Have you ever had an online college major in which a "lecture" was after all self-employed study?

I feel like my teacher didn't even mention that we should rather study on our own while she first said it was "mandatory" to be online in that course at a fixed time every week. I meanwhile feel a bit lost because neither of my two study partners (for the course exercise) do answer at the moment, while the courses do all run in the evening. I have at least one course in which the teacher demands us to be online at that fixed time, which feels "safer" to go with since I can tell he is there and has not just "agreed" to "being there". Like you wouldn't even show up to a date you've agreed to with someone.