Thoughts on Online Courses

COVID-19 has brought a lot of change to the structure of courses this semester. While I believe some changes have been beneficial from online learning, I personally learn better in a traditional classroom environment. This semester I have two classes and a lab that meet in person, and the rest are completely online. One benefit of online classes so far is having access to recorded lectures. This makes it easy to rewatch any lectures for clarification or review. I think recorded lectures are a good resource to have but I strongly prefer having in person lectures. Having to spend time watching online lectures, reading the textbook for further clarification, and doing homework for each course definitely makes my workload seem a lot bigger than in previous semesters. I have found that time-management skills are a necessity for success in asynchronous online courses. I initially found it more difficult to plan my day without the need to physically go to lectures or recitations. In order to provide some structure to my days, I try to either watch lectures or work on assignments around the same time I would have that class if it were in person. It will be interesting to see what new changes next semester brings.