Last week we a lengthy discussion in class about the pros and cons of online grades. There were strong opinions on either side. Personally, I am for online access to grades. I would appreciate having such a system, simply because it would give me a better idea of what subjects I need to focus on improving in. There is nothing wrong with the idea of online access in principle; at heart the system is intended to provide a more convenient way to see one's grades, a goal I think all can agree with. Most of the objections that were raised in class can be answered by proper design of the actual system. I think that there is a way to create online grades that will satisfy all.
One of the most common objections to an online grading system raised by students was the possibility that parents would use the system to constantly track every grade fluctuation, and criticize them over every sub-par test, every missed homework. This problem is easily solved; instead of posting grades for every assignment, an online system could instead show only the overall average. This would be easier on teachers, and remove the threat of helicopter parenting.
The second major issue with the concept of online grades was raised by Mr. O'Connor and Mr. Bolos, who argued that such a system would reduce the interaction between students and teachers; instead of having a conversation about their progress, students could check a webpage instead. That point is valid for some subject areas. Doing well in English and Social Studies is a complicated goal, and requires a great deal of teacher-student dialogue to understand how to improve one's ability to use ideas and arguments. For other subjects, however, performance in the class is based almost entirely on understanding of a certain amount of material; the names of the phylums of animals, for instance, or how to use set builder notation. For math and science especially, talking to a teacher about grades inevitably involves them only looking up and telling you your current grade. The problem is that performing well in math or science, while difficult, is not complicated. The only help, other than answering specific questions, that your teacher can give you is to tell you to study harder, and learn the material better. I'm not trying to say that I am against teacher-student interactions; I'm just saying that the negative effects of online grades can be significantly less for some subjects.
To solve this problem, I think it should be possible to allow teachers to opt out of any potential future system. This would satisfy those teachers who believe their classes would not benefit or be harmed by online grades, and give those teachers who wished to participate a more convenient alternative to frequently handing out grade reports. This would also help teachers with grading structures not compatible with frequently updating averages.
Most issues with online grading can, I believe, be solved with proper design of the eventual system. If anyone has thoughts on this issue or agrees or disagrees with my points, feel free to comment below.
I think you pose interesting solutions to what we discussed in class. A lot of the issues that people raised were purely subjective which makes finding an all-encompassing solution difficult. The 'helicoptering parents', as you put it, is something that's not present in every household and so only certain people hold it as a major point of opposition. We have to acknowledge that a system like online grading won't please everyone and the administration needs to be discerning in terms of which battles they choose to compromise in order to implement the system. Your solutions seem pretty straightforward without losing the initial goal of online grading. On somewhat of a tangent, it reminds me of the compromises of the Civil War we discussed in class today and how the government would make HUGE compromises to get certain projects done which ended up being catalysts for the war. Your suggestions seem fair without reason for much opposition - nice!
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