2020英语教学资源：时文阅读|疫情之下的美国网课

Education     officials and industry experts are debating the future of online learning.     The discussion is important because hundreds of universities in the United     States have recently moved classes online because of the spread of the novel     coronavirus（冠状病毒）.

For     Asha Choksi, the rise of Internet-based or online study programs has led to     major improvements in higher education. “It’s actually given a lot more     power to students in terms of how, when and where they learn,” the head of     research for Pearson Education said.

Classes     meet online through video conferencing. In this     way, students are able to communicate with each other and their professors     even when they are far away from school. However, recent research suggests     the majority of college students and professors prefer in-person     instruction, because they are concerned that companies supervising（监管）online     learning programs are not clear about the policies they have with the     schools they serve.

“Students     see in-class lectures as opportunities to engage with instructors, peers,     and content.” the researchers wrote. In-person learning is especially     important in fields like healthcare and teaching. Online education can     never really take its place, said Stephanie Hall, a fellow with the     independent policy research group The Century     Foundation. “Students need to experience...what they’re learning about,     reading about or hearing about in the classroom. And I don’t know yet the     degree to which technology can facilitate that.”

“When     schools make agreements with online program managers to run their online     programs, they often do not make important information available to     students,” Hall said. This includes how much control the company has over     the design of the program or whether the faculty     leading the classes was involved in their design. In addition, many     colleges and universities advertise online programs as a low cost     opportunity for students. But in some cases, students attending in-person     classes get financial aid and online students do not.