Traditional B&M college vs. Online college

[pooh bear]

My ds is 13 and is in 8th grade.

 

He has expressed an interest in becoming an accountant, and has done so for a couple of years now. I know that to be an accountant one needs to attend college. Is there any difference between attending a traditional brick-and-mortar college for this versus an online one?

 

My ds has a June birthday, so he is on the younger side for his grade level. When he graduates highschool I'm thinking that it would be a good idea for him to work for year in something accounting related to get a feel for the job. Then when a year has passed start the online college course and continue working.

 

Or would it be better to start the online college course as soon as highschool is finished? Maybe working part time in something accounting related?

[regentrude]

The main difference would be a student's learning style. Some students do great with online classes - other far prefer to be in an actual classroom with actual students and a live professor. It can make a big difference for the feeling of being seen as a person, for cameraderie, for accountability . (Just today, I had a student tell me that he would have sometimes skipped class when he was struggling, except that he knew I would ask him the next day where he was.) For some students, the live interaction is vital for success (neither I nor my DD would ever want to take an online course)

[Sunshine State Sue]

We are blessed that dual enrollment is free at our CC for homeschoolers in 10th-12th grade.  Ds will have accumulated 60+ credits by the time he graduates in the spring.  Here is a list of online course he has taken at our CC (online mostly due to scheduling constraints or being closed out of in-person classes):

Critical Reading and Thinking (decent teacher)

Biology Lab

American Literature to 1865

Intro to Chemistry (terrific teacher)

Pre-Calculus Algebra (virtually non-existent teacher)

Fundamentals of Music (virtually non-existent teacher)

 

With the possible exception of Chemistry, all the classes were inferior to an in-person class with a decent teacher.  The Literature class in particular was absolutely ridiculous when it came to class "discussion".  The math and music courses had all homework, quizzes, and tests (except for the math final) online graded by the computer program.  The teacher had an easy paycheck moving the grades from the textbook software to the college website.  The teacher taught nothing.

 

I have had to do online training for work.  I have never met online learning that I found comparable to in-person learning.  YMMV.

 

 

[Barbara H]

Accounting is a great career choice. Have you seen the American Institute of CPAs career website? It is very helpful and includes some lesson plans and resources that are worth checking out.

 

I agree strongly with the point about motivation and retention. Completion rates for online classes are lower than for brick and mortar classes. It is tough for most students to stay motivated with a full time online program. Also, I'd keep in mind that most online programs are not necessarily any less expensive. It can also be tough to turn an online experience into the kind of connections for internships and recommendations that help students in the job market too.

[Jenny in Florida]

My son has taken a fair number of online high school courses. This semester, he began dual enrollment at our local community college. He was emphatic about doing his classes in person, and not online, because he really craved genuine, personal interaction with instructors and other students.

 

Once he began live classes, he lost any desire to go back and do more online learning. He has two online high school classes to finish up this year, and he honestly can't wait to be done with them, now that he's experienced classroom learning.

 

I think the online thing works fine for some students in some situations. However, I think it's very premature to be planning ahead by several years on the assumption that it will be a good fit for your son when the time comes.

[Amy in NH]

With the possible exception of Chemistry, all the classes were inferior to an in-person class with a decent teacher.  The Literature class in particular was absolutely ridiculous when it came to class "discussion". 

 

This has been our experience with online courses as well.  Discussion was not the deep and engaging experience you'd want in a college class.  But eldest ds graduated with 33 cheap college credits, 28 of which transferred to university. He started taking online community college classes through a reduced cost program beginning in his freshman year of high school.  We got a copy of the local community college program of study for liberal arts and he just plugged away at them.  It was a cheap way of getting the general education courses done at his convenience, and also to show that he was capable of advanced work directed by someone outside our homeschool.  We made sure he didn't take core courses this way - for instance, calculus doesn't usually transfer for engineering students - university wants entering students to take their calc-for-engineers course, so we didn't bother with that one. 

[creekland]

Sometime this past year there was an article about how employers viewed various degrees (for new hires).  Online degrees (only online, not some sort of combo) was the only type that had a negative connotation.

 

Whether this will change or not in the next few years is something you might want to stay tuned to.

 

Online degrees work best for those already on the job who simply need to check a box that they have a degree (whether a first degree or a masters).  In these cases, the employer rarely cares about where the degree came from - there is just a "rule" that certain positions require one.  The employer already knows the capability of the employee due to their prior work.

 

Unless the goal is to work for big firms on Wall St, accounting is a degree/field that tends to be in demand so there should be plentiful options for colleges - from small to large, private to public, secular or religious.  Many times one gets a degree in business with a concentration in accounting, then gets a job, then has their CPA paid for by the employer (or so I've been told by my oldest who is in the process and trying to decide if he wants to keep his own A/V business or head toward his CPA).

[G5052]

I agree that online is not all it is cracked up to be.  I've taught college classes online, and taken them myself.  It is very hard to make a college class equivalent to face-to-face or hybrid (limited face-to-face).  This is why the online degrees are not perceived well.  At the college where I work, the norm is for about half of each online section to fail.  This is compared to the other formats which run about 1/4 or less failing, depending on the subject and the semester.  So in general, students don't do as well in them either.  

 

I'm taking an online faculty development seminar now, and frankly it is a pain.  I need to do it for professional development, but I keep thinking about how much more interesting it would be if it was in person.  We have online assignments to read, and then questions we have to respond to with our own opinions and other sources online.  Then we have to respond to two other students (all professors).  Some of the professors don't write well, so it is very hard to figure out their points.  Some of the professors also don't follow the instructions, which means that their work doesn't contribute to the discussion.  I also don't like it that the majority of the posts aren't done until the last minute, so I have limited time to read and respond to them.  I just posted my final paper last night.  It is due today (Friday), and I just checked.  Mine is the only one posted, and our responses are due Sunday night.

 

From my perspective though , the good thing about online is that I can do it at my own pace.  I've been able to take things online that aren't available face-to-face locally.

 

For my own children, I wouldn't want an online degree because of the reputation issue.  However, I don't have a problem if they want to take some online classes, but I wouldn't recommend them in science and math.  The college I work for has an excellent online Spanish program that we probably will take advantage of, but technically it is a hybrid because they have live sessions where they practice their conversational skills.  

[Sunshine State Sue]

We have online assignments to read, and then questions we have to respond to with our own opinions and other sources online.  Then we have to respond to two other students.  

In my son's online Literature class, many people just paraphrased what was posted by someone earlier.  Many of the responses did not add to the discussion, but were more like "Good point.  I like your perspective."  They were probably graded on participation and not that they had anything original or pertinent to share.  What a waste.  :tongue_smilie:

[Jane in NC]

My son took three history classes at the CC through dual enrollment, two traditional, one hybrid--all with the same prof.  He is apparently a brilliant lecturer so the in-class portion of the hybrid worked but the online portion not so much.  Perhaps some faculty are more creative in how they utilize online capabilities?  My son felt like he was getting only half a class.  Reading would have been assigned anyway.

[OneStepAtATime]

My daughter's on-line course in art was actually wonderful, which surprised me, but she had a fantastic teacher who encouraged a LOT of feedback and positive exchanges on art.  Her literature class was a different story, although I really believe the teacher was trying.  It was just very difficult to have any real great discussion or in depth exchanges on-line and it didn't have the same feel of accountability as a really well done in-person course.   She would have gotten the same thing from just reading the textbook, the reading assignments and doing a couple of projects on her own and she could have paced the assignments with a much better flow.

[G5052]

In my son's online Literature class, many people just paraphrased what was posted by someone earlier.  Many of the responses did not add to the discussion, but were more like "Good point.  I like your perspective."  They were probably graded on participation and not that they had anything original or pertinent to share.  What a waste.  :tongue_smilie:

 

Yes, this is what is going on in my online class.  I'm getting almost zero useful feedback on my assignments from the other students, and thus far the professor that is grading it is giving me perfect scores with no constructive feedback.  So I'm learning, but...

 

I did take an online class some years ago from a former department head who is now in charge of curriculum and instruction at a bricks-and-mortar school that has a large online program.  And she was extremely active on the discussion boards, questioning assumptions and asking for more content.  That would help, but I realize that the professor teaching my class probably is short on time because he works full-time and is an adjunct.

[elegantlion]

I just finished my first semester of 4 online classes. It was 4 different experiences. I like the online format for me, and I'll probably have ds take a few dual-enrolled online classes. However, in 3 of the classes there was little to no interaction with other students, and in those classes most of the non-announcement interaction with the professor has been because I emailed them. 

 

I'll do one more semester online and then a few online classes, but I'll be at campus starting next fall. Unless my child had extenuating circumstances, I would not want them to do a full degree online. 

 

 

[wapiti]

Sometime this past year there was an article about how employers viewed various degrees (for new hires).  Online degrees (only online, not some sort of combo) was the only type that had a negative connotation.

 

Whether this will change or not in the next few years is something you might want to stay tuned to.

 

Online degrees work best for those already on the job who simply need to check a box that they have a degree (whether a first degree or a masters).  In these cases, the employer rarely cares about where the degree came from - there is just a "rule" that certain positions require one.  The employer already knows the capability of the employee due to their prior work.

 

Unless the goal is to work for big firms on Wall St, accounting is a degree/field that tends to be in demand so there should be plentiful options for colleges - from small to large, private to public, secular or religious.  Many times one gets a degree in business with a concentration in accounting, then gets a job, then has their CPA paid for by the employer (or so I've been told by my oldest who is in the process and trying to decide if he wants to keep his own A/V business or head toward his CPA).

 

This.  Accounting is a regulated, licensed profession.  It is hard to imagine that an on-line degree would be anywhere as competitive in employment as a degree from a B&M school, at least at the present time.  There may also be an issue of on-line school accreditation that may matter when it comes to state licensing requirements.  On-line courses may be a way to start out or fill in some things along the way, but an actual on-line degree would not be something I'd shoot for in this area.  Read/research at the links offered by a PP and google your state's requirements.