Online Learning Is Not the Future

Education What the Shift to Virtual Learning Could Mean for the Future of Higher Ed

I thought both of these articles were really interesting both focus on the way  the pandemic has changed online learning. I think zoom has definitely been an important tool during the pandemic and helped with safety. However I always thought that once things were safer and more stable we would go back to in person courses.  Some experts think that we have found a new frontier for learning which I found unexpected. These are both opinion pieces and I thought some of the things they had to say made me think more deeply about our current model of education but also online classes.

The first article is from a professor at San Diego State whose students (primarily English majors which I also thought was interesting) think that shifting to online learning would be a negative thing. The second article argues that less in person classes could free up resources for colleges and universities to use in other ways to benefit students and make things more accessible.  I am kind of torn on this because personally I really prefer in person learning and feel like a lot would be lost in making a complete permanent shift to online school.  I also do think many students are less interested and engaged in online class. I feel like a lack of any motivation has been a considerable problem. However I think some of the positives from the other article were interesting especially the issue of high tuition costs with the current education model. I’m curious to hear if anyone else has any thoughts on this.

-Rachel