Vending Machine Education

Does anyone else feel at times that college is no more than a vending machine for a diploma? You put your quarters into that machine, one after one, and then maneuver the joy stick to direct the steel claw over to your chosen field of study and press the red button. The claw is released and (after a dozen or so more tries) it grabs the diploma and drops it into the prize recovery area. It is perhaps a little more complicated than this, but I wouldn't say too much more. That's one way to see college as a vending machine, but not exactly how I initially constructed the idea.
I'm completing my weekly assignment for my current class, Statistics, for the Master's program I am enrolled in. I am at times a little less than attentive to the questions because I know they are not being graded. Each week I complete between 40 and 50 questions from the end of the chapters assigned for reading that week. The procedure is to answer the questions, submit them, and then receive a grade based on completion rather than accuracy. This is great...for when I don't want to learn anything. I answer the questions, some of them accurately, until I get low on time or interest, whichever comes first, although both usually arrive at pretty much the same time in some Happy Days comic fashion when Ralph "Mouth" and Potzie show up at the same door-step, at the same time, with the same discount store roses to take Mary Sue to the sock hop at the American Legion. The point is that I don't put a lot of effort into answering these questions. I accept full responsibility for this, but I can't help but notice there are some aspects of the program that make this sort of behavior possible for me.
The vending machine is marvelous. It is the hallmark of convenience. The best part about it is that it is unmanned. If I owned a vending machine I could spend an hour a week stocking it and retrieving money from it and call it a day. The machine does all the work. Here I compare the current process of completing assignments in this class. I answer several dozen questions and submit them. The instructor returns to me a grade. The instructor didn't instruct me, they simply gave me a reading assignment and indicated which textbook questions I should answer. In follow through, I receive a grade and a filled-in answer key. If I am motivated I can review my answers and find out how I'm doing. Of course since I am not very motivated, to say the least - only in regards to this topic, statistics, I'm motivated to learn otherwise -I don't review my answers to the questions after I get the answer key. I chalk it up to a combination of the condensed time frame for the course (8 weeks) and the difficulty of instructor/student interaction through an online environment, not to mention (yet I am?) I work full-time and have other responsibilities in addition to school. Still, it is slightly disappointing that I am required to put in this effort without substantial feedback and monitoring.
Don't get me wrong, I love to learn on my own schedule without someone breathing down my neck, and I often read and think about things for the purpose of educating myself, everyday in fact. The difference here is that I'm not paying anyone for my own educational pursuits. When I am paying someone and my progress determines my eligibility for a degree I expect more follow up and direction. This is like going to Plato (who I tend to disagree with his philosophies the more I read about them) to be instructed by this historically celebrated teacher, and then he hands you a paperback copy of The One Minute Manager (no offense to Ken Blanchard, I read the book and found it valuable, but in contrast with learning at the feet of a master, it doesn't quite compare). Perhaps a better example is going to Mr. Myagi and hearing him tell you he'll e-mail you some "neat vids" he found on YouTube to teach you karate.
I should get back to finishing my assignment now. The point is that I don't think online education should be like a vending machine, I'd rather it be like walking into the candy store in Willy Wonka with Gene Wilder. Rather than putting money into a coin slot and getting a foil wrapped chocolate bar, you drop a few shillings into the flesh and blood hand of an eccentric man who will then sing you a song and pour unwrapped candy into your hands with a small shovel. That's the kind of education I want!