Legend’s View:
Online courses are becoming more and more prevalent at the Maricopa Colleges. It is understandable; an instructor can teach more classes online than those taught traditionally. With the coming budget cuts from the state the push for online courses will likely increase.
But an online class cannot recreate the intimacy of a classroom. Teachers and students do not develop a relationship. How could they? They only know each other as a collection of letters, as a name.
It leaves learning completely up to the student. If a student is not very self motivated then they will probably end up dropping the classes. The student ends up wasting money and the school takes the hit of a lower retention rate.
Then there are hybrid classes, that mix in-the-classroom learning and online. Some students complain of signing up for a class and not realizing it was a hybrid class.
Whether it results from the student’s mistake or the class was incorrectly labeled, it again is a loss for the Maricopa Colleges and the student.
One of the things that Maricopa Colleges try to do is cater to all types of students.
Working moms, full-time workers expanding their skill sets, or those who simply prefer working alone are those who sign up for online classes.
An online class can allow students to go to school at a convenient time for them.
But in the end, there will always be something lost with an online classroom. A student does not even have to be the one taking the class.
They could easily have someone do their calculus homework or take a test for them. It is only the student that loses in this scenario but it is a consequence that could have been avoided with a traditional classroom.
