A WARNING ABOUT ONLINE COURSES       

Jack Vazzana, PhD
Kent State University, East Liverpool, Ohio

I have never met a student that liked an online course. They say the courses are boring and not difficult. Granted, students come to me for counseling and those that I have talked to may be a biased sample, but it IS a sample that suggests problems. Sure, most students find school boring to some extent, but not in the overwhelming frequency and amplitude as those associated with online courses. Keller (1968) has suggested if students are not given beneficial reinforcement techniques they will soon move past their teachers to something else. In contemporary times, information technology has stepped in (or pandered) and provided that bypass access. Online courses lure students with the bait of quick and easy education. The emphasis is no longer quality, but speed and convenience. Of course it is overlooked that very little of what people achieve is neither easy nor quick! Nevertheless, the contemporary diploma based in online technology, in terms of academic excellence, is minimal credentialism. Let us look at information technology as it applies to online courses and its implementation, teaching and beyond in terms of generation X'ers.

1. FACE-TO-FACE REALITY
How we come to know who we are is important for the development of personality because it sets the tone for quality identity. This is facilitated through face-to-face interaction and personal reflection. Online courses are NOT face-to-face and, under these circumstances, it is questionable if the online student can pragmatically apply the course content! In fact, lacking face-to-face reinforcement, most online students do poorly in presentations and retain little information once exams are over! Business execs today are starting to critique the online graduate for not being able to interact positively with customers and other employees. There is some suggestion this can be directly attributed to the lack of face-to-face dialogue.

2. DIMINISHED STUDENT/ TEACHER RELATIONS
The paucity of feedback from an authoritative source, as a teacher, leaves open the possibility of pragmatic learning being below standard. In other words, the person's self, having been built from online experience, is devoid of critical comments on the quality and accuracy of their learning because there was little teacher feedback when it was most developmentally needed. There was no interactional reality check. The student, under these circumstances, can develop any aberrant self they choose including a virtual self that has little to do with vocational reality and more their out-of-touch fantasies.

3. COURSE CONSTRUCTORS
The constructors and publishers of online courses capitalize on the increasing gap and rising virtual reality based on student caprice and solipsistic goals.  The classroom, as an academic environment, becomes a thing of the past being superceded by consumer capitalism. Enter information technologists thriving on such ideas as "time efficiency" and "convenience" bypassing the idea of knowledge. Money becomes more important than learning to the purveyors of online "education". They know the propaganda line that "learning can be turned into a quick process" which appeals to the student cohort. Couple this with the student experiencing ambient economics as limited in opportunities and the online masquerade continues. 

4. AGGREGATES
Free from  traditional classroom pedagogy, the online constructor thinks not of individuals, but aggregates. Individual needs are not only a thing of the past, but a reality online courses find impossible to address. A math instructor at a large university was questioned about the possibility that there are some subjects, as math, that are a propos to online classes. After all 2+2=4 right? No problem nor are face-to-face dynamics needed here. Actually, the math person said that was incorrect. It is not the mechanics, but the understanding of math that is important. If one has difficulty comprehending the old "when will the train arrive" problem, they have to have an instructor there at the moment to guide them through in understanding the math or they will lose interest in the process. Online education provides no pro-active human response to help in understanding and solving immediate learning difficulties. Online courses are of the "here and now" as opposed to learning which builds and is concerned with the individual's future. A part of this problem goes back to mid-Twentieth Century and the development of fast-food restaurants which gave rise of the "throw-away society".  Like online education, the "throw-away society" is justified by profit, but profit does not see or is interested in the future.

5. WHAT DID THEY LEARN
However, some online students do say they learn a lot, but what do they learn? They certainly did not get practice handling a situation where they were wrong or had to defend or defer to other's ideas. They did not learn to defend their ideas when the defense itself was important being a gateway to a better career or job interview. What is suggested here is that online learning is about the system, not the student. The information technologist says, "Click here, click there and you will learn - it is that easy!" A compelling statement, yet not about constructive and creative critical learning - it is more about teaching to the test! Actually, it is really about not teaching at all!

6. INTUITIVE NAVIGATION

Every teacher learns that during the course of their instruction there comes a moment when the students are "ready" to learn. With experience, the teacher also begins to understand that each class has a special and different way of coming together as a class in terms of learning. Groups develop their own special construction of reality. As a class progresses, the teacher knows or "feels" that the students are moving appropriately and with interest in a guided direction toward a specific point of understanding. The teacher also avoids that which would not be effective according to the nature of the class. So that, from moment to moment, an experienced teacher intuitively navigates the class in a direction maximizing their understanding and interest. In the end, the point of the learning will be enlightening, exciting and give rise to creative future applications. Online learning does not include intuitive navigation and that fails pedagogically.

DISCUSSION
     The contemporary teacher is becoming more and more a Master of Ceremonies requiring little if any actual academic expertise.  It may also be a generation gap problem. Generation Z's attention span has gone down from 12 seconds in 2000 to a contemporary 8 seconds and, with multiple connectivity, 11% are diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. (Sparks and Honey 2013) In this light, along with the lack of situational awareness, online education has a case, but is it the tail wagging the dog? The education challenge today is is the teacher must improve their craft and be a Greek Siren luring the student back to traditional "chalk and talk" expertise through dynamic presentations and challenging ideas. Free the professor to be a professional emphasizing learning. Limit the importance of publish or perish which is nothing more than rigorously developing a skill for which there is no demand. Administrations should encourage professional teachers to be informed guides collaborating with students in assisting them to learn on their own terms not bowing to the Information Technologist who proclaims, "Set it and forget it!" IT's often believe they are the Cialis of education. Students should seek out the classroom instead of opting for online courses developing Orwellian clones. Unfortunately, good teachers are leaving education. They were trained to communicate effectively through experience in the classroom, but online learning and management discourages this process and encourages the less skillful classroom performer.

     On the other hand, there may be a logical reason for the emergence of online courses. It is no secret that the high school student moving into the college situation has difficulties writing and reading.  This translates to the college becoming an extension high school and advanced learning is diluted. It makes administrative sense that online courses are quick and easy - the contemporary student will have difficulty coping with the traditional university experience and wan in interest. Certainly, there is always that small cadre of bright students going to first tier institutions, but what to do with the rest? Well, tell them that online courses are a good way to get through college easily and, guess what - the class rosters are filled and colleges are making money. It does not matter this is a cohort of misguided young people of which many may not even belong in school! Bolstering the economic aspect is done by encouraging the American phantasy of "the only way to be successful is to go to college."  College is not a universal panacea, but parents have been convinced it is the only way to a good career. When children are born, parents automatically start thinking how to save money for their college education. Maybe they should think more about parenting than coercive capitalist economic scams!

     Of course, online education does have a place.  It can be a valuable adjunct to the employed. The boss sees the worker taking online courses as wanting to improve themselves. This is a good thing. The employed person comes to work and discusses or applies their relevant coursework to their job. This speaks well for the worker and is important for a favorable job evaluation.  The online course should be a supplement to the classroom with the student having the online opportunity to discuss that which was complicated in terms of their employment. The real thrust, however, is just to take online courses as the easy and fast way to get a degree. Which path do you think is the most amenable for that job or promotion? A four year college degree takes persistence. Is persistence or easy, fast courses more important to a future employer? To that end, if I walk into a surgeon's office and see a diploma on the wall from the University of Phoenix, I'm going to get the hell out of there! More importantly, there are exciting concepts that contemporary education poses as the Higgs Boson, each star has planets like the earth and the idea of multiple universes. These and others are the things that dreams and the future are made of. One does NOT develop that kind of creative thinking with online courses - it is not their nature. Choose the "nature" of your education wisely.
go to Dr Jacks Loft
photograph by Marilyn Ippolito;
Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh PA