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Most posters here are talking about the benefits to the person taking classes as to why online classes aren't the norm, but let's be honest here.
When you own a monopoly, you don't give it up. More online classes would send the message that the "college experience" isn't as necessary, which would lose the college money.
i prefer it too, but I've heard complaints from others saying they can't learn well that way.
As other people already named it, personal interaction is one big factor. Being in a friend group, learning together and trying to achieve things together greatly enhances the chances to complete the studies.
Also this is only possible for lectures and most seminaries. Outside of social science and humanities you usually have some kinds of hands on or lab courses, which of course can't be done online.
Both me and my wife tried doing online courses for our Masters and ended up opting out that route.
Both of use found they were riddled with people who didn’t show up to the regular online ‘team meetings’ or wouldn’t contribute to the ‘team projects’ until the day of submission.
I know you have slackers in regular university as well but at least there, visibility and contribution is immediately noticed by the professors.
I would also argue that being hands on makes a huge difference in most courses.
I think a great majority of learning in college comes from living someplace other than home. Meeting different kinds of people from different places and spending time with them. Classes are very important but so much learning happens outside of classrooms.
@KingGordon True, but few can afford the luxury experience of campus living.
I've never lived on campus and idk how it works in the US but when I'd come in for the lectures I still met plenty of people who challenged me and my ideas and helped me grow as a person. Hell even just taking the subway to campus every day got me to actually start adulting and out of the shell of school and home life.
I think this is one of the reasons conservatives hate college. Impressionable students might develop empathy, and we certainly can’t have that.
In practice, online education is worse. Discussion boards are a shallow replacement for real shoulder to shoulder conversations, many students speed through video lectures, and the entire experience seems flattened and gamified. It feels more “effective and efficient” but that feeling doesn’t necessarily match reality.
Indeed. I'm genuinely baffled to hear OP finds online learning more effective and efficient
People are different, and not everybody needs/wants other people around them all the time.
Because the vast majority of people either benefit or think they benefit from in person interactions. That includes people who end up in leadership positions who make decisions about how content is delivered.
Yes, plenty of people are able to be self motivated to do things online and it is great that the option exists for them. It won't be the standard for most things though, because of how most people tend to interact with the world around them.
