Coach Cross Goes to School Online
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Some kids would love to go to take online college courses: going to class whenever they want, no teachers, no classroom. But getting a degree online isn't as easy as it seems.
DHS’s popular PE teacher Mr. Jared Cross took two online graduate courses this past summer. The two courses, Health and Society, and School Health Education Foundations, were required for his master’s degree in School Health Education. Mr. Cross took the courses from South Connecticut State University in New Haven, where he went as an undergraduate. Asked his opinion of taking online courses, Mr. Cross said, “I would absolutely recommend it.” He said that online courses are great for busy people who work full time or have kids. Also, it is great for people who can’t commute as easily.
In reality, though, taking an online course entails as much work as a campus class, Mr. Cross says. There was more homework and the class was harder because there’s no student to teacher or student to student interaction. Mr. Cross added that while he could always e-mail his questions to his professor, “Nothing compares to being in the classroom.”
DHS guidance counselors Mrs Rudi Spannaus and Mrs Debra Webb-Maloney, agree with Mr Cross’s assessment. They said that along with the fact that actual classrooms are more conducive to learning, valuable social skills are learned at college. Those skills cannot be learned online.
Many subjects that are taught at DHS, however, are still well suited to an online mode of learning. Mr. Cross may never have been to a classroom but his learning materials would be familiar to many Darien students: he watched videos, took notes from PowerPoints, and had to take tests and write essays. He sent all of his work to his professor by e-mail, and it would be graded and returned the same way, so he never actually met his professor.
Although Mr. Cross’s decision to take online courses might seem unusual, it is definitely not unique. The Sloan Consortium, an organization funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation that publishes annual reports, says that nearly 3.2 million people took at least one online course in 2004, a figure that is no doubt much higher today.
Despite the rising popularity of online courses, Principal Dan Haron has some doubts. While he said that any job applicants with an online college or university degree would not be considered differently than those with a traditional degree, he “would have some bias against an undergrad degree” done exclusively online. Mr. Haron was quick to point out, however, that this is solely because he hasn’t thought the matter through or formulated an opinion yet. Surprisingly enough, while Mr Haron has never taken a class online himself, he said his wife teaches an online course.
People’s lives are forever becoming busier and busier, and many find it hard to find time for class as they work full time, raise kids, or both. Campus courses have rigid schedules and it can be a pain to have to drive to a university. Luckily, online courses are a simple solution for those with hectic lives.
