Associate professor Tim Dare and Dr Patrick Girard will run the University of Auckland's first full-online course in critical thinking.

University of Auckland philosophy students will no longer have an excuse to miss lectures thanks to a new online course.

The first year philosophy paper Critical Thinking is one of the university's most popular undergraduate courses and is the university's first full-online course.

About 2500 students enrol in the course every year and from 2016 it will become the university's first 'Large Online Course' or LOC.

Lecture material will be delivered through short videos and articles, specifically designed for online consumption.

The in-person and online courses will be run by Associate Professor Tim Dare and Dr Patrick Girard in Philosophy.

Dare said the online version would help students avoid timetable clashes, plan the course around their other commitments and take pressure off lecture theatres.

"We know students are juggling work so they can do this course in the evening."

Online students will still have to sit the exam in person on campus, or at a location out of Auckland in agreement with the university.

The university recently ran the Critical Thinking course as an eight-week MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) for 28,500 students from around the world.

Auckland University Students' Association president Paul Smith said online courses were not "the be all and end all" but they were an exciting development for universities.

Online courses were not a replacement for a traditional university education but it was a step in the right direction.

Smith, a philosophy major, said making critical thinking skills more widely available was another positive.

New Zealand University Students' Association president Rory McCourt said online courses would mean a drop in quality of education.

The most important part of learning was getting students in the classroom to engage with the material, lecturers and other students, he said.

McCourt said the University of Auckland should "tread carefully" where online courses were concerned.

"Quite often it can degrade the quality of the institution's reputation."

The social aspect of university life and support networks could not be replicated through online courses, he said.

Students were already skipping classes to try and fit in work, especially in Auckland where rising rent prices put pressure on students.

Those who did not have time to make it to a couple of lectures each week were unlikely to have the time to absorb study material alone in their bedrooms without interaction with university staff and other students, McCourt said.

Recently, online courses, including MOOCs, have been touted as the "saving grace" for tertiary institutions and higher education providers, he said.

The University of Phoenix in the United States is well-known for offering online courses, as well as full online degrees.

MOOCs were often free but had low completion rates, McCourt said.

The University of Auckland's LOC would be offered to fee-paying students completing a degree. Students not enrolled in a degree at the university could enrol in the course as a Certificate of Proficiency.