Tuan Hoang

HUM 142

Professor: Sheila Booth

28 June 2009

Online Education

Online education is now a useful method to help all students. Community colleges are interpreting and responding to a set of taken-for-granted ideas about online education. It is designed to help students who want to get back to school with lower cost. That can be disability students or someone who don’t have time to attend school. Adult students want to improve their knowledge; younger students want to accelerate their credits.

Taking online courses has been increased double since the last ten years “By 2002, 1.6 million students, about 20% of all college students, takes at least one online course. Moreover, the increase stood at 3.9 million in 2007.” (Doyle, William R.) It will continue to play its role to educate students. Community colleges across the nation are doing exceptional work at providing quality education and learning support for their students. Community colleges offer online class with variety courses, students can get their certificate programs or accelerate credits through community colleges. These colleges allow students receiving a two-year associate degree to be accepted with junior status at any four-year school state-wide. It is also help low income students who want to get back to school without high tuition fee.

The increasing of online courses enrollment at community colleges does not mean that the courses are ease to do; it is because the advantage of flexible time and because the courses are manageable, affordable. Students take online courses have to read more documents and work harder in getting the information related to the courses. “Of course time itself has not been conquered, but Web-based learning frees students to better manage and learn in their own time” (Brian Mueller). Students have to teach themselves how to manage their time and how to do the assignments. Online education seems hard but it is good for students because they use Internet more often, this will increase their skill of using Internet. By doing homework on the web based, it also develops their communication skill. Beside that, virtual classroom has helped students understand and respect other classmates more. They respect their classmate’s works, and share information without being embarrassing.  For instance, I take online courses as an immigrant digital, online course have helped me a lot in understanding the concept of communication. I respect my classmates work and somewhat I can understand my classmates through their assignments.

According to the survey: “Forty-eight percent of the students taking distance education classes were “traditional” (18-25 years) and 52 percent were “nontraditional” or older than 26 years” (ITC-Instructional Technology Council). Most of students are juggling work, raising a family and putting themselves through school at the same time. Community Colleges offer online courses which are the big help for students who can not participate in the classroom. To be specific, I’m 35 years old who has kid, family and working. I take online courses due to not be able to attend two hours class. I do my homework at night and whenever time is available.

The online education is a good way of communication, the students have to engage to discuss with professors, classmates. Because of “Community college faculty members are not only expected to spend most of their time on teaching, including advising students and developing curricula, but also to be committed to the success of the kind of students who attend community college” (ASHE). Therefore, professors at community colleges are hard working people who try to help student gain the value experience and knowledge of understand the courses and outside the courses requirement. This interaction will make students to be more independent when they have to do their assignments on their own. Virtual classroom means no face to face interaction. Therefore, professors take more responsibility to answer questions that might have from students. Professors check their email hourly to have a quick response to students-with some pledging to answer all student e-mail messages within 24 hours.

Online educations at community colleges are just the same with other colleges. Transactional distance is the extent to which the teacher manages to successfully engage the students in their learning. A teacher, whether online or on campus, can establish meaningful educational opportunities, with the right degree of challenge and relevance, and can give students a feeling of responsibility for their own learning and a commitment to this process, then the transactional gap shrinks and no one feels remote from each other or from the source of learning. Most importantly, community colleges administrations integrate with the effort of professors are the key factors to help students with financial matter, and students who want to improve their knowledge.