My final thoughts are wow, I got through it. When I decided to take online classes, I thought that I would have a lot of time to complete assignment s and that I could do them at any time I chose to do it. But there were many different assignments to do and different due takes so I had to do work every day in order to keep up with the class and not fall behind. We had up to seven assignments each week and it was nothing but writing for each assignment. I think that because it was a lot of work, it helped me to improve my writing and critical thinking skills. I was not the biggest fan of the topics that we had to focus on because each and every topic was about music.
Each assignment was different but the entire class revolved around music. I am a fan of music but some of the artists we had to discuss were artists that I did not hear of until this class. I wish there was more variety of things that we did. I’m glad I got through it will little trouble though because I also have three daughters at home to take care of and I was working full time when this semester started. It was intense work and mostly when we had essays to do because we had to do a first draft, then review the drafts of our peers, and then do up to two more drafts.
The biggest obstacle in this class was working with our groups online. Not every member could be online at the same time so it was hard to discuss our topic. Then we had no idea who was taking charge and posting the final product onto the discussion board. Then we had to reply to members of our groups and members of the other groups to keep interaction between the class so the assignment was done but there was always more work to be done. This semester challenged my skills but I did my best in getting as much work done as possible and on time.
I learned a lot about music, writing, grammar, and how to cite different sources. I also became a little bit more familiar with writing papers in MLA style. Overall I have no regrets in taking this online class. I was challenged and that is something that everyone needs once in a while. Last semester, I took three classes at the college and it was not as hard as taking two online classes. There is more work to be done and many steps to follow to complete each assignment. There are also many different due dates to keep in mind and conversations with the students and teacher to keep up with. We started a blog which is not something that I have ever done. If anything, I try to avoid doing too much online so that I don’t put too much out there about myself but it was not too bad because I had a topic to keep in mind for each writing.
I'm glad to see that other people were frustrated with the group assignments, as well! It wasn't just me!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I was not a big fan of our topics of choice either, being as it was ALL about music. I enjoy music, and I play music, but sometimes it was just TOO MUCH MUSIC!
You took TWO online classes this semester?! I applaud you! I was overwhelmed with this one and then on-campus classes! Good job!
I know how you feel with work and kids! I wanted to take this class thinking that it would be so nice to take an online class so I can be home and have more time with my boys! HA! I was so stressed with homework sometimes that I just shut my bedroom door while they played so I could get it done!
You are right, though. Everyone needs the occasional challenge. That is how we get stronger and increase our patience! Congrats on finishing your semester! Enjoy your summer!
When I took this online class, it was completely different from the one I took last semester. There were so many assignments to do and all due at different times; it was a bit hard to keep up with. I agree with you that even though we had a lot of writing to do it did improve my writing skills, though at the time it did not seem like it. I actually liked the fact that most of the assignments were revolved around music. Not only did I learn more about music but it made the assignments more bearable and easier. I completely agree with you on the working with groups. I found that to be the hardest part of this class as well, I do not understand why we had them. Either very few of the members would not fully participate in critiquing the essays or they would not try to put any efforts into their own. It was very frustrating I did not learn anything from the group activities. I wish that the professor would have read all of the drafts instead of having us do them. I also did not like the blogs because I do not like putting my opinions out there for the public to see, I had some difficulties with that as well. I hope you have a great summer.
ReplyDeleteHey great job on your blog, you seem to feel the same way as me about this class. I really enjoyed reading it this week it was very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way; I am also excited that I actually made it through this class. And I also decided to take this online class because I thought I would have more time to do my assignments. I also thought that I would have time to focus more of my time on other classes, but in this class there was a massive amount of work which I think was too much work for this class. Even though we had a lot of work and even though all of included us writing, I still feel like my writing is the same. I do not feel like it has improved. I do not think that the way to improve our writing by giving us a lot of work was a good idea. And I also did not know about any of the artist that was mentioned in the Music and Culture book. I fell that if there were some artists that younger people like me know, the assignments would have been more fun and interesting. Most of the assignments we did I think we’re really boring.