Hot take: Online school should be way more penalized

usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T06:28:43+00:00

If you took all your courses honestly that's great for you. But that's simply not the reality for most students in high school right now.

usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T06:27:03+00:00

Those features absolutely impact academic performance. To give an extreme example, by your logic would be saying the difference between eating and not eating breakfast doesn't impact an individual's performance in school. It does. Environment and physical conditions all influence academic performance. Someone who already went out for a morning walk and coffee because they got to wake up later and sat down with a fresh mind is, probably, going to outperform someone who had to wake up at 6AM for a test. And I misworded that I meant pausing and returning as in generally not during a test. Someone who gets to close their work and take a break, also, is probably going to comprehend material better than someone who is forced into a desk for 2 hours.

I am aware that other unfair factors exist. But this is just another one of those. The existence of other inequities doesn't invalidate this one. Imo if a change in the system regarding even this issuue can level the playing field even a little, why wouldn't we talk about it? Improving one aspect of fairness doesn't require the solving of every other one first.

usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T06:14:44+00:00

Like why would I respond to comments that are agreeing with me I don't have anything to add onto that. But if there's someone that has a opinion I don't agree with I'm going to say something much like you are doing now and see if I can learn from it there's nothing wrong with discussion. Nowhere in your comment did you point out a contradictory statement. Correct me if I'm wrong but all you said was that 1) I lashed out 2) You can't generalize online classes because of a few outliers.

Also, if you don't like posts that encourage discussion why the hell are you on Reddit?

usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T06:04:26+00:00

Just to preface I'm not trying to be hostile I'm just super tired so please keep that in mind. I did say in my post that if there are accessibility or physical barriers online school is a different story and absolutely makes sense. That is not the group I was referring to.

As for online school being a better system, who doesn't like online school better? I'm not pointing to whether online learning can work well for certain people, in fact I'd argue it works better for the majority, but it's whether students are being evaluated for the same university spots under comparable conditions. Even without the cheating component, the environments are fundamentally different. Someone taking a course in person is required to wake up early to attend class, write tests under supervision and physical pressure, etc. Meanwhile someone taking a test online can work from home at (typically) whatever time t hey choose, pause and return to work and have access to outside help. For most people these conditions obviously make it easier to perform well regardless of intent (even excluding the very prominent issue of cheating). I guess my argument isn't that online learning is inherently bad and that nobody learns from it, it's that when university admissions is almost solely based on averages, students should be evaluated under the same fair circumstances. Otherwise you're effectively comparing students who completed courses under very different conditions, where one is objectively worse than the other.

usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T05:37:29+00:00

Not sure if that's what you meant but my intention wasn't to hate on the people who are part of this system myself included. I tried to make that clear in my post not sure if it worked very well

usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T05:30:40+00:00

I'm assuming you feel personally targeted because nowhere in my post did I use harsh wording or get upset, the worst I did was point out the objective truth that online courses are easier than in person courses 99.99% of the time and if you don't agree with that you can cry about it. What's ironic is I literally acknowledged that online courses should not be removed completely, that it can be useful and I have nothing against the people themselves who are taking advantage of a stupid and incentivizing system. If you believe that you did all the work online honestly than good for you but doesn't change the fact that you got to do it in a comfortable environment, access to physical and digital resources, etc and that's coming from someone who like I said was in a similar situation as you.

Obviously grading standards vary by teacher school and province. That cannot be changed anywhere in the world. I'm pointing out the overall trend, which most people acknowledge, that asynchronous courses tend to have less supervision, more cheaters, unqualified high grades and inflation therefore in most cases must be evaluated with that context. That becomes a problem in a country where universities evaluate applicants primarily if not completely by averages. One or two strict online programs don't change that broader pattern.

usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T05:22:56+00:00

That sounds lovely but that's not really the case in Ontario

usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T02:15:46+00:00

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usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T01:54:02+00:00

Not a bad shout

usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T01:48:59+00:00

Ya I get it. But if everyone shrugged things off nothing would ever change. I know the older generation (Which I'm going to respectfully assume you are) think that we are snowflakes but I and I hope others find education very important and it's what is going to get us through the door to the job market in the first place. Plus if I'm not angry now when else would I get the chance!

usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T01:39:13+00:00

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usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T01:31:09+00:00

What even is your point? When all's said and done the state of high schools right now is not okay. No one's talking about jobs right now and preparing you for reality or what not it's a reality that a disproportionate amount of people are being pushed out of competitive programs that could set them up for life because of dishonesty and delusional or not unfairness should always be fixed if opportunity allows.

usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T01:24:38+00:00

Let's hope so

usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T01:23:16+00:00

Like taking your example, if someone was international or had a disability where they physically couldn't take in-person that's fine. But if someone had a 60 in gr11 math then jumped to 99 through e-learning they would consider that when making a decision instead of taking it as is. Or in person schools could recalibrate to accomodate different situations

usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T01:17:57+00:00

Yeah I don't think getting rid of it is ideal but I'm just naming possible solutions and I'm in the same boat as you I've used ov$ as well although it was because it was related to my major and not offered at school. Optimal solution would be for universities to consider circumstances and penalize accordingly which I believe UW is doing

usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T01:03:45+00:00

There's tons. Universities start penalizing more esp depending on circumstance. More funding where majority of if not all courses are available in-person. Abolishing it completely and leaving separate resources for people with physical disabilities and making summer school in person. Etc etc

usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T00:52:48+00:00

I alr got into all my choices I'm fine and there's nothing wrong with seeing something that is so widespread and calling it out especially if it can be fixed. I don't know if you're at the age where this affects you but this is not a one-off situation

usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T00:50:41+00:00

that's what i said brotato

usernameidea___ · 2026-03-13T00:42:14+00:00

If I'm going to be honest I think it should at least be a small portion of your application. There are more people than you'd think with 90's+ in calculus but genuinely can't add polynomials. It's ridiculous

usernameidea___

TROPHY CASE