The University of Maine System continues to eye online courses as a cost-saving, accessible way to pursue a degree, with the Board of Trustees having expressed it’s aim of eventually moving 1,000 programs online, system-wide.
With advances in technology and the Maine’s high-speed internet infrastructure, the computer can now viably stand in place of the classroom as our primary venue of higher education.
But should we let it?
A student senate resolution that will appear on Student Government Election ballot – which goes online March 15 – aims to gauge students’ interest in web-based course offerings. USM currently offers four degree programs, and a handful of graduate and certificate programs based online, as well as a number of individual courses.
The resolution was passed unanimously by a student senate, who has repeatedly heard trepidation from students regarding an increase in online courses, and what it could mean for the reputation of the University.
The resolution asks students “will an increase in online courses at USM improve your educational experience?”
In our opinion, no. And we’re not alone.
During the We Vote forum held last fall, Board of Trustees student representative Dustin Ward conducted an informal poll among the audience, 75 percent of those present expressed concern with the growing trend of online classes at USM.
“It’s not like we want to avoid moving forward in technology,” said Ward during the forum, “we just don’t want to lose that person-to-person experience.”
Student opposition to online courses was so great at the Lewiston-Auburn campus that the decision was made to convert the web-based courses into “blended” courses, which combine web-based classwork with bi-weekly classes in Lewiston.
While online courses work very well for the segment of our student body that they are intended to serve, offering courses required for graduation only through the online medium is a major tactical mistake in terms of promoting student success.
Many new students are understandably intrigued by the prospect of an online course. Not having to leave a cozy bed and avoiding the commute to or between campuses are among the format’s selling points.
The university is not always forthcoming in sharing with students the unique challenges online education presents, and – based on the BOT’s comments – seem determined to move toward this trend in higher education regardless of student wariness.
Programs like Media Studies are increasingly offering required intro-level courses primarily in an online setting, forcing students into an alternative-learning experience who might have arrived at USM before the practice began, and now find themselves forced to engage in online education.
“If I wanted to take online classes, I would have gone to an online college,” said communications major Samantha Peters at last semester’s forum.
Online courses are also not for everybody, and in the rush to fill-up classes and solicit precious tuition, we are concerned that University has ignored it’s responsibility to inform students what they are getting themselves into in signing up for an online course.
“Online courses serve a great deal of USM’s population and have become somewhat of a necessity,” said Student Body President Maggie Guzman. “However, online courses do not fit every students learning style and they shouldn’t be forced to take them in order to complete their degree.”
Guzman brings up another good point in suggesting that with the “inevitable impersonal nature of online education,” we must be cautious not “to degrade the quality of education or the already struggling community we have at USM.”
While online courses might indeed be the future of education for some, it is simply not what many students signed up for when they enrolled at USM, and it’s not something they seem to be very interested in.
To force students into enrolling in such courses by moving required classes increasingly into the online sphere, USM is pulling a bait-and-switch that threatens the bond of trust between the university and its students, and is ignoring overwhelming student feedback.
To make your opinion on online courses heard, we encourage you to vote on the resolution question on the Student Government Election ballot, and help unplug this idea before it gains any more traction with USM administration.