Before I started university I already worked as a web and iPhone developer.
At university I failed some courses so I needed the points for three additional courses at the end of my studies.
Durin summer vacation I found online courses from a different university which would count towards my own points. So I registered for three of them. Web development, iPhone development and open source development.
When the courses started I waited until the weekend and then did all assignments and tests for all 3 courses during a single day. I started in the morning on Sunday at 10 am and sent in my last test at 11pm. So instead of half a year (one course takes normally half of a semester and I had three), I did it in one day.
Were all the tests available at the same time? Usually there are different times for submitting tests and also for assignments. I've never taken a course where you can just submit them whenever you want. For assignments, maybe, possibly with some penalty. But never for tests.
Different places have different ways of doing things. One of the recent online courses I saw was step by step, and each step opened as soon as you finished the first.
Once everything is online - the assignments, the test, the proctors watching you take the test, the grading for the test being automatic - it's no longer as important for those places to schedule everything exactly. It's also incredibly different in the experience, because the chance of an actual professor teaching is incredibly slim. They have you just reading the textbook and being referred to youtube videos.
Did it once back in the day, I just asked the teacher if it was ok to send everything at once, but that was in paper form though so they just sent everything in a package
Yeah it was a fully online thing, they also had like a forum where you could talk to the other people taking the course but they just gave everything on day one so you could do it at the pace you wanted.
Most people don't realize you can actually get free credit for courses if you're already familiar with the material by taking some exams. It should probably be more obvious these days with how popular AP classes are but a lot of students don't realize that's an option.
I worked in university and had a case where a student did this, the grades didnt transfer as a result, and she failed as a result. If you’re gonna do this, make sure it’ll actually work.
If I remember correctly, the instructor synced the grades from that platform at the end of the semester, and because the student was “inactive” nothing transferred, so Blackboard gave 0s for everything. It was a mess. She appealed but it didn’t pass.
This is why I preferred taking boring classes during the summer. Less homework, less time sitting there with lectures and more time to focus on just one subject instead of 6
If you use Google Meet or Zoom or some kind of Desktop recording software, you can record yourself talking between blank or paused video while taking the online course and have the transcript + your own voiced notes with the recording as review material + courseware.
If you take the trouble of revisiting , revising, re-note-taking you might end up with better understanding and even self-generated workbook + answers too ( including your mistakes and what is a false trail or false path and the correct approach ) .
Don't get me started on low quality professors/classes. I went back to get my BS after getting an associates a few years prior and the teachers were much worse and the classes were teaching less than I learned at community college. Very infuriating. I did the minimum to pass a class just so I could leave a review ripping into the teacher/class.