One of my professors recently asked my class if our course would function well in a “hybrid” format — that is, a class that meets online and in-class. Although I did not vocalize my opinion, my peers voiced it for me: We do not want it. It seems Biola administration is growing fonder of moving us out of our classrooms and onto the Web.

Classroom space is not the issue

I understand there is a shortage of classroom space at Biola. The only solution that would allow us to sustain our acceptance rate, maintain the necessary amount of courses and not step on anyone’s toes would be to move as many classes online as possible. This is understandable, but online classes do not seem as engaging or effective for learning. Also, if we want Biola to become a competitive university, we will need to winnow the playing field and only accept the cream of the crop.

I do think there are several courses that thrive on the hybrid model. I took social media, search engine optimization & digital strategy and thought the material was best exhibited in this format because it required putting what we learned into practice. So you can see that some classes are improved in the hybrid format, but some classes do not benefit.

Cheapening the college experience

All around the country we have seen the evolution of higher education to incorporate technology into the classroom experience. This is wonderful. There are, unfortunately, many shortcomings.

We see online degree programs advertised by Azusa Pacific University, Liberty University and a plethora of secular schools that cheapen the college experience. Perhaps they want to turn a quick buck and filter an unlimited number of students through their Web servers as possible. Maybe they have the best of intentions to equip students to enter the workforce. Either way, it does not fit into a scholastic model that wishes to enrich minds and hearts. It only encourages laziness and poor people skills.

Don’t neglect the Web

I am certainly not saying we should end all online and hybrid classes. However, we should not be too quick to push professors online and out of the classroom. These decisions should not be based on factors of classroom space or being on the cutting edge of education, but on the effectiveness of content being propagated.