISPI meeting with the ultimate goal of meeting my classmates and instructors face to face.

I'm interested to hear others' thoughts on this article. There are two parts to the article. Part II tomorrow!