If you've taken online classes, how do they compare to Fluther?

Fluther actually cares more about grammar…and the feedback and interaction is better

Sadly, Fluther isn’t accredited – so my Fluther degree is pretty worthless. ;)

Pheonix probably does things way differently, but the online class I’m taking through my school right now doesn’t even use a discussion board, so there’s no comparison whatsoever.

I’m a UPX online graduate, so I have a lot of experience here. Generally, yes, Flutherites are more eloquent than a lot of the students. That has to do with the fact that a lot of the students probably come from backgrounds in which the importance of education wasn’t stressed. So many of them come in with poor writing/grammar skills, but you can expect that to improve as you advance in your program. You have to remember that the base demographic of UPX students tends to be people who haven’t had the opportunity to go to or finish college for one reason or another – typically they got caught up raising families and working or just didn’t have any idea how to do it. So this is a big, scary step for a lot of them. That said, college isn’t for everybody, online or not, so the ones who can’t cut it will weed themselves out and the ones who can will improve on all their college skills along the way. Just be patient with them and remember that a person’s writing skills are not necessarily indicative of his or her intelligence. It’s a skill like any other that may need improvement.

It drives me crazy there’s no like/lurve button too, but hey, that would defeat the purpose of participation (I’m sure you’ve heard about that by now). It’s a big chunk of your grade, so make sure you keep up with it. If anything, your experience on Fluther will definitely come in handy on the discussion boards – you have to be able to expound on yours and others’ opinions coherently (you’ll be surprised how difficult this is for some people), and more importantly, you have to understand online etiquette and how respectfully disagree with people. I think Fluther is a good start for the online etiquette part.

One new thing UPX created that is really new is the inline chat feature. That comes in handy when you need to ask a classmate a quick question or if you want to plan an online meeting with your learning team.

All in all, they’re two completely different things, Fluther and online classes, but yes, the experience you gain from each can be applied to the other. I could go on all day, but if you have more specific questions, feel free to PM me. :)

My online Judo class pales in comparison to the level of sparring her at Fluther. @lucillelucillelucille is pretty tough for a girl! ;)

It must be me, but I fail to see how one can compare apples and oranges :(

Not only have I taken them, but I also design them. This isn’t a course. There’s no syllabus, no specific contents you need to master, no evaluation, etc. The only element I find in common is that you access both on line.

In terms of people being more eloquent or articulate, it is important to note that the topics here are not all academic in nature, and it is a lot easier to write about ones beliefs, point of view, or whatever, than to actually write an academic or scientific paper or report.

There is no lurve in online courses but there are tests and evaluations that tell you how you are doing in terms of the course requirements.

@Porifera
I understand your point, but I reiterate that Fluther trained me to do well in my online class.

The reason I feel Fluther trained me for my online classes is, Fluther is the very first online habit I’ve ever developed, and I’ve been online since 1989— I was in the first batch in my college to use the bitnet. Then, when I started classes, oh! It was easier to develop a class habit. That’s how it was for me and how my brain works.

Please allow me to throw this in… Fluther doesn’t have a syllabus, right, but it does have rules that you learn as you go and mods that keep us in line. There is no specific content to master, right, but Fluther has helped me modify how I say things and how I participate in discussions. There’s no evaluation, right, but a very fussy community that’s hard to break into- it takes a while to prove yourself here and certain minds are welcome, others aren’t. If that’s not an evaluation, then what is it? A screening process or process of elimination?

I have to agree with your point- in many ways, it’s easier to type your own beliefs than to compare and contrast ML King and Malcolm X’s role in history. However, I believe on one small level, it’s harder—it’s harder to share what you believe because when people disagree, attack, insult… it goes deeper than if they disagreed with your academic assertion that X was a better guy than MLK.

No lurve… sometimes I would love to “lurve/like” some of my classmates’ responses. Sometimes, it’s too bad that only the professor can evaluate- that’s only one mind. I’ve been irreversibly influenced by the Fluther community’s reactions to my thinking process- through lurves and disagreements and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

I have respect for your job of designing classes online—that’s got to be a real challenging and fulfilling job!

This is your question and I respect it and understand that this site has helped you a lot in all the aspects that you mention. Likewise, you have to understand that because I am in the field of instructional design and instructional technology, I’m rather technical about stuff like this. I also teach scientific reading and academic writing and am used to tackle questions directly.

@Mariah @essieness replies also account for Fluther and online courses as being completely different, hence not possible to compare.

I usually stick to the question in hand which I believed it was If you’ve taken online classes, what similarities and differences have you experienced between Fluther and your class? My approach to comparing things is to first determine the characteristics of A and B, and then proceed to establish the similarities and differences. But then I realized that Fluther is only a forum and lacked all the other necessary elements of a course according to my understanding; therefore, I couldn’t go on with the task. Keep in mind that as @Mariah stated, some online courses do no have a discussion board since there are other means for the community to interact (video conferences, webinars, podcastings, IMs, etc.).

…- it takes a while to prove yourself here and certain minds are welcome, others aren’t. If that’s not an evaluation, then what is it? A screening process or process of elimination? I for one have nothing to prove to anyone here and I’m not interested in being evaluated by such an eclectic group, specially when the evaluation criteria is not established beforehand.

No lurve… sometimes I would love to “lurve/like” some of my classmates’ responses. Although it is nice when people GA my answer’s, at the end of the day it doesn’t make any difference to me and I’m not seeking for any form of validation of my points of view. (Not saying that I don’t review my points of view, but I do it internally and don’t need others for that purpose.)

Sometimes, it’s too bad that only the professor can evaluate- that’s only one mind. But it’s the mind that has more information on the subject in hand than the participants of the course. Also, in some courses we use peer evaluation or co-evaluation processes.

I agree on the fact that Fluther promotes good writing and that due to the nature of certain questions, Fluther constitutes a great opportunity to exercise the detailed expression of ideas which can in turn be applied outside this community.

I have a PhD in Fluther. Just saying.

Sheesh – if I could convert all my questions and answers to credit… which got me thinking – maybe I should spend more time online getting a degree instead..?