Online courses are becoming more and more popular with college students. Many are taking the courses to fulfill requirements, as a form of experiential learning, and/or because of monetary or geographical limitations.
So, the New York Times presented a new question topic to readers, in which they directly asked students who have taken online course about their own experience.
What did they say?
Many of the students extolled the virtues of an online system. The main, positive reaction was that the courses were more convenient, especially for those people who are limited by their mobility, and were by far a lot cheaper, because of the costs of the course itself and the fact that it cut down on transportation.
One woman, who had been both a teacher and a student of online courses, and who was limited by health problems, enthusiastically explained how online schooling made her teaching and learning possible. However, she mentioned that to have a positive experience with an online course, “a lot depend[ed] upon the motivation, the initiative, and the reason the learner is taking the online class.” To her, the class was a technological wonder that provided opportunities that never would have been available to her before, but the only reason it worked was because of her own discipline and motivation.
Similarly, most of the students tempered their enthusiasm for the technology with warnings and disappointment. They claimed that the greatest problem with online schooling is the lack of interaction with both the professor as well as other classmates. On student wrote, “In college, you are with people; instead you are alone in an online course. You are in front of a computer.” They also spoke to how, if college was completely online, people would not be able to cultivate their communication skills and the ability to interact with people. Also, not being able to speak to a professor face-to-face is a great disadvantage that might not make up for the convenience and costs. One student confirmed that by stating how the best courses she had been in online were the ones in which the professor was highly involved. The active relationship with the professor defined many of the student’s choices of whether an online course is advantageous or not.
Who Won the Debate?
There were many other well-considered points In this conversation, but each student and/or professor seemed to hold that there were both advantages and disadvantages to online courses. The ultimate decision then resided almost entirely on the personality of the student. The discipline and sometimes lack of supervision or social contact seemed to seal the deal for most of the students. However, the few that claimed that the advantages outweighed those issues also admitted to being well-disciplined and highly motivated.
If you would like to read what some of the other students said, click here.