AI challenging credibility of online courses

Students can use AI but instructors never observe their thinking processes

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Distance learning far precedes the digital age. Before online courses, people relied on print materials (and later radio and other technologies) to support formal education when the teacher and learner were physically separated.

Today, there are varied ways of supporting distance learning with digital communication. With “asynchronous” online courses, teaching does not occur live. Students access course materials on the learning management system and complete assignments at their own pace. This allows flexibility across time zones and work schedules and affords accessible learning.

Nevertheless, some researchers have raised concerns regarding the quality and student outcomes associated with asynchronous online courses. As well, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has exposed fundamental challenges to this mode of delivery.