Many professors, as well as students, have questioned the validity of online classes that are flooding into higher education. Professors are worried this transition will hinder students in their learning and degrade overall quality of diplomas. This is creating a barrier to the widespread adoption of MOOC delivered online courses by universities.
The article, “Online Classes Fuel a Campus Debate,” reveals the various opinions of faculty’s MOOC concerns. Some debate that online classes have no place in higher education. Others disagree, stating that high-quality online courses can help students learn, maybe even better than traditional learning in some cases. M. Peter McPherson, president of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities had an interesting view, “The question now is how long it’s going to take for faculty members to stop saying they can use the same text books as other [professors] at other institutions, but they can’t use the same lectures.”
In addition to these concerns, educators are facing difficulty verifying a student’s integrity while completing an online course. In a letter the philosophy department at San Jose State University wrote, stated administration is starting a process that will replace faculty members with cheap online learning. One of our goals at ProctorFree is to help legitimize online learning by verifying the students identity and potential exam irregularities. In doing this, educators can move towards adoption of virtual learning platforms without feeling as if they are sacrificing the credibility of their brand. ProctorFree provides confidence in online education.