Anyone with LD take courses through distance learning?

What things are hard for you?
I’ve taken one or two; one video course on using manipulatives to teach secondary mathematics and another on making online courses :-)

Usually distance learning courses have a *lot* of independent reading; aside from that theycan be really differetn from one course to the other. (Some of them are pretty much “read the text, answer the questions” but others are very interactive (chats and bulletin boards and online activities) and you can have *more* contact with other students & teachers than in the lecture setting.

You do have to be able to work independently and not just put off doing things; you almost *have* to schedule time as if it were a class, not just hope you’ll squeeze tiem around life’s other demands.

If you want accreditation for your studies, make sure that the institution providing the course, is officially recognised. As their are plenty of fake uni’s online.

I have taken a total of three classes online. I will not be taking anymore classes online because the Private University I go to in the fall does not offer them, if they did- I would take some for sure.
I have learned that if you are to take anything online you first have to do as [b]geodob[/b] posted and make sure the school is on the [i]up and up[/i]. To make sure a school is on the up and up, go on that google and stuff. Or, take online classes through a Community College or a Public University. I think the most simple way to make sure the school is legit is to look up the Board of Regents of whatever state you live in. Look that up on the web and search through what schools have stuff online, no school can be affiliated with the Board of Regents of your home state if it is not legit, eh?
After all of that, you have to keep up with your online classes from the break. You have to spend the first day of classes reading though the whole web site for the course and make sure you understand everything the instructor asks of the students. If you do not understand something, e mail or fax the prof, they get paid pretty well for the online courses and are there to help you. Then you have to print out all the most important dates and all of that, like the schedule of readings and what have you and put all the info in your datebook-when you put all of that info in your datebook give yourself a full one or two week warning before anything is due…make a little reminder. After that, make sure you understand any rules about how often you have to log in and how often you have to make posts and anything that is an interactive apsect of the course…learn that good and ask the prof about that the first week of classes because there are points one can earn from that sort of thing.
If you course requires it, make sure you get a proctor for any tests. Your proctor can be a preacher or a high school teacher or someone like that. I would not ask your boss to be your proctor though!
Online courses are all what you make of them and the number one thing is to be organised from the break and to learn the rules and keep a good system of communication with your instructor. I reccommend getting a fax machine if you are going to do all of your classes online because that is the easiest way to go with faxing assignments. Stay organised and keep on top of things like white on rice and an online course can work for you.
You can e mail me if you need any other basic info.[/b]

I’ve been attending a traditional university with my entire degree program online for three years. I have three classes left.

After getting started, I wouldn’t do it any other way. As a previous poster said, classes vary from course to course (even within the same university). So, some classes are good and some are lousy, but they’d be that way on campus anyway.

I started out on campus, but found it highly disruptive to my family situation. I like taking classes online much better because:

- In class discussions, I am able to take my time reading and rereading others’ posts to understand them fully.

- I can take time to formulate my responses and post them when I’ve actually decided what to say (I never was very good at getting points across when speaking).

- Class assignments are generally posted ahead of time, so I can carefully review, plan out, and schedule my work.

What I HATE:
- Some instructors (I’ve had two) insist on doing timed tests online. I HATE those.. can’t think that well under pressure. However, if I knew the material inside and out, it was stressful and difficult, but I could swing a decent grade on the test.

Most traditional Universities WILL do accommodations with a professionally certified statement of disability. Our university has a supportive disabilities policy and will accommodate individuals who make their disability known prior to the start of class.

Best of Luck!
SandyKC
http://www.LearningAbledKids.com/