Online Courses: Blessing Or A Bane?

When students register for their upcoming classes, they may notice the latest addition to the “Schedule of Classes” catalog. This is the “online course” option, located next to the building/room column of a particular course and it notifies students if the course has an online component.
As a point of clarification, “online course” does not mean that the students will be enrolled in a virtual classroom. In most cases, when a course is listed as having an online component, the students meet every other week, or several times during the semester. Between meetings, students are ideally busy working on assigned papers or projects. During those weeks that their “online course” does not meet, students are encouraged to meet in Queens College’s Rosenthal Library with the library staff for assistance in gathering sources and data for their prospective research papers and projects.
For many students, especially for those with other obligations, courses with an online component may be a blessing. It will save them the commute to campus and time spent in the lecture hall or classroom. But, in reality, these students are missing out on hands-on instruction, along with many other benefits that they can only gain through a classroom learning experience.
The foregoing becomes a particular concern for students who are enrolled in their graduate thesis courses, which are two courses spanning two semesters, both with an online component. Once students are enrolled in their final thesis course and are actively working on their thesis papers, many will find themselves struggling. Only then will they realize they may be lacking the benefits that can only be found in explicit, deductive, direct classroom instruction.
Another disadvantage of an online course is that the professor may get to know their students only minimally, if at all, due to the fact that the course does not meet many times during the semester. Moreover, it would be extremely difficult and awkward to approach that particular professor for recommendations or letters of support.
So, in the end, are online courses a blessing or a bane? The answer to this question depends on each student individually.

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