Photo by Marco Wessel (thank you!)
A recent article in the New York Times talks about students taking more and more online classes, especially now that gas prices have been rising.
“High Cost of Driving Ignites Online Classes Boom,” by Sam Dillon
Actually, I did a lot of my graduate program classes online. That was before teachers had fancy online programs with video and audio. We just had good, old-fashioned message boards (those were the days!). I missed the community of being in a classroom with a room full of people, but it allowed me to work full time while being in school full time — and it did save me a lot of driving.
Online classes today are so much closer to the experience of a physical classroom. Still, as the article says, it’s not the same. As a teacher, I love getting to know my students, seeing each other, having discussions and answering questions in person. I understand, though, that with gas prices and busy schedules online classes may be the way to go. If you do take an online class, see if you can connect with other students and your teacher just a little bit. I bet it’ll make the experience much more fun — and it might make the studying easier.
If you love going to class to see friends and to meet new people, there are options to avoid paying high gas prices. You could carpool. You might take the bus or bike to class. You could drive a scooter or Vespa. You could find an apartment close enough to walk to school. Actually, I recently went car-free and stopped using my car altogether. It’s been much more fun than I expected–
