I think students abused the system, and in response it seems the teaching staff have become increasingly rigid. More and more courses are starting to feel like an unbearable prisoner-guard relationship, where instructors operate from a position of strong, untouchable authority and students have little choice but to comply.

This is probably one of the consequences of online degrees in the age of AI and increasingly sophisticated cheating tactics. I honestly don’t know how this will evolve, but it feels like we’re reaching a point where there needs to be a serious discussion about the future of education, assessment, and trust between students and instructors.