The worst part of winter break is waiting for final grades.

But with the advent of e-learning programs like Blackboard and webCafe, students and professors have the option of constant communication.

Curriculum changes or complicated questions move from one party to another with the click of a button, reducing confusion and simplifying professor-student interactions.

Since the introduction of webCafe and Blackboard, professors have tended to rely more heavily upon these applications when teaching introductory-level courses. But as students progress to smaller, higher-level classes, many professors abandon these tools and distribute information by email and personal interaction. Even professors who extensively use certain parts of Blackboard, like discussion boards, don't always post grades on the Web site.

This becomes a problem at the end of each semester, when many students anxiously refresh Penn InTouch as they await their final grades. The limit set by Penn InTouch, which allows students to view their unofficial transcript a maximum of three times a day, understandably frustrates anyone worried about his or her academic performance.

And unlike Penn InTouch, Blackboard allows users to view a breakdown of their final grade.

But if professors don't use Blackboard's grade posting feature, students don't have access to that information throughout the semester and can't track their progress. Penn needs to encourage professors across all departments to post grades to e-learning sites like Blackboard and webCafe.

After all, the technology to improve communication between students and professors during stressful grading periods already exists. All professors have to do is use it.