PDF Edition - The Gauntlet

GAUNTLET OPINIONS FEBRUARY 05.09 17
Online university life: accept or decline
Meagan Meiklejohn
Word Playa
With next year’s rising
tuition plaguing the
wallets of University
of Calgary students, the idea of a
tuitionless university seems only a
far off dream. However, an ambitious
entrepreneur from Israel intends
to make this dream a reality
in the coming future.
University of the People, he
imagines, will become the first
global, tuition-free university, operating
similarly to internet-based
universities today. Adopting many
traditional strategies for educating
students, University of the People
will provide online study communities,
weekly discussion topics,
homework assignments and
exams. Students will be required
to pay a $15–$50 enrolment fee
and $10–$100 for exams depending
upon their country’s financial
stability. Aside from that, their future
really is only a click away.
Taking this into consideration,
along with our current belt-tightening
in response to the plummeting
worldwide economy, supporters
of our technological era
welcome this mass-innovation
with acceptance clicks. After all,
technology is the wave of the future.
As text and online messaging
have swiftly taken the place
of face-to-face interaction, it was
only a matter of time before communication
and knowledge accessibility
advanced to the next level.
Eliminating all physical presence
in the classroom and lecture hall,
both professors and students are
invited to teach and be taught
from the comfort of their own
homes.
While lounging around in pyjamas,
listening to music and texting
as we watch reruns of Friends
may sound like a steal of a deal,
it seems virtually unrealistic that
students would muster up the motivation
to buckle down and earn
a degree. Without an atmosphere
geared towards learning and excelling
in one’s chosen field, students
are actually placing more
responsibility upon themselves to
access any resources they might
need. These include learning centres,
such as for writing or second
languages, support and help services,
such as the Women’s Centre,
hands on experience, such as
at the Gauntlet or NUTV and even
the library.
In addition, physically being
in a university subjects you to
a world of new experiences and
opportunities. Aside from academic
aids, there are leadership
opportunities, clubs, recreational
facilities and sport teams where
students can practice and perfect
the skills they learn for everyday
life — not to mention countless
forms of entertainment such as
presentations, drama events, concerts
and parties. With the opportunity
to work, interact or just
hang out with a variety of people
from different backgrounds, students
can enrich their lives, expand
their knowledge and find
out who they are and what they
want to be. All of which cannot
be done alone by jailing oneself at
a chair and staring at a computer
screen.
Although an online university
would benefit those who are ill,
injured or otherwise unable to
attend school, tuition cost should
not be the deal breaker that confines
students to an online education.
There is more to university
There is more to university than going to class and
coming home — there is university life. Attending
university is our fi rst chance to start living our lives
the way we want to.
than going to class and
coming home — there is
university life. Attending
university is our first
chance to start living our
lives the way we want to.
For many, this means leaving
home and discovering a
world unlike the one we’ve
grown up in. Discarding
our parents’ rules and the
friends we’ve been dealt
based on our grade-school
days, we can do what we
want, when we want and
go where we want with
whom we want. Finally,
we are able to make our
own decisions based on
our own judgment, take
credit for our successes
and claim full responsibility
for our mistakes. You
may have to buy your way
into school, but you can’t
put a price on the experience
you get out of it.