Trecia

Finals

My last day of classes is December 18^th, that is the day my last final is due.  I’m so excited, everyone is always busy this time of year, with papers, projects etc.  I happen to have both a paper and project due on the 18^th; both assignments are for the same class.  I’m trying hard to get everything completed before then, but with working full-time, it’s hard to motivate myself to do more hours of work after I come home.  In the end it’s definitely worth it though, especially when you complete your last final and you feel a sense of accomplishment. 

 

Also after you finish your finals, you can finally relax.  The only thing that could be more stressful than the final itself is waiting for your grades.  Most of the classes that I have taken, the professors are pretty quick about grading papers and exams, so I have never had to wait more than a week after the class was completed to get my final grade.

Extra Money

Most college students need or want extra money; from undergrads to grad students the lure of extra cash cannot be ignored.  I was looking for a part time job that could be done in the evenings or weekends, which are pretty hard to find, especially in my neck of the woods.  However, I came across an ad on my town’s website, for Census takers.  Being curious, I clicked on the ad and they get paid a pretty decent wage around $18 per hour.  That’s not a bad to walk around your town and ask people questions for a few hours a day.  Also the hours are flexible, which is what college students need and you can work up to 40 hours a week, if you can fit it in. 

 

I called up my local Census office and found out I had to take a test (only 28 questions and they have practice exam).  Anyway, I just wanted to pass this along, in case anyone was looking to fill in their schedule and get extra money.

The Holidays and Schoolwork

When taking classes online, don’t think you won’t have assignments due over long holiday breaks…it might even be a group assignment.  Thankfully this term I didn’t have a group assignment due, but I did have a term paper, homework and a quiz due Sunday at midnight.  I know what you are thinking, that I could have done the term paper and the homework in advance.  But realistically, who does that?  I personally don’t know anyone who actually does their papers in advance.  While I did take the time to read the book and collect extra books and articles in advance, I usually wait until the last possible moment to write the actual paper, which for me is a few days in advance.  I try to start writing early that way I can take breaks and really think about what I want to say. 

Every semester I say that I will start my assignments earlier, but it never happens, I guess old habits are hard to break. 

 

 

 

 
 

 

Professors

 

Being an online student can frighten some people because might be concerned that they won’t be able to get extra help that they need however I find that is not the case.  The professors always contact you at the beginning of each class (orientation week) and you can get in contact with them via email or phone.  I have had professors schedule time to explain concepts and go over homework or to explain assignments. 

I find that online professors are just as willing to talk with you as they are if you were taking the class on campus.  While I haven’t taken an online class that had a teaching assistant (TA), I am sure that depending on the type of course and complexity of the assignments one could be present to answer questions or give more help to students.

Online learning might require a bit more discipline and some initiative on the student’s part to ask for help, but it is definitely there if needed.

 

 

Campus Events

The one thing that sometimes bothers me about being an online student is that I don’t really get to interact with the other students in my classes.  Sure during discussions and group projects we email, post to message boards, do web meetings, or teleconferences, but when I say interact , I mean socially (non-school related).  In one of my classes we had to plan out the logistics of having a party with all of the people in our web-based class.  It was very interesting to see what types of issues would be had and what information had to be gathered in order to make a party possible.  It was definitely more difficult than if everyone was on campus. 

 

I get all of the graduate student emails and they have pizza and beer night, movie night, etc.  It would be fun to do some of those things.  I’m sure not every distance learner feels the same way.  Most distance learners have full-time jobs and some even have families, so even if they had to go to campus to take classes they probably wouldn’t have time to go to the meet and greet social events.

 

Another thing is the gym, if I was on campus, I definitely wouldn’t be paying for a gym membership, because I could just use the Stevens facilities.  I think that is another perk, because Stevens also has group exercise classes that are given in the evenings.  I think the best of both worlds would be to be a distance learner but live close to the Stevens Campus, that way, if you wanted you could go in for the events and free gym membership but you have the flexibility of not “having” to go to campus.

 

 

Structuring Group Assignments

One challenge of doing group assignments is coordinating with everyone, meaning getting people from all over the country to meet at the same time to discuss the assignment and assign roles and work.  Surprisingly, after the first couple of times of doing this, it gets easier and everyone in the group gets into a rhythm.  It is important to set-up a schedule for meeting.  A schedule will make it easier for everyone involved and that way you aren’t meeting at random times during the week, which could lead to people missing meetings.  Another thing is to assign or breakdown the work...I find that if work is not assigned it doesn’t get completed.  When everyone says that they can post the final assignment, it usually doesn’t get posted, because everyone thought someone else was going to do it.

 

What I found helpful was to make a rotating schedule for the team lead for each week.  The team lead is responsible for running the meetings and posting the final assignment.  Everyone still gets involved in doing the assignment but one person is responsible for that week for getting everyone’s input and handing in the assignment.  This has worked out pretty well in all of my courses that have used this technique.

 

Another thing is to make sure you leave yourself enough time between your coordination meeting and the due date of the assignment.  You have to be able to get input and complete the assignment and make changes if they are needed and review it before it is submitted.  Whichever way you choose to structure your group, make sure the assignment is complete and submitted on time.

Forgetting to Order a Book

How did I not order my book for class?  I mean, I really thought I read through the entire syllabus and listed all the books that were required, but I missed one.  I have written blogs about being organized and even ran down a list of what you are supposed to do during orientation week; one of those things being to order your books.  I think it was just an oversight on my part, I mean there were three required books, but I only got two of them.  So, now I have to make sure to add one more thing to my orientation checklist...double check all book lists to make sure everything is there.

Being an online student, I can't just walk into the campus bookstore and buy the book.  I have to order it online and wait to have it shipped to me, which takes a few days.  Good thing I only have reading assigned from this book and not actual problems or analysis because there would have been a big issue there...

 

Fall Semester '09

                    

 

                    

                         

 

 

The fall term has started and I’m still ramping up in my two courses, because it’s only the first couple of weeks of online classes.  However that doesn’t mean that I haven’t had any assignments due.  The first couple of weeks seem to be the same for each class I take, meaning:

 

-         Read the orientation slides

-         Buy the books

-         Create your student profile

-         Form your teams

 

Out of those four the first two are the easiest, but the student profile can be tricky, especially if you are the first to post your profile.  I mean you don’t want to come off as a workaholic bore with no life, but you don’t want to come off as a person with too much of a life and no time to meet with your group and work on team assignments.  You also don’t want to paint yourself as some super obsessed person who wants the team to meet every night.  It’s a fine line and you never know how someone will interpret what you say.

 

The last thing on the list is forming the teams, which after you read through the profiles of your classmates you try to figure out who is the most compatible with your meeting schedule and work habits.  You have to choose wisely, because you will be working with your group for the entire semester...so far, I think I chose wisely. 

Round Two

So this is round 2 of blogging for me.  I am still trying to get the hang of it and making sure that my posts are interesting and timely.  It’s harder than it appears to be, keeping people interested when it has to be about school and being a web based student and all, I don’t really get to interact with people face to face.  So most of my communication is done via discussion boards, therefore clear and concise writing is necessary in order to get your point across.  However, words can be taken out of context or the meaning misunderstood because the tone cannot be conveyed.  Based on those facts, you would think a lot of people would have hurt feelings based on responses to discussions that were taken the wrong way.  But, people are usually okay about it and don’t take things the wrong way and if they do, they keep it to themselves.  Out of all of my online classes, I can only recall a few times where something was taken the wrong way. 

 

It is important to write things in a way that they can’t be seen as offensive or belittling of other people’s ideas.  This helps not only when taking online classes but in everyday life, when writing emails.  When I started my job, all new hires have to take ethics courses, and one of these was about careful communication.  Careful communication is just being mindful of what you are typing; personally I think everyone can benefit from it.

 

Anyway, I’m looking forward to my new classes this semester; I decided to take two courses after only taking one during the summer session…more to come on that later...

 

Casino Trip

Everyone has to unwind and relax at some point, especially when taking classes.  Usually during the weekend I am trying to catch up on assignments and discussion postings.  However, last weekend I went on a casino bus trip.  I went with some co-workers and a few other friends. When I go on these trips (once a year) I really don't expect to win anything, the goal is to go and have a good time and to eat some good food at the buffet.

My friend who organizes these trips understands that we will probably all lose our money, so she has a raffle on the bus on the way there and gives out 10- 15 prizes, so there are way better odds of winning the raffle than at the casino.  This year I actually did win a raffle prize, a complimentary haircut at a new salon (yes, I was excited).  Needless to say that is the only thing that I won that night.  I did come home with a $2.50 chip (yes, big winner).  Below are some pics of some of the stores, you can't really take pics inside the casino, they are paranoid about that stuff....

This is the Odysea store, honestly I can't remember what they sell, but their entrance is a huge aquarium.

 

 

 

 

 This picture is outside the ticket booth. 

 

I thought this was interesting so I decided to take a picture of it.