Online classes do have a few disadvantages. Looking beyond the problem of financial or physical access, there is also the problem of distance to your distance learning.
You don’t have that college experience, that’s for sure. That can be both a pro and a con. But there’s also isolation away from students and professors in general.
I had one class that was basically self-automated; I’m not sure there was even anyone running it, as ghost professor never posted any announcements past the introduction, was not one to respond readily to questions, discussion boards, or emails. And he didn’t give any feedback on grades or assignments. There were mandatory discussion board posts, but they didn’t have any real meaning, just answer the question posed, respond to a classmate. Really, it felt like you were on your own, left to watch videos that were recorded who knows how long ago, testing on material straight from the book. It was boring, not at all engaging, and more than a bit frustrating.
You also have a lack of true communication between other students. While there may be required discussion board posts, do you really have a full conversation online? In 140 words or less, can we really debate the pros and cons of a topic? And is there any real discussion happening when the teachers are grading based a student responding with the “correct” static answer response? I relish the few TAs who give actual feedback, but in an online class of faceless hundreds, I imagine it’s hard to humanize the screen and get real responses; often you just get grades. It’s difficult to read every post (150 or more) to find someone actually engaged in the topic, and you may be posting a response days later, with either no answer back or the post is closed for the next chapter.
This completely limits exchange of thought exploration. I love the classes where current videos or news articles are shared. It lets me know they’re actively engaged in the curriculum and class each semester. They encourage emails or links from students when we find interesting related material. I got more out of that class than 6 before it.
Teachers who set up online classes need to understand, it is still possible to connect with your students. Even if you don’t see their faces, hear their voices and let them have an educational outlet instead of just regurgitation. This goes for education at every level, and can be a struggle in face-to-face learning as well. I think it can be very easy for teachers to do the work once and just keep repeating the same information without furthering the content or encouraging critical thinking.
Here are a few more articles that further explore some of the cons of online education:
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