Online education has it’s benefits: low cost, no commute, flexible schedule, and the oft-mentioned others. There’s one topic that I’d not yet considered: germs. There’s a bug going around here, and, unfortunately, I ended up with it. Like many of my friends and a few of colleagues, the thoughts occupying my mind for the past few days have been feverish, cloudy, and focused on getting better ASAP. It occurred to me that online education rather changes the school-and-sickness relationship.  

The Good News
I’ve spent most of my years in educational institutions. Whether I was a student or a teacher, whether it was public school or university, these have varied, but one thing (for our purposes we’ll focus on just this one thing) has remained pretty much the same: schools are breeding grounds for the latest bugs going around. Go into a public school and you’ll find that very nearly all of the teachers have hand sanitizer on their desks.

I remember one instance with one student very clearly; it was my breaking point. I’ve never been much of a germaphobe, but this student (an eighth grader) made me stop at the store for a jumbo-sized bottle of hand sanitizer on my way home. With his homework in hand, he blithely wiped his nose, loudly siphoning the mucous back up into his skull. Of course, he chose the hand with the homework in it, and–again, of course–promptly handed me the snot-sullied packet.

The best part of online education (this is fairly skewed because I’m ill, which throws my priorities off a touch) is that you avoid the germ circle. Higher education, being populated by adults–or close–on the whole might seem much better than the hellish halls of public schools, but often college students show up to class no matter what is attacking their immune systems. After all, they paid for the class and would damned if they’ll miss a lecture or pop quiz just because they’ve got the sniffles. In contrast, younger students will try every trick in the book to stay home, often feigning symptoms just for a day off. The point: neither is really better, and online education keeps you out of both.  

The Not-Quite-Good News
It is way, way harder to call in sick to an online class. We’ve all been so sick that we’re useless. I spent the weekend misplacing my coffee cup around the house and watching movies because I couldn’t concentrate enough to read. I would not have been a benefit to a discussion, online or otherwise. I couldn’t have written a sound argument if my grade depended on it; I could scarcely operate the entertainment system. It seemed to me, though, that I wouldn’t have gotten much sympathy from an online professor. I must admit; I’m not basing this on anything except speculation. It just seems like a doctor’s note would have to include a special section about my unsound mind, if I expected to get out of my assignment, test, or discussion.