Many schools, including Oswego State, have begun to implement online courses in their curriculum. Often, these courses happen over vacation periods, but they can also be held during the school year. They provide more opportunities for students to pick up classes they may have failed or are struggling to fit into their schedule, but online courses put a lot of additional pressure on teachers and students alike.
Organizing and teaching courses are hard work. Professors slave over lesson plans and grading all semester long for not enough pay and plenty of extra hours. Then, when it is finally time for them to have a summer or winter break, they are expected to hold online courses. Not only are these courses often not the same as what they normally teach, but even if they are, they need to be taught differently.
For example, taking an exam in person is a lot different than taking an online exam. If a student is taking an exam in class, chances are they are not accessing outside materials in order to help them answer questions. If a professor wishes to reuse the exams they use for their in-person courses for online courses, there is no guarantee that students are not cheating or letting someone else take the test for them. This already puts demands on the professor to completely change how they test their students and come up with a new way of teaching by using potentially unfamiliar pieces of technology, all for a course that lasts a few weeks.
Online courses are impersonal. Professors usually do not meet their students, so if a student is having issues, chances are they are more likely to reach out for help from someone online than the professor they do not know. They also might be more inclined to take the course less seriously than a class they must attend in person since there is no one to potentially disappoint and no question to answer wrong in front of a class. There seems to be a disconnect between students and teachers with online courses. Because of this, it makes actually learning something, instead of doing the required work and forgetting as soon as the class is over, virtually impossible.
That is not to say that there are no perks to online courses. Often, the pressure of not having a designated meeting time or tests that students need to cram in the night before can help students learn better. The biggest problem is that students and teachers both need breaks. That is why there are summer and winter vacations. School is stressful on professors and students alike, and in order for both to be doing their best work, they need a break from school work. Online courses might help people pull ahead and catch up, but administration, students and teachers need to remember that it is important to take a break every now and again.
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