The Voice - Student Newspaper

Online courses may amplify student laziness

By Justin Shepard
Reporter, The VOICE

Here we are in a nation working to decrease obesity and promote a more active lifestyle among its people. We live in an age where we are taught the benefits of getting out of the house and interacting with others, creating networks. So, how does the idea of institutions offering more online courses help those efforts? It's simple; it doesn't help.

Many schools are now offering students the option of taking online courses from home. This includes logging onto the computer, completing assignments, and interacting with other students and the instructor only through chat rooms and message boards. Clearly, this service is beneficial to students who cannot be on campus due to responsibilities at home such as children to look after or a job with inconsistent hours. However, taking online courses just because of the fact that you don't have to leave the house, is pure laziness.

Physically attending school allows students to interact with others and meet new people, which is something that cannot happen sitting at a computer at home. Besides that, popular social utilities such as Facebook and Myspace are now only a mouse click away from deterring a student's attention from their course work. A person cannot experience all there is to experience in college, by looking at a computer screen.

Simply stated, online courses do make things easier for some. However, it is important to not enroll in an online course for the wrong reasons such as not being required to get dressed and leave the house.

The benefits of physically attending school are far greater than those of learning concepts through a computer screen.