I have 35 minutes before I have to pick up Anne from her job.
How shall I spend that time, profitably and pleasantly? Obviously,
take a class to learn the computer language C++.
I have 35 minutes before I have to pick up Anne from her job. How shall I spend that time, profitably and pleasantly? Obviously, take a class to learn the computer language C++.
But I do not have to drive anywhere. I did not have to reserve blocks of dedicated time. I can study when it suits me: 35 minutes now and an hour at 10:37 pm. I can study, answer questions, write and compile programs, turn in assignments, take tests, and earn college credit, all from the comfort of my living room.
I am taking an online class through Gavilan College.
Gavilan offers 30 online classes ˆ well, 26, really. Two of the 30, Web Page Authoring and Basic Digital Film, are each offered under three separate department listings. Apparently the student gets to decide whether to call digital film an art class, a computer class, or a digital media class.
The 26 classes span the departments. One can study health or art, English or political science, meteorology or theater, or, of course, computer science.
“Computer science seems a natural fit for an online class,” commented professor Dennis Van Tassel, and I have to agree.
My first week was a little bumpy. A few days before classes started, I waltzed into the Gavilan College bookstore to purchase my textbook. They were sold out and back-ordered.
So I went online and ordered a used textbook through Amazon: a $72 text in superb condition for $4.39 plus shipping. Sweet, as my kids would say. Less sweet was the fact that I had assignments due and my textbook would not arrive for a week.
So I got in the car and drove up to Morgan Hill for the Open Lab Friday, and met Mr. Van Tassel, who proved to be the quintessential computer wizard: wild hair, wilder eyes and a mind as focused as a laser beam.
He let me use his book, and when my first sample program failed to produce any visible results, he showed me two commands that the text had not yet introduced that allowed my results to appear in real time instead of in nanoseconds.
I spent an hour and a half in the lab, learning the ropes and submitting my first four assignments. Then I drove home. And from that day to this, my text and my computer and a few e-mails have sufficed to keep me compiling increasingly complicated programs.
The course works partly because the text, “A First Book of C++'” by Gary Bronson, is well-written, logical, and additive. Each subchapter adds another bit to the student’s knowledge base.
The course also works because Dennis Van Tassel knows his subject matter and makes full use of available technology. He exhorts his students via e-mail to turn in their assignments, tells us where and how to download free compilers, answers questions by e-mail, and promptly scores all submitted work.
Finally, the course works because Gavilan is using the Etudes system from Foothill College, which is extremely complete and user friendly. Most of our first few assignments were designed to help us learn our way around Etudes: how to log on, post to the forum, use the message board, and submit an assignment or a test.
My situation is a fairly typical one: at-home mom sees the end drawing near as her youngest child becomes a teenager. Soon I will re-enter the working world. It is time to reacquire some salable skills … but said child still needs chauffeuring, and my current life of part-time work and volunteering leaves little time for class attendance.
Re-entry students are not the only ones who can benefit from on-line classes. People with full-time jobs … high school students, either homeschoolers or conventionally-schooled, who want a college class or two under their belts when they graduate … disabled people …
Two words of warning: make sure you are ready for the class. Pre-requisites are clearly laid out in the catalog.
Secondly, for any online class, a modicum of computer savvy is necessary. Not much: I habitually make my kids reprogram my watch for me. But you should be able to connect to the Internet, send an e-mail, and visit a Web site. From there, it’s self-explanatory.
