When walking down the halls of Northwood, one may find many boisterous classes full of teachers lecturing and students loudly speaking over them. Learning is often a noisy task, but it doesn’t have to be. Around a corner one will find a class full of students silently learning. All that can be heard is the clickety-clacking of keys on a keyboard and the gentle thud of computer mice being tapped.
     In North Carolina more than 15,000 students are currently enrolled in online classes—6,200 more than were enrolled in the spring of last school year. Online classes are up and coming at Northwood, but are they as beneficial as they seem?
     An overwhelming amount of students at Northwood approve of the classes and say they would take them again.
     “I have enjoyed taking online classes,” said senior Emily Brooks. “I can do it on my own; I can pace myself.”
     On the other hand, there are some students who find the classes frustrating.
     “I didn’t learn anything in that class. Period,” said senior Adam Perry, who took an online French class last year. “None of us knew French and so we had all of this work that we didn’t know how to do.”
     The online class “classroom” is pretty much the same as that of a normal classroom; however, unlike the average class, there is no teacher standing in front of the class lecturing or giving direction on what to do. Also, all of the students in the classroom are not necessarily enrolled in the same subject, nor do they have the same professor. This means the work is often individual and self-motivated.
     “I mean, it’s work,” said Cynthia Strickland, who got her associate’s degree using online classes. “You have to be really structured and at times it’s overwhelming.”
     The way students obtain and complete their work varies depending on the professor. Some students are given their assignments at the beginning of the week and can complete them on their own time and schedule. Others receive assignments on a day-to-day basis and are informed of when tests and quizzes will be given via an online calendar.
     Since the assignments and resources for online classes are only accessible through the computer, it seems a lot of student frustration is due to a handful of lingering kinks with the new laptops and Northwood’s network.
     “I’ve had to e-mail the professors quite a bit because of slow internet,” said Strickland. “Some of my students have had to take their tests at home because the internet has failed.”
     The tech members at Northwood recognize this problem.
     “Online classes are a tough beast to rope,” said tech member Chris Hennington. “They take a great deal of self-discipline and if there are problems with the internet that can make things difficult.
     “Chatham County tech is working diligently to resolve network issues.”
     Online classes provide opportunities that wouldn’t normally be available to students. Brooks, a senior at Northwood, is taking Latin. Zach Mitchell, who is also a senior, is taking Western Civilization, which is a college course, and French II.
     Due to budget cuts, French is no longer offered at Northwood; however, because of the online class system, students are able to take French along with various other languages that were previously not offered at the school.  
     Still, there are drawbacks to learning a language online. The fact that the class is online takes away the teacher-student interaction and dialogue that is vital to learning a language.
     “You don’t have a teacher to correct mistakes—verbal mistakes,” said Mitchell.
     Aside from all the technical mishaps and the lack of face-to-face, student-teacher interaction, online classes act as a time and money saver. By taking online classes, students are getting hours and possibly even a semester’s worth of college credit under their belts before they graduate from high school.
     “I think it’s an awesome opportunity,” says Strickland. “Books are free and tuition is free.”