[nabs-l] In person versus online for the summer

Sun May 4 06:02:42 UTC 2014

Hi all,

I actually attend an online only University at the moment. Western Governors University has a very different model that would take a while to explain, and I would miss something.

I will tell you next that I will not be at Western Governors University for very long from now. My actual plans are to transfer to what has been called a real college experience. I will change the rhetoric a little bit and just say I'm going to a brick-and-mortar school.

I have very strong feelings that are opposed to online experiences for college. At my university for instance, there are no real deadlines except for the very end of semester.

UART responsible for the material, all of it, at least 12 credits of it, at the end of the six-month period. Yes, a semester is actually six months in length at my university. It is feasible to fit many more credits into that space. If you are disciplined enough.

I have never met a single student that goes to my university. I never sat down in front of a professor. Granted, I can speak with professors one on one by phone. I find participating on board kind of useless. If that's what you call meeting your fellow students, I would much rather skip it, and I do skip it. I just want to get the material, get a grade, and MoveOn.

My preference is for sitting down next to people, interacting, asking questions, playing with, and maneuvering around the physical, and intellectual experience that is the University.

Maybe this is unique to Western Governors, but I only get pass and fail grades.

If you look at my transcript, a passing grade is explained as a B or better. When a real college looks at it, my passing grade is only as good as a bee. That means that a perfect GPA for me in the eyes of many colleges is a 3.0.

I think eventually the Science will prove that online experiences for college are inferior to interactions in person. This will remains to be seen in probably 10 or 20 years.

I will be the first to embrace technology, and promote it. I have seen good ideas, and implementation of technology and educational setting.

Take Khan Academy for instance. The program gives people illustrated, thought out, actual lectures on focused subjects.

Granted, the on-screen information is not accessible to blind person, but such is life, in the world.

I cannot of course advocate for the lack of accessibility. if Khan Academy were to be implemented in formal educational settings, we would run into a problem that would need fixing.

But, I cannot in good conscience sit here and diss Khan Academy for creating so much content, and not having thought of blind students.

My own college tests online. People can go to testing centers like Prometrix, and I had a fight with the college to test like everyone else: quickly, conveniently, and at home.

I am looking right now at taking an exam that includes a map. I have never seen the map, and that is a problem I need to figure out someway. The disability support services office is clueless as to how to help me look at this map. They have consulted with me on material for different classes for another blind student, and they seemed clueless as to how to present visual information to blind students.

There is a lot more to be said, and the jury will be out for a while on the effectiveness of an online education.

If any person reading this is considering attending Western Governors University specifically, keep in mind that I highly discourage anyone from doing so, especially if you're blind. If you want a stellar 3.0 GPA, go right ahead.

I think myself to be a pretty competent user of technology, and I resourceful person when it comes to getting access to materials. And, I have a hard time getting through to the school for things that I actually do need, and that they could be providing.

My disability support services office hardly even knows what will share is. Learning Ally is probably news to them, and jaws might as well be a movie.

Someone suggested that you treat an online class a lot like an actual physical class. That is, the person said you could approach the professor in advance, after having asked if the class is accessible. I doubt colleges will know if the class is fully accessible, and it will be up to you to be surprised at how you can, or cannot access the materials.

Some of you electronic environment is very unforgiving. For instance, in my map experience, if I get those questions wrong, and failed the exam, there is no way to know how I answered the map material, and no opportunity to actually test on my knowledge of the material.

I will like to hear more about accessible, effective, and positive online education experiences, but, I predict these will be few and far between.

Long-distance formats were treacherous when I took a class back into thousand one, and in some ways, it has gotten worse, not better.

To be sure, the future, however bright it might be, is headed towards online education. We should expect that, and we have a very long fight I had to make that stuff accessible. It will be accessible, but it won't be pretty.

I wish someone would find us articles on the online education debate. I am not an expert in psychology, cognitive sciences, and so on. But my experience speaks loudly as to how frustrating and ineffective online education can be.

I will make my sad point again. I just can't stand it, and I will drive the point home.

I congratulate every scholarship winner, past and present. This includes myself as a scholarship winner in 2010.

I envy future scholarship winners, because they can actually get above a 3.0 grade point average.

Happy online studies,,

Antonio

On Apr 29, 2014, at 4:02 PM, Leye-Shprintse <leyeshprintse at ymail.com> wrote:

> 
> BS'D
> 
> Becky,
> 
> This is how I would do it; bene note, I am not located in the United States.
> 
> Firstly, I would contact the university and ask if their course platform is accessible with screen readers such as JAWS and VoiceOver.
> 
> Secondly, I would contact the department which gives the courses and tell them that I am blind and need the material in an accessible format. I would request to get the list of literature now so that I would have time to get it before the courses start. I would also Contact the teacher and give a bref introduction of myself and beg he or she to Contact me if they have some questions. If you have asked all questions before your course start it will be any problems, G-d willing.
> 
> Finally, my experience is that you need to be well prepared before you start your courses, then you have done anything in your power to get it to work.
> 
> Good luck!
> 
> LeSholom,
> Leye-Shprintse <3
> 
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