Online Classes vs. In person? Can either of these options affect future job outlooks?

[Mosaud1998]

I was wondering if anyone can guide me on my next journey.

I will be transferring over to NIU(Northern Illinois University) in the fall of 2021.

I have the option of either taking courses online or in person. I am majoring in Operations and Information science.

It'll take me 1.5 years (if I take summer courses) or 2 years (without summer courses) to finish the degree.

My question is, is there a big difference between taking classes online and in-person other than in real-life interaction with the teacher and students?

Is there any difference in job offers taking classes online and graduating vs. taking classes in-person and graduating or will the job offers essentially be the same?

If I decide to take the courses online, will my job offers fall or something?

Any input would be appreciated

[M_Six]

I doubt any HR department will know or care if some of your courses were online. At our school, online courses have a different section number, but the course designation is the same. So ENG 1001 is the same on your transcripts regardless. And whether the online course is better or worse than a face-to-face course is up to the person teaching the course. I've seen some excellent online courses and I've been in some really poor face-to-face classes.

My current job is helping faculty with online courses. I can't tell them how to run their courses, but I can preach best practices and help them come up with ways to make their courses better. Since we went online last spring, a lot of faculty members have gotten much, much better with their online course techniques. I just hope they continue to maintain some level of online presence even when we go back to normal face-to-face classes.

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by M_Six

I doubt any HR department will know or care if some of your courses were online. At our school, online courses have a different section number, but the course designation is the same. So ENG 1001 is the same on your transcripts regardless. And whether the online course is better or worse than a face-to-face course is up to the person teaching the course. I've seen some excellent online courses and I've been in some really poor face-to-face classes.

My current job is helping faculty with online courses. I can't tell them how to run their courses, but I can preach best practices and help them come up with ways to make their courses better. Since we went online last spring, a lot of faculty members have gotten much, much better with their online course techniques. I just hope they continue to maintain some level of online presence even when we go back to normal face-to-face classes.

I kinda like the whole online schooling scheme. Probably because I don't have to wake up at 5 am to get to my 8 am class

But, online school does make it hard to actually get legit help from tutors or teachers. I've been using Khan Academy a lot. That helped when it came to the Managerial Accounting course I took last year.

[bigrum]

Personally, actually learning things I got more out of in-person college than I did online. I did have a mix of both over the four years.

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by bigrum

Personally, actually learning things I got more out of in-person college than I did online. I did have a mix of both over the four years.

Idk, I didn't feel a difference between in person classes and online.

I learned the material either way.

[M_Six]

A lot depends on the subject and how it's presented. Some subjects adapt better than others. Also, there are asynchronous courses where you log in whenever you want and then there are synchronous courses where the instructor uses Teams or Zoom and you have to be there at a certain time. Those type of courses offer more of the traditional classroom give-and-take discussions, which can be very helpful.

Obviously, things like Chemistry labs are virtually impossible to do ...um... virtually. But I know a fish biology instructor who mailed fish samples to his lab students and then conducted live (synchronous) labs on Teams where he dissected a fish while his students at home did the same with their fish and they could all see each other work and ask questions. It's pretty cool.

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by M_Six

A lot depends on the subject and how it's presented. Some subjects adapt better than others. Also, there are asynchronous courses where you log in whenever you want and then there are synchronous courses where the instructor uses Teams or Zoom and you have to be there at a certain time. Those type of courses offer more of the traditional classroom give-and-take discussions, which can be very helpful.

Obviously, things like Chemistry labs are virtually impossible to do ...um... virtually. But I know a fish biology instructor who mailed fish samples to his lab students and then conducted live (synchronous) labs on Teams where he dissected a fish while his students at home did the same with their fish and they could all see each other work and ask questions. It's pretty cool.

Majority of the courses I'll be taking are business courses.

A lot of common sense imo.

Finance will obviously require basic math.

But, I am not taking any science courses that require the student to be in a lab and do hands on stuff.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

Majority of the courses I'll be taking are business courses.

A lot of common sense imo.

Finance will obviously require basic math.

But, I am not taking any science courses that require the student to be in a lab and do hands on stuff.

My office is actually in a business school where they offer a complete MBA online. Some of our professors have excellent online courses and some could use some improvement. Business courses can adapt to online format very well if the instructor sets it up right.

Just a heads up about online courses, especially for a business degree. Many of them require a product called Respondus LockDown Browser and sometimes Respondus Monitor for quizzes and exams. LockDown Browser is a browser like any other, except it is full screen and won't let you run any other program while you're taking the quiz or exam. Respondus Monitor requires and activates a webcam and microphone to monitor you while you take the test to make sure you're not using another device to look up answers and to make sure you are the person who is supposed to be taking the exam. Some schools do this to meet accreditation requirements.

https://web.respondus.com/he/lockdownbrowser/

Just so you know what you might be getting into.

And BTW, you don't have to pay for LockDown Browser. The school, if they use it, will have a license for it.

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by M_Six

My office is actually in a business school where they offer a complete MBA online. Some of our professors have excellent online courses and some could use some improvement. Business courses can adapt to online format very well if the instructor sets it up right.

I'm planning on getting an internship in the summer before my second year at the 4-year university.

I wonder if the place I get an internship will pay for the other year I'll have left?

[M_Six]

Could be. I did a 10-week internship with NASA right after graduation. It paid pretty well and was a blast. One of the best summers of my life.

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Could be. I did a 10-week internship with NASA right after graduation. It paid pretty well and was a blast. One of the best summers of my life.

I hate lockdown browsers.

I haven't had any lockdown browser requirements but from what I've heard some professors require you to have your webcam on at all times and what not.

Seems a bit weird imo

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

I hate lockdown browsers.

I haven't had any lockdown browser requirements but from what I've heard some professors require you to have your webcam on at all times and what not.

Seems a bit weird imo

I'm no fan of them either. They often cause more problems than they solve. But again, some schools use them to meet accreditation requirements.

DePaul University is currently facing a lawsuit over it.

https://www.insidehighered.com/quick...roctoring-tool

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by M_Six

I'm no fan of them either. They often cause more problems than they solve. But again, some schools use them to meet accreditation requirements.

DePaul University is currently facing a lawsuit over it.

https://www.insidehighered.com/quick...roctoring-tool

Really? Wow.

I wonder if NIU uses it

[e90335e36m3]

There is absolutely a huge difference between in person and online, maybe not so much from an employer standpoint, but from a personal development standpoint.

I did both law school and business school in person In law school,they used the Socratic method to put you under pressure to construct rational arguments ad hoc. I hated it but it helped me. Business school required collaboration with team mates and in class presentations which put you in a simulated real world environment that sitting behind a screen will never come close to.

Maybe with Covid it will matter less since zoom is so much more prevalent, but trust me, in person is a much more comprehensive and beneficial environment. Only do online if you have to or if you don't need the degree (just checking a box).

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by e90335e36m3

There is absolutely a huge difference between in person and online, maybe not so much from an employer standpoint, but from a personal development standpoint.

I did both law school and business school in person In law school,they used the Socratic method to put you under pressure to construct rational arguments ad hoc. I hated it but it helped me. Business school required collaboration with team mates and in class presentations which put you in a simulated real world environment that sitting behind a screen will never come close to.

Maybe with Covid it will matter less since zoom is so much more prevalent, but trust me, in person is a much more comprehensive and beneficial environment. Only do online if you have to or if you don't need the degree (just checking a box).

But again, I am not even sure if NIU or any other university is going to open up to full capacity or if there'll be like 20 students per class.

I doubt everyone will be vaccinated by Aug-Sept.

[M_Six]

You can pick and choose. To get a degree, you might need to take Gen Ed courses or other "filler" type courses. At a masters level, you almost always have to take a Research Methods course. That's the type of course you can knock out online without losing too much compared to the in-class option. For the courses that will really be critical to your degree, maybe look to take those in person. My undergrad was geology. I took some artsy-fartsy courses like music appreciation to check some boxes for my degree, like it was stated above. Those can easily be online courses.

I think by the fall we'll be mostly back to normal as far as university classes go. But you never know.

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by M_Six

You can pick and choose. To get a degree, you might need to take Gen Ed courses or other "filler" type courses. At a masters level, you almost always have to take a Research Methods course. That's the type of course you can knock out online without losing too much compared to the in-class option. For the courses that will really be critical to your degree, maybe look to take those in person. My undergrad was geology. I took some artsy-fartsy courses like music appreciation to check some boxes for my degree. Those can easily be online courses.

I think by the fall we'll be mostly back to normal as far as university classes go. But you never know.

I took all my Gen Ed courses at my local community college.

So, that stuff is off the list.

Even if we do get back to normal, idk if we'll be able to have like face to face meetings with teachers like before covid.

[M_Six]

Well see. As long as the profs are vaccinated, there shouldn't be a problem. In-person classes are one thing. You can ventilate the classroom and be pretty safe if most people are vaccinated. Professors can still hold one-on-one meetings during office hours via Teams or Zoom.

I've worked with Brightspace/D2L for the past 8 years. If you do take online courses that use Brightspace/D2L and have issues, PM me. If you end up using Canvas or Moodle, you're on your own.

NM, I checked. NIU uses Blackboard. Good luck with that.

[HFW003]

I did my MBA completely online other than exams where I had to attend a local place.

It was the only way I could do mine as I was working full time running my own businesses and so on.

I certainly preferred it that way BUT, as with any study, you need to be disciplined.

Good luck!

[kscarrol]

I teach at Tulane and with COVID have taught in person and online since last March. In person is easily better for students and faculty, no question. We did online like most because we had to and it got us through but it is far from ideal. Faculty are challenged to keep students engaged while they lay in bed or on a sofa listening to a disembodied voice on a computer.

As for lock down browsers, they are Orwellian and I don’t use them. Students are bothered by them and it does not stop cheating, which is rampant in online courses. I deal with it by making tests very hard and too long for the allotted time. The good students struggle but the cream rises to the top. Students who are not prepared or try to cheat spend too much time texting friends, looking up answers on a tablet etc and finish even less of the test so scoring lower than the honest/prepared students.

Do employers care about online versus in person classes, not from what I can tell. If we are talking about a school with a good reputation, not an issue for now as employers recognize the challenges everyone, ibluding themselves, have faced.

Tulane has a very active testing program with students being tested twice a week and faculty tested every two weeks... cases are very low and have been for some time.

My $0.02

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Well see. As long as the profs are vaccinated, there shouldn't be a problem. In-person classes are one thing. You can ventilate the classroom and be pretty safe if most people are vaccinated. Professors can still hold one-on-one meetings during office hours via Teams or Zoom.

I've worked with Brightspace/D2L for the past 8 years. If you do take online courses that use Brightspace/D2L and have issues, PM me. If you end up using Canvas or Moodle, you're on your own.

NM, I checked. NIU uses Blackboard. Good luck with that.

Does blackboard suck?

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Mosaud1998

Does blackboard suck?

I haven't used it, but we use a part of it called Collaborate Ultra (formerly Blackboard Collaborate). It's their version of Zoom, more or less. That alone is clunky enough to make me think Blackboard itself might be a pain. But I don't know enough about it to say it sucks or doesn't.