Remember your old professor - the one that had you running to class, sitting up in front, and engaged the entire lecture? You know, the guy with the gray hair, withered skin, and gleaming eyes who smelled like crayons. Remember how everything he said seemed to flow so perfectly and had you on the edge of your seat? Remember leaving class feeling like it still hadn't ended?

Or, how about that other professor - the one you never saw or met, but could recite his e-mail by heart.

The second scenario doesn't seem to have quite the same flow.

The incredibly large variety and availability of online classes has teachers and commuting students excited about where this new educational route could be taking us - but hopefully, nowhere too far.

It's convenient for some students to have the option of taking online classes while simultaneously fulfilling other obligations in other states. The fact that MSU has been exploring the field of online education and expanding it is great for an institution that houses more than 40,000 students, all of whom live by their own agendas.

At times, sitting in those 300 person lecture halls where the professor can hardly remember a single student's name, it feels like there is no personal connection with the professor. In those cases, an online class might be more beneficial.

Having a variety of options is always better and more convenient. But nobody can permanently substitute a real classroom, present teachers, physical interaction and open discussion among students with e-mail addresses and Web sites.

The lecture technique may be ancient and old-fashioned. But it works, has always worked and it works well.

The expansion of new technology, such as online classes, is wonderful and can help take our university one step closer at meeting everyone's needs on campus.

Let's hope, however, that even though new windows are opened, old one's aren't closed.