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By Raychel Eliopolo

One of the disadvantages of a small private liberal arts college is the lack of course options. By my senior year I had 15 credits to finish if I wanted to graduate with my class. My chances of graduating in the spring seemed bleak. Until I learned that I could take online courses at a different college while simultaneously taking a full course load at my own college.

Since my experience taking online classes relates to my timely graduation, one would think I would be in favor of an online education. For one, online, or digital, educations are highly accessible. Online courses work around your schedule. They don’t require you to even be in the same country. And in my case, online courses are a convenient option when needing or wanting to take classes that your college doesn’t provide. However, aside from these benefits, in most cases an online education is a pseudo-education not to be substituted for the real thing. By the year 2050, technology will continue to assist education rather than be the source for education.

With the rising popularity in MOOCs, Massive Open Online Courses, one would assume that the future of education is found in this online model. Prestigious institutions such as Harvard, MIT, and Stanford have made popular lecture courses available through the use of MOOCs. The astonishing rate of enrollments, including tens of thousands of participants, in online courses appear to validate the demand for accessible yet quality digital education. However an online education, even if it is fully accredited, cannot compare to a traditional classroom education.

Last May (2013) the New Yorker reported that “when MOOCs are a purely online experience, drop out rates soar to more than 90 percent.” That means that millions enrolled in these courses never end up completing the coursework. Another harsh reality reported by The Wall Street Journal adds that it is “difficult to verify that students learned anything in MOOCs.”

An online, digital education lacks the ability to exercise fundamental learning functions. This means that it hardly benefits the experiential functions of an education - the verbal, physical and social practices of learning. Online education is a very passive experience, even if there is frequent testing.

In my experience, it was far more difficult to engage with the material in my online classes than in my campus classes. I had no sense of the professor’s tone that dictates what material to focus on and what was of importance in my understanding of the material. The online forums and discussion boards were full of responses filled with platitudes from other classmates, who were just trying to fill their participation requirements. I didn’t have the physical reality of class discussion where I could engage with the material. My online classmates and even my professor held the same sentiments. My in-class education was far more edifying and educational. I couldn’t fathom taking any more classes online, let alone receiving an online education in-full.

MOOCs and online educations are beneficial means of education in some cases that exclude full-time college educations. Stanford’s president John L. Hennessy prophesies that online courses will be effective learning environments aside from the gold standard of a traditional education. He states that “while the gold standard of small in-person classes led by great instructors will remain, online courses will be shown to be an effective learning environment, especially in comparison with large lecture-style courses.” The effectiveness of an online education will suit those who have a keen will to learn in order to benefit their vocation or peak their interests. Companies such as Coursera cater to these people, who are mainly adults with bachelors degrees or working for companies that want to train and educate their employees.

An online education is a promising addition to the sphere of education in few instances. Yet, a digital education will not be able to phase out or match a traditional in-class education. If we try to replace the traditional means of learning in totality, technology may disrupt education and leave us with a pseudo-learning experience.

 Eliopolo is a recent Media, Culture and the Arts graduate of The King’s College in New York City.