Here:
Professor, You’re on Candid Video
To Lewis M. Andrew’s ideas (“The Hidden Revolution in Online Learning,” op-ed, Dec. 27) that online learning will potentially provide a way to bypass the liberal monopoly on academia—to improve student outcomes and to more closely align the cost of a degree with its true economic value—I would add that the tools of online learning will further hold instructors accountable for behaving professionally in their classrooms. What is muttered in the physical classroom is fleeting and may never be accurately recalled, but as an online instructor I know that everything I say or do in my online classroom is permanent and available for my college to review should a student voice a concern or complaint.
In contrast, recently my nephew was subjected to the in-class meltdown of one of his teachers. You didn’t hear about it because none of the students had a video camera. Instead, what might have brought about the dismissal of this burned-out educator was largely ignored, and he continues in his job.
Ann Defranco
Superior, Colo.