High gas prices, well above $4 a gallon in most parts of California as well as most parts of the country, have caused a new trend in higher education: online classes.
Four-year institutions and especially two-year institutions have seen surges in enrollment for online-only classes this summer, and many of the students surveyed are citing gas costs and transportation-related issues as their motives for taking online classes.
This opportunity to cut costs in regards to education without having to completely cut back is a plus for financially limited students.
However, we hope that online classes do not become a norm in higher education. UCLA does offer a number of online classes during the summer and other esteemed institutions such as Villanova and the University of Massachusetts include large online departments.
Even in regards to in-person courses, UCLA has seen the continued increase of professors posting full lecture slides or podcasts online for student use.
Such materials are obviously meant to be supplemental to the learning process but unfortunately, certain students simply use these tools to justify skipping class.
Technology has changed the face of education through the amount of data and research available at the click of a mouse, but such positives usually also hold negative effects.
In the case of online-only courses, the advantages do not outweigh the disadvantages enough to warrant a huge change in the way classes are set up.
Online lecture slides or podcasts cannot replace the experience of an intimate face-to-face discussion section or a heated and informative debate between classmates.
The ideal situation would obviously be lower gas prices, to increase accessibility and build a stronger economy.
But between not enrolling in classes at all and opting for education via the World Wide Web, the latter is a viable option for the percentage of the country’s 15 million college students that are strapped for cash.
If the situation is so dire that online classes are the only option, then it’s an acceptable alternative, but real-life time in the classroom is preferable.
As for enrollment during the regular school year, where students are usually on campus for a certain amount of time already, online classes should not take the place of regular in-person lectures.
With online courses, it is hard to say how engaged the student is with the material.
There is also the question of how easy it is for students to communicate questions and concerns to their teachers over instant messaging, discussion boards or e-mail rather than face-to-face.
When it comes to online testing, there is the worry that students have a better ability to cheat, whether it be through the Internet or by enlisting help from a friend or parent in the room.
The basic question is whether online courses can provide an equal education when the student is removed from an academic setting. We feel that students are less connected to the subject matter when they are not engaging in person with the material.
In a perfect world, everyone should be able to easily attain a quality education they desire. Regularly taking online courses reduces the quality of one’s education.
We encourage students to understand the drawbacks of online education and to take that into account when planning their schedules.