Online classes, hybrids, and face-to-face lectures: What’s the difference?

One of the great things about college is the amount of choices available to you as a student! You can decide which classes you want to take, what time you want take your classes, and even what type of class you want to take! Now, you may not know what the different types of classes are exactly, but that’s where I come in! I am happy to explain the ins and outs of the various types of college classes available to you as a current or future college student! When most people think about college lectures they imagine sitting in a classroom or lecture hall, listening to the professor give their lecture in front of you. That is certainly still a prominent form of higher education, but these days we have even more options available for the busy student! Online classes and hybrids make it so that you don’t have to drive to your campus as often or at all to receive your lecture!

Online Classes

While I was in undergrad I signed up for an online Bachelor of Science in Psychology program. This meant that almost all of my classes were available to me completely online! There were a couple of classes that I had to take face-to-face due to the nature of the course, but for the most part I was able to log in to the online portal and access all of my classes and any related class information right from the comfort of my couch! Some of my professors uploaded lectures they’d given to their face-to-face classes so us online students were getting the exact same lectures as we would if we were driving to campus for class. Other professors would record and upload specific lectures for us “online” students. I had one professor who would have us “meet” on a webcam service at certain times each week so that we could all see and hear her lecture, but still do so from the comfort of our own homes.

In these classes everything is made available online including assignments, quizzes, and most tests (except, in some cases, exams which are proctored and given on campus or at a testing center). In these classes is it important to get organized at the beginning of the semester! Get a yearly planner (or use the calendar on your cell) and as soon as you receive your syllabi, input all assignments and due dates so that you are able to stay on top of things (or get ahead, which you’ll thank yourself for later). I can tell you, this form of lecturing can really teach you to become organized and will knock the procrastinator right out of you! They are serious classes that are usually harder than the face-to-face lectures because you have to be very self-motivated or it’s easy to fall behind. Another thing to think about regarding online classes is the absence of socialization. The only form of peer communication are the weekly assignments where you’re asked to comment on the threads of the other students’ weekly assignments. Personally, I wasn’t able to get to know my classmates so I didn’t meet any of them in person until graduation day, which felt a bit weird!

Hybrids

Hybrids were another form of class that I absolutely loved during my undergrad education. I took several classes that had a huge portion available online like lectures, PowerPoint presentations, scholarly articles and/or other informational packets, and sometimes even videos for us to watch. They usually have assignments and quizzes available online, but things like labs for science courses or certain assignments in statistics classes need to be done on campus because of the resources available on campus that are not available to you at your home.

I always found these classes to be a lot of fun because instead of having to come to campus twice a week or having hours-long lectures, I would only have to go to campus once a week and the class was always only about an hour and half (rather than the 3 hours it would need to be otherwise). These classes are great because you still have the opportunity to see the professor each week so they are still likely to remind you of upcoming due dates and things of that nature, but you still have to be very self-motivated to ensure you’re getting the online portion of the class finished in a timely manner as you would in a fully online class. Like I said, I found hybrid courses to be a lot of fun; I enjoyed getting to know my classmates and having the opportunity to speak to and get to know my professors, but I also loved the responsibility self-paced form of the online portion as well.

Face-to-face

Now that I am working on my graduate degree almost all of my classes are face-to-face and it has been amazing. We actually get to have a cohort, which is a group of peers who stay the same through all classes you attend during the program! Because of this we’ve all gotten pretty close and it has been really helpful! We help each other study, we cheer each other on, and we push each other to always be better! Most college courses, especially undergrad courses, aren’t going to provide you with a cohort; however, you can still get to know your peers in your face-to-face lectures which can provide you with lifelong friendships and even future colleagues.

I have found that getting to know your professors is very helpful to college students! If they get to know you, they are more likely to be lenient when you have some sort of issue you need to discuss with them like an issue regarding grades, or missing class/assignments, etc. If you haven’t made yourself known to the professor they may be less likely to be lenient as they may think you’re trying to pull something over on them or are just making up excuses. I like talking to my professors at the beginning of the semester and getting to know them during the little breaks we get during class time. It always seems to make the semester go a little more smoothly. I find face-to-face lectures to be the easiest classes available. Your professors are more accessible to you, you can get to know your classmates, and you can really get the “college experience” in that regard.

But as with all of this, don’t just take my word for it. Go out and ask others what their experiences have been like and try each type of class out for yourself! It just may surprise you which type you end up enjoying the most. And of course, leave a comment below if there is a topic you’d like me to explore or if you have any questions. Take care!