Have you ever taken a class online? If so, what was your experience like?

I've taken classes in a variety of formats - online, hybrid, and face-to-face. Many people think online classes are easier than in-person classes, but that's not the case - professors will often assign more work in an online class, because they can't see that you're sitting in class and actually doing work.

The best part of online classes is the asynchronous nature - you can put more time and thought into your responses. The biggest downside is there's little interaction with other students in an online environment (semi-related, with an extremely rare blog comment from yours truly), and if you have a problem, you're usually dependent on the professor checking his or her e-mail regularly (while most of my professors have been very responsive, not everyone has had the same experience).

I wouldn't recommend an online class for anything with a lot of math or science. They can work well for business or writing-intensive classes, although in those cases, a hybrid format will often give you the "best of both worlds."

I needed to take a few for my teaching credential in CA.

I guess it is fine... you get out of it what you take out of it.


I saw a number of students work that passed and was pretty bad.

I did online virtual school for over two years, and I really didn't like it, but I think that if I went back to it I might like it.