Few days ago, I read some comments related the unpopularity of online courses among professors. The forum brought to the table the discussion about whether the future education will be online or face-to-face. According to [1], flexibility and convenience are the main factors that induce students to choose online courses. The students feel that face-to-face classrooms provide a better instruction format due to teacher interactions and explanations and the opportunity for learners’ interactions. Some participants of the forum titled “Why do you think online courses are still unpopular among professors?” [2] pointed out that some professors are reluctant to teach online courses. Personally, I think online education and face-to-face education will coexist for long time. I enjoy online courses not only for convenience reasons but also for the high quality of the courses provided by platforms such as EdX and Coursera. MOCC platforms make a vast range of courses accessible over the Internet for free or for small/affordable fees with the additional advantage that they are taught by professors coming from elite Universities. Otherwise, I would prefer the face-to-face option for a course whose content is likely to be enriched from stories and examples that the instructor may talk about in the class. In the future, blended education will also play an important role to overcome the disadvantages of both online and face-to-face options.

References

[1]         S. S. Jaggars, “Choosing Between Online and Face-to-Face Courses: Community College Student Voices,” Am. J. Distance Educ., vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 27–38, 2014.

[2]         “Why do you think online courses are still unpopular among professors?,” Higher Education Teaching and Learning Linkiedin Group, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/2774663. [Accessed: 24-Jan-2018].