Online G3 - MCT Class??

[SunnyDays]

We've loved and enjoyed the Island and Town levels of MCT LA.  I was considering getting parts of the Voyage level for spring.

 

I saw G3 classes listed on the big online class thread on the Logic board, and hadn't looked at it before... they have some great options.  And, I see they have one this spring for MCT Voyage.

 

If anyone has had a student take this class before, a couple questions. 

 

First, I see you have to buy just the student books for Grammar Voyage and CE II.  Do they do analysis in the class, as in the practice books? 

 

Do they touch on any poetry or essay topics in the class?  I assume it's minimal if any since they don't ask for the books.

 

Finally, do you feel the cost was worth it... MCT is a rich program, and not cheap as it is, so I'm wondering how much learning is added to what's already there, if that makes sense.

 

Would love to hear any experiences!!  :)

[SunnyDays]

Bumping in hopes someone has tried this out! :)

[TarynB]

OK, I'll share my 2 cents, but it may not be what you're wanting to hear. :)

My DS took the OnlineG3 class for Grammar Town and Caesar's English 1. It was our first exposure to an online, live class. Here are his thoughts and mine:

Pros:

• The live weekly 50-minute webinars included a student "chat" feature, as well as the ability for students to ask questions via microphone, during the webinars. All the students could see each other's "chat" text and hear all the verbal questions. The instructor used a virtual whiteboard which was what we saw on our computer screen.  (At no time did we ever see other students, i.e., no live webcam.)
• The weekly webinars were recorded and accessible online at a later time (I think the same day or maybe the next day) if a student had a schedule conflict during the live class time.
• The OnlineG3 website kept track of the online weekly tasks as they were assigned (one week at a time, not all available at once) and checked them off as they were completed by the student. This applied to things like supplemental online games, viewing a Brain Pop video, etc.
• The technology/software worked well and was simple to set up, with clear instructions.

Cons:

• The instructor constantly allowed the same couple of students to dominate the speaking opportunities during the webinars. My DS often "raised his hand" electronically to ask for the chance to speak but rarely got to ask a question or offer an answer. (The instructor controls who gets to speak via the microphone and when.)
• The student "chat" usually went far off-topic while the instructor was conducting class during the webinars.  My DS had to turn it off so it wouldn't distract him, so that feature was useless for us.
• Apparently there are multiple versions/editions of the required MCT books for GT & CE1, and they each have different page numbering. Upfront, the class instructions stated that *any* version/edition was OK, rather than specifying which one to buy. I bought mine new from the publisher, assuming that would be the safest and best route. However, the instructor seemed confused and frazzled by all the different page numbers, and the issue never got resolved. She stated repeatedly that she would contact all the parents, ascertain which editions we had, and issue assignments with the appropriate page numbers noted for each edition . . . but I was personally never contacted, and I always had to adjust the assigned page numbers and find the correct ones for my DS to complete each week. That part was really annoying, and for the price of the class I felt I shouldn't have had to do that. That aspect was unprofessional and disorganized.

 

Could be pro or con depending on your viewpoint and/or your student’s preferences:

• The independent weekly reading assignments were pretty evenly balanced between Grammar Town vs. Caesar's English, but the time spent in the weekly webinar seemed to be about 75% Grammar Town and 25% Caesar's English. That was surprising and disappointing to me, but might be a "pro" rather than a "con" for some students. I felt this should have been disclosed upfront.
• The stated course objectives on the OnlineG3 website included: "study parts of speech, sentence structure, phrases and clauses through videos and stories; learn Michael Clay Thompson's 4-level sentence labeling system; and study word roots and vocabulary in the context of great literature." All of those things, with the exception of any videos, are accomplished via the MCT books themselves. You don’t need this class to do that for you, unless your student just requires the structure and accountability of an online instructor.
• The stated course objectives also included “practice with exciting games and activitiesâ€. Well, the weekly assignments typically included a simple online matching game or a Brain Pop video or a Schoolhouse Rock video to complement the reading assignment. These games/activities were short and took only a few minutes (usually less than 10) to complete each week. My DS thought the games and videos were OK but he says they didn't add anything to what he had already learned just from reading the MCT books. He said he wouldn’t exactly call them “excitingâ€. LOL.
• Finally, the course objectives stated that students would "write stories and create presentations with new vocabulary words". The opportunity to interact this way with like-minded students was my main motivation for enrolling DS in the class. However, he never got to write a story OR create a presentation, so it shouldn't have been included in the course description, and I felt misled by it.

Other reviews of OnlineG3 that I’ve found seem to be pretty positive overall, but I don’t feel we got what was advertised. DS doesn’t want to take any more of their classes.

We will, however, continue to use MCT materials on our own. :coolgleamA:

I definitely learned some things from this experience and now I am much more informed about what kinds of questions to ask before enrolling my DS in any future classes from any provider. I hope this helps you too.

ETA: To address your specific question about poetry and essays, no, I don't recall those topics being mentioned. There was no new ground covered, only what's already in the MCT Grammar Town and Caesar's English books.

[SunnyDays]

Well Taryn, it isn't what I was hoping for, but it does give me the answers I needed! The parts about not doing presentations, and not going any further than what's in the book.... That's what I was wondering. We've done two levels of MCT on our own... We can keep going that way, but I just wondered if this class would be a great enhancement to the program. Apparently not.

 

Thank you for the review! Bummer, but that does save me a couple hundred bucks, LOL! :D

 

Interestingly, the setup sounds exactly like Athena's Academy classes, and I noticed their website was very similar as well. I wonder if they're affiliated?