But Senate President Joe Negron, a Stuart Republican who is advancing a major higher-education package in the Legislature this year, has raised questions about the shift to online learning.
“I think that online education is appropriate as a supplement to education. But for students who are on campus, I think you lose something by not having the interchange that occurs between a professor and a student,” Negron said.
Negron said online classes are “appropriate for students who are distance-bound,” but he sees it as a “diminution” of their education if they spend too much learning time online.
“It’s all about balance,” he said. “But I think by having 40 percent of on-campus students learning by staring at a computer, that’s not what is happening at the great universities in this country.”
Mariano, who unseated former Rep. Amanda Murphy, D-New Port Richey, in the November election in a Pasco County House district, said “there is definitely a value to having in-person class discussion,” but the online options provide flexibility.
