Going back to college after 30 plus years of not being in college, one finds that many things have changed.
In some ways they are better: for example, just the fact that I can take a class remotely rather than have to move there or take what is available locally is amazing (The Age Of Convenience at work again). And no more standing in lines at offices to register - or (if you remember back that far) the mad dash into the gym where instructors were sitting at tables, desperately hoping that you would be able to get the classes that you needed, paper forms in hand. One simply finds the interface, goes in, and pays the money.
In other ways of course, they are more challenging.
Clearly technology now takes a major role in education in general and online learning in particular. The initial communications are all via e-mail with links to go to this place and that place to do a thing or see a thing. Orientation, handbooks, class schedules - all is now somewhere you need to get to on the InterWeb. And not necessarily in the same place or on the same platform.
And, of course, you get another e-mail account.
It appears from first glance that most of the work I will do (other than classes) will be run through an Office360 interface. Chats and workspaces, at least from what I read, appear to be heavily employed (fortunately I have used these in previous positions at work; just not to this extent) - as well as access to the Microsoft Suite of tools (that is kind of nice). All more convenient for working from home; less convenient in that I have to "relearn" a new software suite.
Who knew re-entering college came with all this learning ahead of the actual learning?
