Тексты A‑G

Online learning

I graduated with academic honours without ever meeting my professors, embarking on an all-nighter with classmates and, technically, never having gone to a class at all. I was an online-only student, and as online degree programmes grow in popularity, my past three years of study were a crash-course in the unique challenges of learning online, as well as a glimpse into what the future of higher education might look like.

My school day looked very different than most: rather than loading up my backpack and heading to class, I would wake up, eat breakfast while doing my first round of schoolwork for the day, and spend a few hours finishing assignments. Then, I'd head off to work, maybe tucking in a study session during lunch before wrapping up homework or preparing for exams in the evening. Saturday and Sunday became two of my busiest school days and I became an expert at working everywhere from my desk to the car.

Some of my most vivid undergraduate memories were of completing a term paper on the floor backstage at the ballet performance I was managing, and stumbling home after a full day of work to begin school that evening. Just like traditional universities, I had papers, exams, and grades — only, there were no office hours and no such thing as sick days.

Enrolment in online learning programmes has grown over the past few years, with more than a quarter of students enrolled in at least one online course. But too many misconceptions still persist around the experience of being an online-only student — for example, that an online degree doesn't carry the same level of prestige as a traditional one. By contrast, online learning enabled me to hone skills such as self-motivation and time management that ultimately made me a better student, and later, a more prepared young adult.

There are differences between traditional university time management, and the commitment required to study online. You attend an in-person class for a select period of time in which you are entirely focused on that subject. In an online programme, you must be able to self-motivate and manage multiple courses in the limited time that you are able to provide for yourself. Although online study may eliminate the social aspect of in-person education, it can counter that loss through the ability to increase personal productivity.

With no set class hours, an online student defines their own schedule, a significant reason why so many working students are drawn to online degree programmes. Given that about 70% of students work while attending school and that students in the USA and the UK want more flexibility than ever from their education, gone are the days of a "typical" university experience.

In terms of academic tradition, it is important to point out that distance learning is hardly new, although developments in technology are recent. The concept of higher learning through "correspondence courses" is more than 170 years old, and with the addition of modern technology and desire for increased flexibility, is an inarguable part of the future of universities.

I may not have spent afternoons sprawled out on the campus quad, but my online experience added more things to my education than it subtracted. As the world changes rapidly and the workforce evolves with it, options like online learning create fabulous opportunities for students to take charge of what their learning and life will look like. What more can we ask from education, really?

Everyone wants a shiny smile

A cold nose

The 'Chicken or Egg' question

At the hospital

I was in the hospital for four nights. Mark stayed with me almost the whole time, bringing me sodas when I asked for them, and a razor, and a toothbrush, and a pair of his own pajamas. He also brought me pencils and paper, for which I had little use but which I 30 --1) submit2) supply3) suppose4) suggest he would have been lost without, and a great many books, half of which were in languages I couldn't read and the other half of which might as well have been. One night — head aching from Hegel — I asked him to bring me a magazine. He 31 --1) looked2) saw3) viewed4) watched rather startled, and when he came back it was with a trade journal (Pharmacology) he had found in the lounge. We talked 32 --1) rarely2) nearly3) merely4) hardly at all. Most of the time he read, with a concentration that astonished me; six hours at a stretch, scarcely glancing up. He 33 --1) paid2) put3) kept4) held me almost no attention.

But he was with me on the bad nights, when I had a hard time breathing and my lungs hurt so I couldn't sleep.

Once, when the nurse on duty was three hours late with my medicine, he followed her into the hall and there delivered a tense and eloquent reprimand. After that the nurse was much gentler in her handling of me. The emergency room doctor 34 --1) said2) told3) talked4) spoke me that Mark had saved my life. This was a dramatic and gratifying thing to hear — and the one which I 35 --1) reviewed2) repeated3) recited4) recalled to a number of people — but secretly I thought it was an exaggeration. In subsequent years, 36 --1) although2) otherwise3) therefore4) however, I've come to feel that he might well have been right.

30. 1) submit 2) supply 3) suppose 4) suggest 31. 1) looked 2) saw 3) viewed 4) watched 32. 1) rarely 2) nearly 3) merely 4) hardly 33. 1) paid 2) put 3) kept 4) held 34. 1) said 2) told 3) talked 4) spoke 35. 1) reviewed 2) repeated 3) recited 4) recalled 36. 1) although 2) otherwise 3) therefore 4) however