During this period, schools in Kentucky including Manual are doing classes online. There are many pros and cons about taking online courses for all classes, but having only certain courses online would be better for students in my opinion. Some courses such as health and Spanish 2 already have online courses students can take. Having a few more courses like math and science online would be beneficial to students, though I believe that AP courses should not offer online classes because they are heavy on lectures. 

Pros

Many colleges in and out of Kentucky offer students to take courses online when they don’t want to go into an actual class. Having more online courses for students can help prepare students for college since not all college courses have to be in-person. According to CollegeMapper, having more online courses in high school will prepare students for college level work. This will be beneficial for students to prepare for going to college.

Even during NTI, students are able to pace themselves on the work they need to get done. Now students usually have either 2 days to a week to complete their work assignments depending on their schedule. Online courses allow students to have extra time to understand the material or allow them to speed on ahead on the material they already understand and mastered. Students can also work at their own pace. Having online courses also allows for students to arrange their classwork accordingly depending on how busy they are that day.

Online courses for elective classes will also be beneficial to students. For elective courses, students can have asynchronous meetings, complete assignments, get credit, and still be able to take the elective class they wanted to take but couldn’t because of their conflicting schedule. Synchronous meetings can still be offered for the elective based on the teacher’s free time. 

Cons

Even if some courses are available online for students, there are still many fall backs on it. Students may feel less motivated to complete their work because there isn’t a teacher to encourage them to complete their work assignments. There might not be immediate teacher help for students who need it because online courses allow students to do their work whenever during the day. 

Some students may not actually take online courses seriously because it is online. I believe that students who show that they are able to complete assignments in-class and online, have a good work ethic, and the teacher believes that the student is able to take online classes seriously, they should be able to take the course online.

Schools should implement online courses and make it available to students. Teachers who believe that their students are capable of balancing their schedule and still make good grades should be allowed to take the online course.