A pure academic experience
IU East online student Lucy Vogel wasn’t too thrilled by any of the online universities she researched until she found IU Online. “Indiana University really stood out for its wide selection of classes,” she says. “Other schools seem to offer programs in business and computers, but the list peters out after that. IU Online offers a pure academic liberal arts experience you don’t find at other schools.”
Now a senior majoring in political science and minoring in history, Vogel was searching for a program she would feel a part of. “At IU Online you’re not out there in random groups. You work with a community of people—the same students, same professors, same opportunities. Every semester the Writing Center will be there. Your advisor will be there. It’s very much like an on-campus university.”
“Professor-scholars” create huge impact
Vogel acknowledges that online study sometimes gets a bad rap. Her experience runs counter to the myth that online education is less credible or challenging and that online students get ignored. “My IU Online professors are very impressive,” she says. “They’re true ‘professor-scholars.’ They know what they’re talking about. They’ve written books. They’re very smart people and they’re amazing to talk with.”
During her first semester with IU Online, Vogel took an English class from Professor Kelly Blewett. She found Blewett’s dedication to students remarkable. “For each essay,” says Vogel, “Blewitt made videos of her comments. Comments in her voice and tone conveyed the nuance of meaning lost in written comments. She taught me how to write well academically and professionally.”
Vogel’s later experience with history Professor Eric Saak at IU Indianapolis was equally impressive. Although Saak’s course on the Reformation was one of the hardest Vogel took, she ended up loving it. “Meeting with Saak and talking with him was amazing. He’s a wonderful intellectual mentor and also very nice.”
Life as a supplemental instructor
IU Online has also given Vogel experience as a supplemental instructor (SI), a student who helps teach other students. Vogel has been an SI for more than five semesters. “Unlike teaching assistants, we don’t grade,” she explains. “Each week we hold three sessions: one for office hours, plus two structured sessions with lesson plans we develop to follow the professor’s syllabus. I get to learn and teach! I can't imagine anything better.”
Vogel loves her SI experience, both for the network it creates and the professional development it offers. “You meet so many different people: SIs, students, professors. SIs train together. We talk about what’s working and how to fix what isn’t—topics like how to adjust as an SI, how to work with professors. How to increase student attendance and engagement. How to design fun icebreakers. This is great preparation for a career in teaching.”
Advice for fellow students
Vogel offers numerous tidbits of advice to her current and future classmates about the importance of communicating with professors and finding a comfortable pace of study.
She exhorts her peers to talk with their professors to understand subtleties that written communications may not convey. “They want to talk to you,” says Vogel. “They reply quickly to email. You can schedule office hours or one-on-one zoom discussions. It’s nice to be able to sit down and delve deeply into what a written comment means. You can talk about details, about ideas. That makes your class experience much richer.”
Although online courses have fixed start and end dates, Vogel finds that she can set her own pace of study. “I’m working on my degree at my own speed. I enjoy the fact that classes aren’t too large. I always have an advisor in my corner who answers my questions."
Students interested in eight-week courses should take other life commitments into account since the courses pack a lot of content into a two-month timeframe. “You go fast,” says Vogel, “and classes can be challenging in ways you don’t expect. Especially with upper-level courses, you need to be truly immersed to catch the deep learning opportunities."
Go to IU Online!
As Vogel looks to the future, she’s considering two avenues: teaching (thanks to her SI experience) and law school. “I have many options and interests. I’m not sure whether that makes my decision process easier or harder, but grad school is definitely an option.”
Vogel is enthusiastic for the “fully academic life” that IU Online provides. She says, “When I meet people who are taking online classes but don’t know what they want to do, I tell them, ‘Go to IU Online. Just take a peek!’"