I have taken one other online class at OU (Roman Civilization with Dr. Chambers), and the syllabus for this class reminds me a lot of that one. Each assignments was mandatory, but the assignments themselves offered flexibility on what we focused on and what we studied. I was skeptical at first, but ended up learning a lot!
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I am excited about the set up for this class. Right now it is a little overwhelming looking at all the options and trying to decide what I want the rest of my semester to look like for this class. However, many of these assignments look interesting and I think I will learn a lot. I am particularly excited about the "Extra Reading". Sometimes it is hard to justify setting aside for pleasure reading when there is so much to be doing for classes. With this option, I feel like I can read what I want to while also getting class points for it! I also want to learn more about H.E.A.R.T. I think that we can always take more time for personal exploration and growth, which is my understanding of what that assignment would be.
I do not particularly enjoy giving feedback to other students which is where I struggled with my last online class. While I will definitely give feedback many weeks, it is nice to know that it is mandatory every week.
I am glad to hear Peggy Chambers is still teaching that course, Jillian! When I first came to OU way back in 1999, I was in the Classics department; we sure have all come a long way since then in terms of being able to use the Internet to do all kinds of cool things! Back then it was pretty much just all-email-all-the-time! And I am also really glad you are interested in doing some reading just for pleasure: have you seen the Freebookapalooza online book library for class yet? ENDLESS reading opportunities.
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And don't worry about the feedback: I know exactly what you mean, so there are some leading-up-to-it assignments to help everybody relax and find some good feedback strategies. It's not easy, but it is such a good skill to work on! :-)
I have never heard of that book resource, but excited to try! My obstacle is I'm not great with reading on devices and much prefer a physical copy in hands, but it's getting better.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the digital books are a godsend: I am VERY near-sighted, so I rely on the computer to make the font extra-extra-large. :-)
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