In the contemporary world where our lives are far more complex than lives fifty years ago, and where there are multiple demands on the few hours we have to spare, online classes make it possible for students to follow-up on the course materials at non-traditional hours--very rarely does their work come in between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm, and it is more often the case that they post them way into the night.
To quite a large extent, online classes once again, after a long time, places the emphasis on "learning" as opposed to "teaching". The teacher is no longer the "star" in the classroom, and is not the center of attention. Which is how it ought to be. The focus shifts to the content we read, study, discuss, and write about. The teacher is more like a guide on the trip, as opposed to being the proverbial "sage on the stage". I am sure that there is a small piece in me that likes being the center of attention in a classroom, which then makes me feel like Norma Desmond in an online setting :-)
Of course, this also means that there is a much greater responsibility on students in the online environment than in the real-world classroom. If they need clarification, then it is up to them to ask those questions or make comments. If they snooze, well, they lose--unlike the real world classroom, a fellow classmate won't be nudging them when they snore instead of paying attention!!!
For students, online learning is not inconsistent with many other activities we pursue: we shop online at what would be non-business hours in the "real world". Same for online banking. We rent from Netflix, and we even watch Netflix online--bypassing the DVD altogether. Things are changing so fast that most of us don't even pause to think about it. When we do--or when professors force people to do so, we realize how much the landscape has changed.
In such a context, you will find this hilarious satire from The Onion quite appropriate and educational--as always, the video is on target, and shows how the nighborhood Blockbuster video store will soon become something of a historical curiosity for the young--as much as a vinyl record player is now history. (nothing lost if you do not to watch this video)
Oddly enough, over the almost ten years that I have been teaching online, I find that my workload for online classes is greater than the workload if I were to teach this same course in the real world. I mean, for starters, I could have easily talked about all these with way less effort than typing them all here!!!
