A Vindication of the Dilemma of Online Education
The Introduction of online education into the pool of academia has proven to be one of the biggest triumphs since Mac ‘n’ Cheese; its inception complementing this new age of technology. Be that as it may, does this so called “distance learning” threaten the consistency, validity, and integrity of the education system as a whole? While offering more convenience, does online learning unwittingly create a hospitable terminal for slackers and a commodious e-community for academic dishonesty? Despite its advantages, online education is about as significant as a pocket on a suit jacket. To suggest that online education is the equivalent of traditional, in class, learning would be a diabolical misstatement of elephantine proportions. Online education, while offering more flexibility and accessibility, has limited social and instructor interaction, requires mandatory self-discipline, and leaves too much leeway for dishonesty.
Generally speaking, one of the biggest challenges of online learning is the sense of isolation the student must endure. Having limited social communication with classmates and virtually no direct student teacher interaction, online students must make sense of bleak instructions for each assignment on their own; and with no one there to guide the students through assignments, a syllabus is their only companion. Also, with online education the bit of communication that does take place between classmates and there
This section of the encyclopedia talks about what students and teachers can contribute to online learning environment. It talks about who the average online learner is and the online relationship between the student and the teacher, and the student and their peers. Above all the author stresses that thinking differently is important to make online education work.
Most individuals are finding the online world flexible and convenient, and accurately matching their objectives and busy kind of lives. Online learning capabilities have proliferated and have ensured vital knowledge and skills for the learners. Students can easily locate various learning programs online, and these are always accessible and convenient for any interested party in the online fraternity. However, there are few challenges that are associated with the online world, but the educators have provided succinct methods that can be used by learners to develop knowledge and skills that are associated with the learning platform.
Ethical behavior should be expected from college students; however, it is not always present. There is a moral obligation for students, earning a degree, that they are in fact the ones doing the homework and tests. The prevalence of online institutions has helped enable a multitude of working individuals earn a degree. Without the classroom setting, it is arduous for a professor to ensure who is on the other end of the keyboard and monitor. In fact, Gopala, Paswan, and Qin (2015) stated that regarding online classes and degree programs, “as a component of distant-learning initiatives, have attracted a lot of attention from educational institutions, administrators, policymakers, and society at large. According to results of Pew Research Center 2011 Surveys, about 23 percent of college graduates have taken online courses” (p. 67). Rocky University has conducted a survey asking 90 of its students whether or not he or she may have cheated on any assignments. Rocky University is interested in comparing itself with other Universities as well as setting a benchmark of its own situation. The following will enable the reader to understand just where Rocky stands after the results of the survey are tallied.
Currently, students around the country, even the world, have the choice to either attend a class face-to-face with a teacher inside a classroom or computer-generated classes in online colleges or Universities. Even though they are similar, the differences between the two are somewhat remarkable. Obviously both types of learning require instructions and some form of assessment and they differ in terms of the learning process and communication.
Schools are wreaking havoc on students education by instituting online education. Online learning will take away the ability to learn key social skills. With online schooling, cheating is easier than it ever has been. Alexander Spring, a sophomore at Tufts University, wrote an essay, “Online Learning: The Ruin of Education,’’ that brings to light some of the hidden horrors of online education. I agree with Spring’s statement that online courses will not teach students, and online learning should not be a main form of education.
Alisa Stern’s article discusses the boom of online learning in higher education institutions and the major challenges an instructor faces with these online courses. According to Stern, the most challenging thing about an online course is replicating the same learning environment a student would get attending a regular face to face class. She discusses how technology has pushed online learning to become more collaborative and less isolated. Furthermore, Stern has experienced teaching an online courses and discusses the different tools that helped her recreate a conventional learning environment in an online course. Stern mentions that communication played an important role in the way she taught her courses and students felt as if she was interested
With the advancement of new technology, more students enroll in online courses (Spring), but this action alarms some who do not agree with online education. College Sophomore Alexander Spring’s editorial, “Online Learning: The Ruin Of Education,” argues “Online education turns a center into a diploma factory.” However, he experienced online education for only a brief period of time. Instead of providing statistics to support his proposition, he based his entire article on his own negative personal experience. Furthermore, Spring merely presents the harmful aspects of online learning, without acknowledging the benefits online education possesses. In his argument, he said this about his experience, “I had the horrific opportunity to experience online learning for a few weeks.” Contrary to Spring’s beliefs, online learning possesses many positive advantages.
Spencer, K. (2011). “The difference between online and distance learning”. Retrieved 4 January 2016 from
Contrary to what some may believe, online learning doesn't equate to less work nor are the standards any lower than what one would expect from a traditional classroom environment. Online learning simply refers to the way in which the content
Learning is more than just receiving information. Traditionally learning was to be in campus, where students would interact with one a another, there were no other ways for learners to get educated beside going to the classroom and listening to the instructor. Nowadays the Internet has brought different ways for people to receive information, such as getting education and degrees online. A few years ago online education was never thinkable, and yet it has become to reality and it is widely expanding with popularity. Online education is a type of educational instruction that delivers learning to individuals to their own homes, and it is getting very popular among nontraditional student and others. Individuals prefer online education
Online education is a type of distance learning. The student is taking courses without attending a school or university. Instead, online students and teachers interact over the Internet. Online classes can teach students educational responsibility. By forcing them to access the online portal to participate in reading the textbooks/lectures and doing the assignments. Technical abilities is also learned with online classes. Students who lack the tech savvy knowledge can learn how to navigate through the online environment. Being able to access the online portal at any given time of the day is one other benefit to online education. Though online education may seem beneficial, there are more negatives than
Education has undergone significant changes because of the development of information and communication technology over the 21st century (Lin & Jou, 2012:2). As a convenient and inexpensive way to gain knowledge while pursuing higher education, online learning, a form of training or teaching that takes place over the Internet, has been considered as an alternative to traditional classroom learning (Zhang et al, 2004). This essay will argue that even though online learning has benefit such as flexibility which could outweigh traditional learning, traditional classroom learning might still not be entirely replaced. This essay will discuss positive and negative aspects of online and traditional learning in terms of four criteria:
One of the biggest issues that students have to overcome in a face to face class is the fear of doing well. Steinberg notes,
Andrew Simoncelli once said, “Students who take online classes must be motivated, independent learners.” This is relevant because independence and motivation is what it takes to succeed in an online course. Online learning will not only expand what students learn, but will also bring a number of positive changes in the way students are taught. Courses online have changed everyone’s look at learning all over the world. It allows more opportunities for observers to learn online rather than learning in class. Another affirmative of taking an online course is flexibility and convenience. Students who would like to experience some of these ideas should look into an online class!
Online teaching is defined as any educational activity that requires a student to complete some learning or assessment activity via a personal computer and a connection to a network (Murdoch University Academic Council 1999). This network connection is usually to the Internet (Demirdjian 2002). It is a seen by the Murdoch University Academic Council as a teaching and learning technology, not a method of study (2002), but this depends on how it is to be used and by whom. For example, distance education student using online teaching would be more inclined to see it as a study method than a QUT student who uses online teaching to download and print lecture notes to attend a lecture on campus.