We live in an unprecedented time as far as the ability to work and attend school remotely. It’s a bit like the Wild West and it seems that everyone has different ideas about what remote jobs and classes should and should not be able to require.

A situation was brought to my attention recently caused me to question– is it acceptable to require assignments for classes or student jobs to be completed on-site from online students?

Say you decided to take a remote job with the film department as a film producer. Is it acceptable for them to require you to shoot a marketing video near your home and send it in?

Justin Ford, a GHC Film Production major on the Floyd campus, had this to say on the matter: “If you are a remote student and have a job, you should do what’s asked of you for the job even if you’re not on campus. It goes for classes as well.”

Some online students believe that all assignments for classes and remote jobs for students should not be able to require them to do anything that isn’t online. Having worked remotely and been an online student, I feel this is an absolutely absurd view to have. Really, I’m flabbergasted!

To me, the idea that working and being a student online would never require you to interact with the world at large is incredulous. People take online classes and choose to work remotely for a variety of reasons.

I understand that we are in a pandemic, but living in a bubble is unrealistic. In order to truly learn on more than a superficial level, one must interact with their community. Any job other than data entry may require you to interact with environments outside your home and computer.

My questions to those that hold the opposing view would be– how do you expect to study the stars if you don’t go out and look at them?

Justin Roper, a GHC biology major on the Floyd campus, said: “If they are a student in the class they should have to do whatever is required, even if that means going into the real world. I also feel if you have a remote job, like a sports writer or something, you need to attend the event in order to be able to properly report on it. It’s part of your job.”

I truly hope that the majority of students would hold the same opinion as myself and these students. Being remote for classes or a job does not absolve you from the non-online tasks it requires.