During a large family vacation last summer, my relatives would sometimes be confused when I had to duck out of some activities to go use the resort’s computer to turn in papers for online classes I was taking.

“You’re paying for that? You’re just teaching yourself!” they would say.

I was taking a lower-level “Introduction to Literature” class and a political science class on “Current World Problems” through branches of Ohio University (it’s cheaper to take classes through branches than the main campus). It’s true that there were no lectures from the professors –- in fact, there was very little communication with them other than their administering the assignments from the syllabus. I never felt like I was missing out, though. In my poli sci class, for example, the assignments for research papers were genuinely challenging and required that I actually learn the material through the readings my professor assigned.

It was not an “easy A,” despite what many other students think is the norm for online classes. Additionally, I felt that my professors were always available to help, and I valued their knowledge in creating assignments and choosing things for us to read. I wasn’t really just “teaching myself” –- I wouldn’t know where to start if I were to create a course for myself on current world problems.

Another question my family would ask me is how we were expected to take exams online without cheating and looking up answers during the test. For any online class I’ve ever taken, it is assumed that we’ll use resources other than our own memories to take tests. It’s possible to have a valuable class without taking tests, too, though, and my political science class was one of those courses.

I think that whether or not online exams are worth it really depends on how the instructor organizes them; I’ve felt challenged and forced to learn something when exams pose thoughtful essay questions, but I have also been in the situation where weekly, online reading quizzes require only a flip through the textbook to find bolded words and definitions.

In my experience, the success of an online class simply depends on how creative and skilled the instructor is; it’s just like any other class, but in a more convenient medium.