By Maddie Nerad
Opinion Editor
While online classes are a convenient option for students looking for alternative ways to complete required classes, they will innately not provide students with the same level of learning as in-school classes. If the district chooses to offer more online courses, it must ensure that these classes have a flexible structure which allows students to optimize the benefits of online courses.
Recently, the Manhattan Beach Unified School District has been working with MBX to develop an online health program that will be available during the second session of summer school this year and throughout the 2013-14 school year. With the administration’s push for increased technology, it is not unreasonable to assume more online calsses will soon follow.
Mira Costa’s current online course policy allows students to take an online course only for the purposes of grade redemption or acceleration in an area not available at Costa. Students must choose courses from a list of approved online classes and providers, which are deemed similar to Costa’s classes. This limited list has been successful in meeting Costa’s high standards, and Costa should not make this policy more lenient. Students should only be allowed to take online courses in these cases, instead as an alternative to classes currently offered at Costa.
A large part of the appeal of an online class is its constant accessibility. However, according to the MBX website, this class will only allow students to access materials such as assignments and textbooks during “specific periods,” not 24/7. This defeats the purpose of an online class, which should allow students the flexibility to complete the work on their own time.
Students will have scheduled times to meet with teachers, but all assignments and tests will be completed and submitted online, leaving students completely unmonitored when completing the bulk of their work. The periodic check-ins with Costa faculty will not be enough to ensure students are completing their work honestly and thoroughly. The use of technology, especially with internet access, would make it nearly impossible to enforce the honor code.
While the online health program promises to help students complete a semester-long graduation requirement, which is often difficult for students to fit into their schedule, the quality of the class will likely diminish without the presence of a teacher. According to Costa health teacher James Beaumont, interactions in the classroom are hugely beneficial to students. Because of the lack of student-teacher and student-student contact, students miss out on asking valuable questions and participating in class discussions, both of which benefit their overall educational experience.
With the district heavily focused on its budget in the years to come, many fear that online programs will be favored as a cheaper alternative to teachers. Beaumont has expressed concern that this could be the first step in eliminating the entire health program at Costa. Teachers’ jobs should be valued as they are the embodiment of education.
MBX representative Gary Wayland believes that it is important for Costa to limit the number of students that have access to online health in order to prevent future scheduling issues. A decrease, or eventual elimination, of in-school health classes at Costa could make scheduling the remaining semester classes, such as geography and Intro to Model UN, more difficult.
Additionally, developing an online course is an expensive and time-consuming process. MBX has hired three employees from Da Vinci High School to design the new online health course. MBX will also encounter fees for licensing the materials and utilizing the education platform.
According to Wayland, the total cost of the project could be as much as $10,000. Though profits from the program may eventually benefit Costa through specific MBX projects, they will be an initial burden with the current budgetary problems.
Future online courses at Costa will need to find a balance between regulations and flexibility to be effective, but overall the convenience of technology should not replace a teacher’s presence in the classroom.
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