Summer 2003 Distance Education Survey (Student Comments)

 

Question 15:  What did you dislike about the online portion of this course?   

 

q       lose a little of the personal touch.  sometimes it is difficult to clearly understand all concepts and

assignments due to the time it takes to answer questions online

q       You miss face to face interaction

q       too many people in chatroom

q       Chat discussions

q       sometimes hard to control discussion  students easily get carried off on tangent discussions

q       There were a lot of people in the course , which made online discussions difficult.

q       Too many 2 hour class chats. Didn't feel so much like online having so many 2 hour chat sessions.

q       Chatroom becomes confusing sometimes.  My chat experience was a little disorganized.

q       The redundancy as everyone in the class answers in the chats.  With 40 people it gets a little old. 

Also  I was not clear on how the on-line portion would be graded by the instructor.

q       It was hard to get in depth explanations.  It is also harder to tell intensity of a topic when all is typed.

q       No class.

q       Nothing

q       Some of the uploading of the assignments did not work the way they were suppose to  so it took

longer to upload  if the class was in a classroom  I could have gotten help faster.

q       I am Computer incompetent and so not having a teacher in the class with me was very discouraging

and annoying.  I always had problems and when I did I had to chase someone down to help me. Also

everyone cheats on the tests.

q       nothing

q       nothing

q       There was too much work for the short amount of time in the summer.

q       During the fourth session there were several things due every day.

q       time consuming

q       having to turn the assignments in by 10:00 a.m.- rather inconvenient if you work mostly at night

like I do  and you have a problem and can't get help before the assignment is due

q       The frustration of homework not export as it appeared prior to the export.

q       N/A

q       I didn’t like the fact that when I did have a problem or question I was unable to receive an

answer right away.

q       There was an item on a test that I was taking; I was doing everything right  but it kept telling me that

q       my answer was wrong.  Sometimes  the system could have discrepancies.

q       If you had a problem  there is no immediate response.

q       Sitting in front of the computer for a whole month having to read all of the assignments by computer monitor.

q       Nothing

q       This was my first on-line class.  I was familiar with most of the material for the class. I think this

made it an easier course for me to take. So  I was unable to find any dislikes about the course.

q       it was very scary t experiment on my own

q       Software was not compatible with home PC.

q       The fact that problems with computers occur and can delay the process but  that is more a

technology issue

q       A few bugs at the beginning.

q       There were a lot of bugs in the software or Web site (SimNet  PageOut.)

q       nothing

q       I was able to do the work when it was good for me.

q       Nothing

q       having to wait for clarification via e-mail rather than asking the teacher after class.

q       When you don't understand an assignment it's hard to have to wait for a response.

q       If I didn't agree with something  I would prefer to discuss it with my professor face-to-face 

but since this was a summer online course  then the professor was not on campus.

q       I didn't get to interact with the teacher other students. I couldn't ask the teacher face to face

questions it was 100% online.

q       I disliked that I could not receive face-to-face sessions with the teacher concerning things

that I did not understand.

q       There were occasional technical difficulties.

q       I really did not dislike any portion of it. There may be some disadvantage to not having face to face

feed back from the instructor in regard to assignments- but the instructor always responded

quickly to emails and to any questions.

q       Nothing

q       Nothing.

q       I miss getting a lot of GREAT information from Dr. Putney that only happens with face-to-face

discussions.  She has been great with answering all questions!!!!!

q       I enjoyed everything about the on-line courses.

q       Not having as much interaction with my peers.

q       Nothing

q       Not a thing!

q       Do not know.

q       communication with my other group members was sometimes stressful

q       Nothing.

q       I like to hear the opinions and thoughts of other students.  You can learn allot from their experiences.

q       I am not very good with computers yet.

q       The fear of not sending something properly.

q       I wish it had the ability to use other programs other than Microsoft word.

q       Nothing

q       Not as much time to get to know others by face-to-face interaction.

q       I had no dislikes

q       It does not facilitate relationships with peers and instructor as strongly as face to face  in the

classroom instruction.

q       Nothing

q       Nothing

q       nothing

q       Nothing

q       nothing

q       NA

q       nothing

q       Nothing

q       just sometimes having trouble with the attachments and wondering if they made it to the professor.

q       Meeting with other people

q       nothing

q       n/a

q       Should you have difficulty with the server of the network it can cause assignments being late.

q       I did not dislike any portion of the online course.

q       na

q       They don't have the opportunity to "share" in a regular classroom setting.  I miss the "discussion"

component of being in a classroom of other teachers and sharing their experiences/stories.

q       n/a

q       There was not anything I disliked.

q       N/A

q       I didn't really need to sit through lectures that were identical to the power points on the web.  Also 

the book cost 98.00

q       I am bad about putting things off to the last minute.

q       nothing

q       Nothing

q       I had no dislikes.

q       It was not utilized to its fullest.

q       nothing

q       Nothing.

q       NA

q       Nothing

q       nothing

q       There was nothing that I disliked about the online portion of this course

q       when something did not work correctly

q       Nothing. The system works very well!!

q       Nothing

q       in class interaction

q       It was difficult to communicate with class partners and professors.  I didn't receive feedback regarding

my assignments in a timely manner.

q       nothing

q       Sometimes it is hard to get a response from your instructor.

q       I didn't dislike anything. I enjoyed it.

q       not having quick access to the instructor

q       test  please ignore

q       Nothing

q       Never meeting classmates or teacher face to face

q       nothing.

q       nothing

q       The incredible amount of work...much more than had I taken class on campus

q       I do like the opportunity to interact in class... the social aspects.

q       I had to motivate myself to do it.

q       Delay in feedback  no "body language" in interactions.

q       I am not very good with computers.

q       I would have liked topical bulletin boards so that I didn't have to sift through all the messages to find

the ones relevant to my questions.

q       Waiting for responses.

q       people who post things on the discussion board that should have been sent in private mail

q       The pace was much faster than I expected.

q       Sometimes the communication was not as good as I would have liked it to have been.

q       Nothing

q       Nothing

q       Nothing really

q       Nothing to dislike about this course.

q       Very difficult to start up the first day.  Password  student i.d. problems.

q       See Below

q       There was really nothing about the course that I didn't like.

q       I felt like people had made the comment that this class was an easy A and the instructor tried extra

hard to make some of the worksheet questions as difficult to find as possible so that it would not be an

easy class.

q       I dislike the fact that we had to do things some of us had never seen before without any sense of direction.

q       I liked everything

q       in class discussions

q       Very Time Consuming.

q       Not anything.

q       If I got knocked off the computer  or couldn't print.

q       If you have any problems with you computer  you were in real trouble.  I had trouble submitting one

homework assignment and didn't realize that it hadn't actually submitted until I checked the next day

and had no score.  Also  an electrical storm killed my modem on the evening of my final exam.  I didn't

 know until I got home to Douglasville (an hour away) and instead of spending the early part of the

evening taking my test  I ended up rushing around to find another computer that I could use to take

my test (the campus computers close at 10).  I ended up at a friend's house in Carrollton  with 85

minutes to take a potentially 150 minute test.  Not an experience I would recommend.

q       n/a

q       No interaction with classmates.

q       nothing

q       The only thing that I did not like is that not all of GALILEO is available off campus.

q       the libr course was useless and a waist of my time and money

q       I did not like not being able to personally communicate with the professor and classmates.  If I had a question I would have to e-mail the professor and would not get the answer until the next day or later.

q       N/A

q       This course was difficult to do on- line.  I wouldn't have been able to do this without face-to-face instruction

q       nothing  except maybe having to go back and forth from WebCT to Georgia teacher

q       Everything was fine.

q       communication about assignments came from too many sources...web ct  saber learning  paper syllabus  etc.

q       No face-to-face contact

q       Too much work  the work load was unrealistic  I spent at least 15 hours a week on this class

q       too many reflections to type

q       Nothing.

q       The amount of work  being a summer class  was a bit overwhelming.

q       Communication was great  but I needed one checklist for everything  not three.

q       not being to ask questions right then and there

q       I found it hard to understand exactly what was expected of me with assignments being in multiple places.

q       It is a lot of work.

q       had to rely on group members to check mail and bulletin board but they did not always check or respond

q       The many details to keep up with

q       Unable to send large files because I did not know how to compress them.

q       Nothing.

q       lots of work

q       Not having a teacher to ask questions when I got stuck on a project.

q       Nothing.

q       I liked everything.

q       Anyone teaching an online course needs to be reasonably familiar with not only the way the

internet works  but also with the kinds of software students are likely to be using on assignments.

q       Nothing.  We had to do a lot of group work  and this was an excellent source of communication for us.

q       Once we lost our site at GSAMS  but we did receive a tape of the missed class

q       N/A

q       We had equipment problems that resulted in us not receiving information that day but still had to sit

in class to see if the line could be fixed. This wasted valuable time and we still had to listen to the

tape class at a later time. I don't have a lot of free time to use that way.

q       The storms that threatened to knock out the computer that would keep me from getting online were

the biggest problem I had.

q       Nothing.

q       N/A

q       Nothing.

q       I miss the teacher and the interaction with others.

q       A lot of reading  which of course goes with the territory.

q       can't think of anything...

q       nothing.

q       Sometimes Web CT did not want to respond the way I expected it to!!!  TOO SLOW!

q       nothing

q       The group work is tough because trying to work with three other people without being able to talk

problems out is really tough.  Some assignments are better if your group meets regularly in class.

q       No dislikes.

q       Although there were many different ways to communicate  doing group work online is difficult.

q       The amount of work we were required to do in such a short amount of time

q       hard to work with group projects

q       I enjoy listening to a professor and participating in back-and-forth discussions.

q       It is quite difficult to complete several group projects in an online setting

q       Online classes seem to have more work than face-to-face classes....but I think it is worth it!!

q       I have no complaints

q       Nothing

q       N/A

q       lots of work

q       Inability to print from Word instructor notes that were posted in Word.

q       Lag in getting responses from others in group.  Have to "interpret" much of correspondence. 

Everything usually takes 2-3 steps rather than 1 step in getting objective accomplished.

q       number of collaborative projects and amount of time consumed for assignments seemed to be

a lot for 7 weeks

q       Group members not returning e-mails and slacking off!

q       At first  it was hard to know exactly what the professor wanted  and I could not ask him right then.

q       getting people within your group to respond to my emailing a timely manner

q       Nothing.

q       not getting to put "faces" to names

q       No complaints!

q       At times  I missed the companionship of fellow classmates.  It is good to get input from other class

members about assignments.  This setting is more difficult to contact fellow classmates.

q       I did not feel as comfortable seeking clarification from my instructor early in the class.

q       I wish that it had been more online than 50% on campus/50% on WebCT.

q       Not having the immediate feedback from teacher. Not having the clarification on some of the

assignments.

q       I enjoyed it

q       NOTHING!!

q       The combination of short summer semester and on-line were overwhelming.

q       nothing

q       The navigation of the bulletin board.

q       nothing really

q       None

q       I did not like accessing PowerPoint from the internet. It was too difficult to access.  I had difficulty

understanding the assignments as they were posted online.  When we went over the course syllabus

the first day of class  the syllabus was on the internet. Since I did not have a copy to read and write

on as the instructor went over it  my notes about the assignments were hard for me to go back and

understand.

q       I spent most of the time confused and frustrated  just hoping to survive it. I guess I am more

comfortable in a face-to-face class.

q       It was difficult for me to organize myself in completing assignments.  Also  I did not feel I learned

as much information as I would have listening to the instructor and my classmates discuss strategies they used.

q       It was hard to work with others. At the beginning I wasn't sure of everything I was to do.

q       It is not as personal.

q       Nothing

q       The chat at a particular time.

q       If I had a problem understanding a question I had to wait for an answer.

q       feeling I don't know the professor as well ``it's harder to ask questions as they come up

q       Nothing

q       Not being able to communicate effectively with the group during chat. It was my first time chatting-

I think I will do better next time.

q       I like the social aspect of being in class with people.

q       In some instances  the course syllabus did not match the WebCT site - this was confusing.

q       there was nothing I did not like about the online learning sessions. I would rather work in an online

setting rather than fact to face.