Online classes prove not beneficial

During my collegiate career, I have taken three online courses in three different subjects and have learned only one thing: They are not educationally beneficial. They are, however, a painful waste of time.

Online classes do not allow for face-to-face interaction with a professor. This is a necessity if the class material is too complicated, a lesson I learned the hard way. This summer, I took a class required for my major. While class material proved interesting, the subject matter was incredibly difficult for me to comprehend without the aid of a professor. So, I struggled through the readings week after week, finding it difficult to incorporate them into the weekly papers. I felt like I gained nothing from the class. Also, without daily interaction with a professor, there is a lack of supervision that makes slacking of even cheating a viable option. Students are forced to be incredibly self-motivated, which might not always go smoothly.

While some online classes are overly difficult, others lack any sort of challenge. Many of the tests can be taken without a time limit, with an open book, notes and the capability to look up answers on the Internet. While these classes can boost someone's GPA, they do not provide an educational advantage to the student.

Another drawback of the online classes is lack of classroom discussion. While some classes require students to post on an online bulletin board, it is no substitute for verbal discourse among students. Classroom discussion serves as a useful and educational forum for ideas.

Yet, online classes and online degree programs are continuing to become more popular nationwide.

Their popularity is due partly to convenience. They can be done "on your own time." These programs also are available to anyone with Internet access. Lastly, they allow people to earn a college degree at a relatively inexpensive price.

 Granted, there are a limited number of universities from which you can earn a degree taking solely online classes, but one has to think that it is only a matter of time before more of these online degrees pop up in different disciplines. The question is when will it stop?

The usage of online courses should be reexamined significantly both at the University level and throughout the country. The main starting point should be to address if the course is doing its job — educating students. One way to do this is to give surveys to students and ask if the course provided them with a good academic experience. While this already occurs in some classes, it must be stressed more in regards to online courses. Through this analysis, you could show which courses were beneficial and which were not.

If a class was deemed not useful or beneficial, then a re-evaluation of that class should occur. This could include anything from conducting analysis about the subject matter to whether the class is too difficult to be taught outside the classroom. By doing this, to a complete overhaul of the class might occur, and tinkering it could make it more useful to students.

While online classes might appeal to some students, there is no way it can be compared to the experience of walking into a classroom and being lectured by a professor. While lectures can be boring, there still is a transmission of knowledge occurring between a professor and a student that cannot be duplicated through online classes.

Bryce Osman is a senior political science major from Jefferson City, Mo.