What are the advantages and disadvantages of taking an online course?
The obvious advantages are flexibility and convenience. I have had a student participate from China, India, Italy and various other places. Others simply enjoyed the ability to stay home, avoid traffic etc. On the other hand, online courses are not without the occasional headache. Xavier is NOT Univ. of Phoenix. We have limited experience supporting online instruction and sometimes it shows. Beyond that, there are obvious limitations to learning in an online environment. Our online meeting software is somewhat unreliable. It isn’t unusual for students (and me) to need to close the browser and re-enter the classroom. The system is also very limited in the type of displays it can reasonably support without experiencing performance problems. So, I use a very plain-looking, simple text display instead of the more elaborate presentations you might expect. In my opinion, online meetings are a good way to exchange ideas and convey bits of information about topics, although sometimes there is
