Los Angeles Leadership Academy

Senior Thesis
Diane M. Rodriguez
AP English Literature
Nicholas Steed
20 May, 16

Rodriguez 1

Education is crucial, but what form should an instructional environment take? Debates
have risen about whether students should be taught in a classroom environment or online, and if
traditional classes should be replaced with online classes. Traditional classes allow students to
achieve a hands on education that will prepare them for various fields of work while online
classes contain limits to how students perform and interact with the professor. As a result, online
classes should not be allowed to replace traditional classes.
Interaction and communication are important elements in understanding the criteria that
is being taught; however, the relationship between instructor and students is lost when the
material is being taught through an online class. In a classroom-based course, face-to-face
communication creates a different dynamic for every class. Online classes, however, lack this
interaction, requiring teachers to use forums, chats and other online discussion media to build
community, (Kori, 2016). This results in the lack of verbal expression and interaction within
students. Preventing them from learning how to practice social skills and cooperation between
each other. The University of Connecticut's Instructional Design and Development Guide for
Online Students also states that in terms of group assignments, being unable to delegate work in
person can add complications. Similarly, students also lack the opportunity to get to know the
instructor in-person. While traditional classrooms let students gain support and personal
relationships from teachers, online courses only offer electronic communication, (Kori, 2016).
Working within a classroom environment allows students to prepare themselves for the
workforce by being able to collaborate with other individuals in projects and assignments,
improving communication skills that grant them potential work benefits.
Furthermore, by comparing an online solitary environment to a classroom filled with
ones peers, students have the ability to ask for assistance whenever they do not understand the

Rodriguez 2

criteria. In addition, some professors hold office hours after class in order to help tutor their
students or answers any other questions that they may have. On the other hand, the other students
enrolled in online classes are unable to attain the same amount of help as students in a traditional
instructional environment. Therefore, when online students are having trouble they have to send
an e-mail or contact their instructor and wait until he or she responds. Kristina Chew, a classics
professor at St. Peter's University, wrote an article for The Guardian last month praising the
value of face-to-face interaction. In her view, it is critical for teachers to be accessible to their
students, and that connection is often lost with a screen in the way."I try to respond to e-mails, I
Facebook; I give out my cellphone number," Chew says. "This may bring up privacy issues, but
my students know I'm accessible and they appreciate the, (USA TODAY, 2013). With this in
mind, the students who are taking online courses are left to work on their own. Although online
education promotes independence and responsibility, students have to struggle through
information that they may not even understand.
Since the rise in popularity of online classes, many teachers have become overwhelmed
with the number of students enlisted within each class. As well as jobs that require more skills
from their workers, the demand of online degree programs have been on the rise. Within the
United States alone, about 6.7 million students enrolled in at least one online course during the
fall term in 2011. A large increase of more than 500,000 alumni compared to 2010. Causing
professors to work harder and for a longer amount of time. "Online learning can also mean more
work for the professor. "Putting a lesson plan online requires an incredible amount of writing and
typing for professors, and it's usually not in their preferred medium," she says.(USA TODAY,
2013). Overworking the professor to take responsibility for hundreds of students for whom he or
she doesn't even know. The combination of economic globalization and the increasing use of

Rodriguez 3

computer-driven machines have created a situation in which one professor can be responsible for
an online course with an enrollment of tens of thousands of students(Bowers, 2013). This
permits for all of the students work to be corrected, graded, and dependant on one teacher, who
could make errors from having so many students. In contrast, traditional classes normally have
twenty to twenty-five students maximum.
At the same time, another problem that is created by online classes is the loss of jobs for
teachers, leaving many struggling to meet ends meet. If higher education continues down its
current path, full-time professors already an endangered species may become extinct. The
reason: Uncontrollable fervor for online education. According to a jaw-dropping 2013 report by
the Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities, the percentage of tenure track
(i.e., permanent, full-time) positions has plummeted from 78% in 1969 to about 33% today. The
report warns that "the rising numbers of non-tenure-track faculty in higher education are
negatively affecting student success"(Wheeler, 2014). Meaning, that not only are online classes
affecting teachers performance, but also the a students. Furthermore, not all students favor online
courses, but they take them because they are affordable. Despite the rapid growth of online
learning, many college students say they still prefer the traditional classroom setting. According
to results of a new national research study, 78% of more than 1,000 students surveyed still
believe it is easier to learn in a classroom. But as the cost of a college education steadily rises,
some experts say the data suggest virtual campuses are likely to grow largely because they
need to(USA TODAY, 2013).
The same happened during the Industrial Revolution, when people began to lose their
jobs to machines, for the purpose of fast and cheap labor. ...akin to the earliest era of the
Industrial Revolution, when power-driven machines reduced the number of workers using pre-

Rodriguez 4

industrial technologies for carrying out a particular task...The profit motive has also been part of
this effort to replace workers with machines. The coming Internet era of online degrees will
continue this tradition of displacing workers, in this case professors and classroom teachers, with
computer simulations and other online curricula(Bowers, 2013).
This demonstrates how twisted the educated system is in the United States, where
students seeking a career cannot get a proper education. However, just because online courses are
affordable, it does not mean that they are easy to pass when one is learning by themselves. More
California community college students are taking online courses than a decade ago, but fewer are
completing and passing those classes compared with traditional ones, according to a study
released Wednesday. Overall, enrollment in online community college courses grew by almost 1
million classes between 2002 and 2012, according to the study, conducted by the nonprofit
Public Policy Institute of California. The group studied six years of data, including grades and
course enrollment, from the states 112 two-year colleges, which make up the largest two-year
college system in the country(Jason, 2014).
Based off these facts, having online classes replace regular classrooms is not a wise
decision, especially when there are studies and statistics against minorities. Students under age
25, Latinos, blacks and part-time students or those who needed remedial courses all performed
worse in online classes than other groups(Los Angeles Times, 2014). This data signifies that
Los Angeles Leadership Academy falls within this area, but we may be able to change this.
All Things considered, online classes may be economically friendly, but it does not mean
that they are the best decision to take in an instructional environment. Taking a course online
may be faster and helps establish responsibility; but, taking a class where students are on their
own without any reliable help will only make them stressed, especially when they do not fully

Rodriguez 5

comprehend the information that they are given. Therefore, I propose that instead of just having
online classes replacing traditional classes and simply having traditional classes. We should mix
both ways of learning into one. This would work by having an online class and having an
instructor that has received a degree in whatever the online course is about, so that he or she may
help the students with: any problems/questions the class may have, lectures that go into further
detail about the material, and to guide the class in the right direction. This would have a positive
effect on not only the students, but also for the professors, preventing job loss within the
education system.

Work Cited
Bird, Kendall. "Online vs. Traditional Education: The Answer You Never
Expected." Rasmussen College. Rasmussen College, 19 Feb. 2014.
Web. 17 May 2016.
Morgan, Kori. "Compare and Contrast Online Vs. Classroom Instruction."
Education. Seattelpi, n.d. Web. 17 May 2016.
Correspondent, Devin Karambelas Collegiate. "Study: Students Prefer Real
Classrooms over Virtual." USA Today. Gannett, 11 June 2013.

Rodriguez 6

Web. 17 May 2016.

Song, Jason. "More Students Take Online Classes but Passage Rates Low,
Study Says." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2014.
Web. 18 May 2016.
Bowers, C. A. "How the Online Revolution in Higher Education Will
Eliminate Faculty Jobs." Tikkun Magazine. Tikkun Magazine, 4 Feb. 2013.
Web. 18 May 2016.
Wheeler, David R. "Will Online Classes Make Professors Extinct?" CNN. Cable News
Network, 3 Feb. 2014. Web. 19 May 2016.
Yang, James. "Just Look at the Data, If You Can Find Any We Need More
Openness about the Job Placements of Ph.D.'s." The Chronicle of
Higher Education. The Chronicle, 17 June 2013. Web. 20 May 2016.