What to Expect?
Online and on campus courses at Bay Path College have the same academic requirements as traditional, classroom-delivered courses, but are often more challenging because of the different learning environment. Students who are good candidates for online learning are self-motivated and good managers of their time. You must also have unrestricted access to computers and software that meet theminimum technical requirements for online learning.
Each course will have a syllabus which outlines the assignments, requirements and the grading criteria for the class. You may also e-mail the instructor and request a sample syllabus for the course that you are considering. Note that the final syllabus may be different, but the sample gives you a good idea of what will be expected in this course.
Online classes ARE NOT completely self-paced or correspondence courses. Assignments are due weekly, based on the schedule in the syllabus, and most instructors do not accept late submissions. Just like the classroom, you can't "make-up" a week's discussion, and you will lose points if you don't participate over the course of the prescribed time frame.
Most online classes involve weekly participation in online group discussions. While similar to a classroom discussion, these discussions are sometimes more demanding because there is a lot of reading involved, and written participation is mandatory on a weekly basis. Instructors expect substantive input from students, not simply agreement with someone else’s comments. Most online classes do not include instructor lectures. Students are responsible for their own learning, and instructors serve as coaches, providing resources, feedback and guidance to individual students and teams.
Communication in online courses is very different from communication in face-to-face classes. There is much less, if any, synchronous conversation between students and faculty, and between students in a class. This communication environment takes some getting used to, and effort is required to develop proficiency in the use of online discussion tools.
