Online Learning

Do I have an issue with online learning being today's colleges and universities? Yes and no. To begin with, online learning, in my humble opinion, should not be an exclusive educational choice for either the student or the learning institution. Should online learning be banned, certainly not, however, it should be realized that learning in an online format will not reap the same benefits that are reaped when a student is in class. I think that in an educationaal setting, much learning is accomplished simply by discussion of the subject matter; I feel that is one key reason why online learning should only be used in addition to conventional learning.

Please don't get me wrong, as long as I can ask the professor a question, converse with the class, and so forth, distance learning is fine, but when there are no such accomodations, then I personally feel that the student is losing out on their education, for the sake of convenience.

Further, I cannot see how a college or a university can charge a student who is taking an online class the same exact tuition that an on-campus class would require; do I think that online classes are simpler, easier, turnkey, and that the professor has nothing to do buit to rake in the emails and grade the tests? No. But at the same time I cannot see how it can cost the same - the professor need not lecture in front of a class of students, he or she can answer student's question in his or her PJ's, etc... Please do not think for one moment that I think that teaching an online class is an easy job, far from it. I do feel that once a professor has completed a course, it is ready to use again and again. Sure, there may be some tweaking necessary (like when the college/published changes books), but overall once the lesson plan is ready, isn't it ready?

I have gotten to know many of my college professors very well over the years, and even many of them have trouble with how the college can charge the same tuition and charge the exact same fees, even though students never enter the campus.

Oh well, I guess that this subject will be revisited again, but I had a few minutes before Jan (my fiance') got home so I thought I would try to tactfully explain my viewpoints on online learning.