The growing trend of more online courses appearing in universities to serve as an alternative to traditional face to face classes has become increasingly prevalent in recent times. I strongly believe that this adaptation is a negative trend due to several significant drawbacks that will be discussed in this essay.
Admittedly, such online classes can reduce the interaction among individuals such as experts or students. This is predicated on the assumption that students who often participate in online classes just spend hours in front of a computer or mobile phone and gain knowledge through recorded videos without communication between teachers and students, leading to a less engaging lesson. As a result, such classes are widening the gap among individuals, which significantly reduces face to face interaction. Therefore, it may disrupt students’ learning process especially when they have some difficulties that need to ask a professional directly such as advice or recommendation for some projects.
Furthermore, the widespread use of online courses can hinder academic progress. It is undeniable that digital devices that provide a wide range of study resources contain many distractions such as social media or online games. Additionally, by learning at home, students can do everything they want without the proper supervision of teachers or experts. For example, some students lacking self-discipline can play games or surf the internet while attending the class and teachers can not monitor these situations effectively. Moreover, although universities offer online classes, some exams are still organized in person to evaluate the actual ability of students. Consequently, in the long term, these students can not keep up with the vast amount of course material in university, leading to poor academic results.
In conclusion, I believe that online courses can not be seen as an alternative to classes provided on campus because this study method can lead to the reduction of face to face interaction and negatively affect the academic performance of students.