Miami University will increase the amount of online classes available to undergraduate and graduate students. By 2015, the university says revenue from online classes will double.
The editorial board of The Miami Student acknowledges Miami's need to embrace technological advances to remain competitive with other universities.
In offering online classes, the university has the opportunity to reach a wider range of students with tight schedules or a long commute.
However, online classes have the potential of hurting Miami's reputation of higher learning and achievement.
We need to remain competitive and the accessibility of online courses needs to be controlled.
Throughout the process of developing online classes, departments need to present a compelling need for a course to have an online component.
The university must be firm in not offering online courses as substitutions for the in class experience where students can directly talk to professors and classmates.
It is important for students to have interactive experiences in courses because communication skills are developed when students are forced to interact with peers on an academic level.
While some courses will offer more cohesive learning environments online, not all courses will achieve such success.
The university has to look carefully at which courses to convert because it runs the risk of providing a "lazy" alternative for students.
Ultimately, once online classes become more accessible, it is the students' responsibility to decide which course type suits his or her learning needs.
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Miami must do all it can to maintain the quality and rigor of its courses, and should take great care in the expansion of online classes.
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