Jenny in Florida Posted August 8, 2022 Share Posted August 8, 2022 Looks like it's been a while since anyone has posted. I'm about to head back, myself, and figured I'd just pop in to see if anyone else is doing the student thing this fall. I ended up dropping the Harvard Extension program. The first class I took was excellent, but the two I signed up for the following semester were a very mixed bag. One was fine -- not inspiring, but okay. The other was just an awful experience. The content was not as described, and the instructor was not great at managing the online environment or adjusting for varying student needs. (That second part would have been fine if the course had been targeted to more advanced students, but it was specifically described as being for newbies as well as more experienced learners.) I consider myself pretty tech-capable, but I simply could not keep up with the number of apps the instructor required us to download, learn and use for various projects, and I found his expectations extremely vague. Plus, since he didn't grade anything or even provide meaningful feedback, there was really no way to know whether we were even on the right track. By the time I figured out all of this, unfortunately, it was past the drop-with-refund date. I dropped the class, anyway, in the name of preserving my sanity. Then I did the math and realized that the average of one great class, one just okay class and one miserable class was "just okay," and decided it wasn't worth the cost to continue in the program. At the urging of my boss, who is enrolled in the program already, I opted to take another look at the master's degree I had abandoned when I got the breast cancer diagnosis. It feels a little silly, since even with the credits I'm transferring in, it'll take me two-ish years to complete the program -- and I'm no spring chicken and don't "need" any more educational credentials to keep or progress in my job -- but I decided to go for it. So, this fall I'm starting an M.A. in Applied Learning and Instruction. I'll be taking two classes: Motivation in Learning and Performance Graduate Research in Education I've got my textbooks and a brand new three-ring binder with my syllabi printed and filed away. Classes start August 22. Anyone else heading back to school soon? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts