How to Take Advantage of Online Courses at 红杏短视频 Fox

Sophie Roberts working on her 红杏短视频 Fox Digital classwork

Student Hacks: How to Take Advantage of Online Courses at Fox

by Sophie Roberts

In this blog post, seasoned students share what makes Fox’s online classes great – and why you should give them a shot, too

Unmuted mics. Frozen cameras. Google Meet calls that crash every time Mrs. Holt tries to share her screen.

My middle school online classes were many things, but “great” wasn’t one of them. Ever since then, I’d basically sworn never to take online classes again – until I tried my first 红杏短视频 Fox Digital course and discovered how different online learning could be.

Expecting the Worst, Finding the Best

The spring before freshman year, I met with career and academic planning coach Sherri Moore. She told me I could technically graduate in four years with three concentrations. The idea of graduating with a résumé three times as thick as I’d planned was so enticing, I told her I’d do whatever it took to get there.

“Well, there’s a catch,” she said. “You’d need to take summer classes. THEO 101 and COMM 111 are both online …”

My heart sank.

“... and twice as fast as our normal courses.”

My heart sank farther.

“... so it’s all the same content in half the time. How does that sound?”

My heart hit the floor. Online? All the same homework in half the time? I dreaded emailing questions to professors that would take three business days to answer. I feared joining glitchy Zoom calls that would resurrect memories of lockdown.

Deflated but still tempted by the promise of a beefy résumé, I told Sherri it sounded “great.” A couple weeks later, you can imagine my chagrin as I realized my first experience as a 红杏短视频 Fox student was sitting at my kitchen counter, staring at my computer screen. But can you also imagine my shock when I not only enjoyed the classes … but loved them?

Good, because I did.

How Do GFD Classes Work?

Great question. As I mentioned before, many GFD classes are fully online and accelerated, meaning they run in half the time of a normal semester but with all the same content. If you wanted, you could try taking every Cornerstone Core class that way.

In my THEO 101 and COMM 111 courses, each week’s lectures were professionally pre-recorded videos; I could pause them, replay confusing areas, and even play through lectures at twice the speed – maybe not ideal, but sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do. (Two of my favorite GFD videos were and “Meet the Professor” features. Check them out!)

But before you run for the hills, the work isn’t daunting when planned well. Many assignments of mine consisted of papers, discussion posts or videos, and the optional opportunity to connect with GFD students and faculty on “community calls.”

But let’s get to the real substance of this post. Here’s why I loved my GFD classes – what I call the “Three A’s of Online Learning.”

Affordable: Half the Cost, Same High Quality

First, GFD classes are affordable. If you’re thinking about taking summer online courses but fear spending an in-person semester’s worth of tuition, fear not.

If you take GFD courses in the summer they’re less than half the cost of traditional undergraduate courses. If you take them during the school year and don’t exceed 18 credits, there’s zero extra cost to you.

And the best part is that these classes are the same high quality, and will push you academically.

“My summer courses gave me opportunities to seek experiences I normally wouldn’t,” says Grace EnYart, a psychology major and criminal justice minor at Fox. “I did a research project where we got to interview people to fulfill a goal, so I went to a coffee shop and talked to people – and that course was totally online, asynchronous.”

While a normal class would cost around $3,000 per semester, you can take two accelerated online classes in the summer for the same price. If that’s not a discount, I’m not sure what is.
Asynchronous: Learn On Your Time
Second, GFD classes are asynchronous. Don’t like your 8 a.m. or 6 p.m. in-person classes? Well, whether you’re an early bird or a night owl, you can move through your GFD lectures and coursework at your own pace (but watch out for due dates, of course.)

For graphic design major Natalie Langenberg, GFD courses – which she’s taken seven of – are the perfect way to balance school, work, and track and field. “I just couldn't find room for in-person classes, studio classes, work and sports,” she says. “But with GFD, I could make my own schedule and spend evenings working on coursework.”

If you’re feeling intimidated by the lack of structure, the GFD team provides several tips and tricks to keep you on the ball with assignments.

Here are some GFD student favorites:
- Read your syllabi very carefully, and take note of deadlines. Your professors may give you a weekly roadmap, including notes like “Try to finish readings by Tuesdays,” or “Make your first discussion posts on Thursdays.” Make sure your plan keeps you consistent and accountable.
- Make focusing easy. Tidy up your working area so you’re not distracted by your phone, or even that pair of socks you forgot to put in the hamper.
- Wear anything but pajamas while doing your schoolwork (I broke this rule more than I’d like to admit). Just changing into jeans and a T-shirt before starting homework tells your brain it’s time to hustle.
- Celebrate your wins. Did you finish an assignment? Do a little dance – it’ll give you some well-earned dopamine.
- Reach out to your professors. “Meet with them, get to know who’s teaching you,” says Kylynn Cansler, a graphic design major at Fox. “Zoom meets can feel personal!”
Accelerated: Get Ahead on Your Degree

Third, GFD classes can accelerate your learning. Want to graduate early or decorate your resume with extra studies? Well, GFD courses can help you do just that.

And if you’re really an overachiever, you can do what one of my friends did: get twice the amount of gen ed credits in the same fall or spring semester with literally no extra cost to you, if you stay at or below 18 credit hours. Since fall and spring semesters are 16 weeks in-person, you can fit two online accelerated courses in the same time, back-to-back.

“I took online courses so I could meet my credit requirements and graduate a semester early,” says Kyla Albertson, a senior business major with two concentrations and a data analytics certificate under her belt. “It helped me balance my time in school, work and extracurriculars.”

Can you really Be Known online?

Now, you might be wondering: “If 红杏短视频 Fox promises that I’ll be known spiritually, academically, and personally, how on earth will an online class deliver that?” And I hear you – it can feel isolating plunking away on a keyboard instead of talking to classmates and teachers.

student writing notes for their 红杏短视频 Fox Digital class

But even in your online classes, teachers will make the effort to keep classes personal. For my THEO 101 course, being known looked like having small discussion groups where we talked about faith, music and cinema. In COMM 111, being known looked like sharing our speeches and hyping each other up in the comments.

Even online, nobody’s anonymous. “I definitely felt like I was seen and valued,” EnYart says. “The professors made sure to point that out, whether it be through lectures or class announcements, submission comments, or a post.”

Langenberg has a similar story to tell about her professor, Dr. Kim. “He was intentional with setting up Zoom calls and made connections through that. He was thoughtful in responses for assignments and cared about what students had to say.”

And I second both of them. By the time I saw my professors’ unexpected, thoughtful notes on assignments, I realized the bad aftertaste of my COVID-era classes had finally faded.

Closing (Remote) Remarks

So – are you interested in getting ahead on your degree or lightening your semester load? Ask your teachers whether online classes are right for you. Visit the CAP Center to talk with your coach about registration. You might just find, like I did, that online learning can be one of the best parts of your college experience.

And Sherri, if you’re reading this – thank you for enrolling me. Now that I know how to register for online classes myself, I’ll be taking advantage of them when I can.

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Undergraduate

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Sophie Roberts | Author

Sophie Roberts is a business major at Fox who loves sketching characters, writing stories, and talking to herself in her car. When she’s not studying, Sophie’s probably laughing really loudly with her family or playing with her pugs.