View Poll Results: What has been your experience with online classes?

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  • I have not tried them.

    4 28.57%
  • They did not work for me.

    1 7.14%
  • They worked for me.

    9 64.29%
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  1. #1
    BG Content
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    Online Classes

    Learning is a lifelong journey, yo

    Have any of you tried online courses, if so, when did you find that they worked for you?


    I have blitzed a few online classes in the last two years and I think I'm beginning to figure out when an online course in the right choice.

    tl;dr: Basically they work when other didactic training would work


    For simple topics where I already have the conceptual underpinning, Wikipedia is sufficient.

    For more complicated topics where I lack the vocabulary/concepts, online courses seem to work.

    For technical skills (like programming in C++), I have found further training unhelpful. The first step of coding is conceptual, but the rest of the marathon depends on experience. My only route here is basically on-the-job learning.





    Does anyone have experience taking an online class to gain a technical skill and then finding their knowledge sufficient for use at work?

  2. #2
    Ridill
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    I share your experiences through getting my degree. Broad, high level discussions work fine in an online setting, but once you get into the weeds its either go into a classroom or do it yourself. I see online courses as a way to earn a checkbox for a cert/degree and whatnot; I haven't gotten much benefit beyond that.


    I'd be curious if that holds true in tech; I've had a burgeoning interest in moving into cybersecurity and I'm pretty lost as where to start.

  3. #3
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    So Byrth I actually have a fair bit of experience with this. I was forced to take a SQL class as part of my school and it is quite frankly the same as any online class: You get out of it what you put into it.

    The materials to learn stuff are going to be good. I got my Masters from Strayer, which a lot of people like to laugh at cause while it's not as bad and University of Phoenix, but it's not the Sorbonee either. However my experience was top-tier. All of the materials in the class were excellent, and my teachers' knowledge was pretty good too. They could answer every question I asked. My problem was a lot of my co-students were rubber stamping their way through their degree and didn't care, which made collaboration and group discussion near worthless.

    I'm going to do an online computer science certificate from George Mason here in the next 2 years because I need some new skills for my new job. I'm pretty confident in the "learn technical knowledge online" model, at least for the stuff I care about.

  4. #4
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    My experience with languages so far has been:
    * Web languages - learned them as a kid dicking around on the internet
    * C++ - Did some early interactive-learning tutorials that came on CDs with compilers (PowerPC Metrowerks CodeWarrior, anyone?) and took one self-driven course. Learned basic programming concepts, but did not have an application for the ability beyond the example files. Twelve year olds with babby C++ skills aren't exactly in demand.
    * C - Did FIRST robotics in highschool and programmed our robot. I was mentored by an electrical engineer from the era of early computing. My vocabulary/concepts were self-taught, but this experience is really what solidified my fundamentals.
    * MATLAB - Learned it in college to maintain my lab's analysis program.
    * Lua - Learned it for Windower addons.
    * Python - Learned it for a data science class that I took ~1 year ago.
    * SQL - Learned the basic commands and stuff from online tutorials during the class. Learning optimization on the job.
    * R - Learned it after I started my job.

    Adding another high-level scripting language for me at this point is a matter of spending a few weeks searching syntax and another six months going to stack overflow once or twice a day.

    My proximity to the Windower project gives me pause when it comes to thinking I'll ever really be able to write production-ready code in a lower-level language without fully diving in and just sucking at it for a few months. I cannot begin to tell you how long I've spent trying to configure windower plugins so they would compile at all. I could probably take an entire online class on configuring C++ compilers and come out of it only recognizing half of the problems I've faced. I could almost certainly take a C++ code bootcamp class, complete all the assignments in good faith, and still come out unable to compile a program in an unfamiliar dev environment.

  5. #5
    You wouldn't know that though because you've demonstrably never picked up a book nor educated yourself on the matter. Let me guess, overweight housewife?
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    I haven't done an online class for a specific skill, so I know this doesn't completely answer your question; however, I've always preferred online classes to in-classes simply because you can study/complete work anytime during the week in comfortable clothes while also cutting out the random bs of a class (ie. things that could be said quickly in an email-meme).

    As to class vs. youtube vids, I think the benefit of the class is better structure and stronger accountability. If you are the type (no idea if you are) to start something and get distracted by other projects, having sort of forced due dates with specific materials can be a great way to keep on track. I see this in my husband, honestly. Because 3D rendering is constantly changing due to newer technology, every so often he signs up on a website called Digital Tutors to sort of update his techniques. It helps, but I see him randomly jumping to things he feels he currently needs, while possibly missing videos he never would have thought to look at. If there was an actual class for it, I bet he would learn more that would help him and force him to spend more time on it.

  6. #6
    United States of Smash!
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    Are there any legitimate schools offering online courses for 4 year degrees? It seems like all the ones I see are for profit schools whose accreditation and reputations are questionable. I imagine most schools have some online classes at this point but are there any that are completely online/remote?

  7. #7
    Relic Weapons
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    University of Maryland, University College is part of the University System of Maryland. It's an accredited school with a good rep for distance learning.

    https://www.usmd.edu/institutions/
    https://www.umuc.edu

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