Can’t beat the real thing

(U-WIRE) U. of Pittsburgh-I was offered the opportunity to experience e-learning when a class I wanted to take went over capacity. The professor e-mailed me, suggesting I take the class online. Online? Was he crazy?

The traditional classroom is the perfect learning environment for me. Quirky personalities can’t hide behind a screen and fancy rhetoric in a classroom. In class, what I see is what I get, and I like that.

Some disagree with me. For some students, online education offers more mature discussion and flexibility. There’s no snoring, and everyone has time to fully develop and proofread his or her thoughts before clicking “submit” on the discussion board.According to a U.S. News article, enrollment for online education has shot up by almost 20 percent this year. And by 2005, the e-learning market will top $4 billion.

Don’t let the popularity fool you, though. The fantasy of instructor-less education quickly fades as courses have little or no personal interaction-sometimes online courses are just the contents of books uploaded onto Web sites-and posted dropout rates are as high as 60 percent. To make up for this, several online courses have been adjusted to allow for more dialogue via discussion boards and e-mails. According to the article, there is also a push for smaller class sizes.

Regardless of the modifications, cyberspace cannot serve as a substitute for the classroom. It’s like thinking a phone call from a friend is the same as having that friend show up to talk with you. Utilizing technology and having resources for class discussion available online is a great supplement to, not a replacement for, education. Even with the best technology, e-learning needs a human touch.