I am a current ASU student studying Therapeutic Recreation. Many of the Park and Recreation Management classes are face to face, but all of the TR course work is online. I LOVE it! You really get a different learning experience. The learning happens around your schedule.

One of the main differences is the dialog you share. We use discussion boards to post different assignments and discuss different tools in our community (much like your site). You also have a much more diverse set of students. Having students in different states really helps to share resources and ideas from another perspective.

I just signed up for your site today. So far I really think this is a great resource. Hope my post helps!

MK

Welcome to RecWave!...I'm happy you like the site so far, we haven't even done our "official launch" yet which will be on March 3rd. By then you'll have 100s of more students and professionals to interact with on here.

I agree that online learning is a great new development for the field. In a way, that is what we hope to accomplish with RecWave. As discussions evolve and more people contribute their knowledge it will become a valuable archive of information for students and professionals alike.

Stay tuned and thanks for your contribution!
Patrick

Thanks so much MK_ASU for your input. This site is just getting started, with individuals like yourself, we will build the ultimate resource and community for our profession :)

The Eppley Institute also offers online courses at http://eppley.org

Some classes are free with CEUs starting at $10.

I want to thank you for creating the site. I really think this will be a great resource. I have done a few emails to introduce others to the site.

I'm finishing up my college career in a few months and I have had great success with online classes. I'm constantly looking online and on youtube for new ideas for programming or new ideas. I would be very interested in any information you have to share.

As much as I agree that online classes give the student a very wide range of views from many people, this seems to be the only advantage to them. An online class for recreation does not give you the social side and interaction with others that is abundant in all recreation settings. Online discussions such as these are great because they give the us the ability to communicate and give feedback, but when specific learning comes to play, it is important for that human interaction to take place. I am currently taking an online nutrition class (I know, a different area), but feel like I could be getting so much more out of it if I was there in person.

These training courses are pretty awesome and cover a wide variety of topics for parks and recreation profesionals. Most of them take one hour or less to complete. www.eppley.org

Mike,

I understand your frustration with the online setting. I have a class that meets once a month for a face to face class. The students that are not able to be face to face will attend via conference call or pod cast. I really have enjoyed this class set up. It gives you the networking and dialog with other students that you would not have the chance to do online.

I do not know if your institution takes suggestions from students, but it is something to think about.

Mikala