Online Classes Are Rapidly Becoming A More Popular And Accepted Option Among Students

As technology became more accessible, the diversification in student populations developed hand-in-hand with more diverse course delivery methods (O’Malley and McCraw). Today, online courses are offered at most colleges to fit the needs of their diverse study bodies, and students who otherwise, would not be able to take these courses. A study published in US News reported, more than six million students took at least one online course during the fall 2010 semester, which is an increase of over ten percent from the fall 2009 semester (Lytle).

Online courses have become more common among colleges and universities. About thirty percent of all college and university students are enrolled in at least one online course (Bergstrand, Savage, 2013). Online classes provide flexibly for students, allowing them to work more hours or care for their families. Studies have found that there is no drastic difference in student achievement whether they are enrolled in traditional classes or online classes (Bergstrand,2013). This article will analyze the experience of taking an online class as a student and will provide information from a sociological perspective.

Online courses have started within the past 30 years as a means of learning. With increases in Internet use, many U.S. schools offer online classes. Because of the main disparities amid online course and face to face instruction, numerous questions have been brought forth in regard to the quality of online courses. This research will help American college students to understand the difference between online classes and face-to-face courses, and give them an idea that how effective that online classes are. Therefore, the leading research question of this study is what advantages and disadvantages of

The authors analyzed statistics of online learning to determine what they mean. They looked at the growth of online options in institutions. They also compared online learning with traditional learning to determine if it was as effective.

With all the publicity over online courses, great professors alike have been determined to find out whether online courses are just as effective as face-to-face classes. There have been some controversies over the situation; therefore, several studies have been made. One study by Adam Driscoll, Karl Jicha, Andrea Hunt, Lisa Tichavsky, and Greatchen Thompson shows that given the appropriate pedagogy or instruction, online courses is just as an effective teaching format as face-to-face classes (Driscoll, Jicha, Hunt, Tichavsky, & Thompson, 2012). The study showed that when comparing online courses against face-to-face courses, the midterm scores for both teaching platforms are the same. Given that the GPA of the students is taken into consideration, the test grades do not improve or become worse when the class is taken online. The same study showed that when comparing online courses to face-to-face courses, the student satisfaction does not increase or decrease when

Contrary, to what others have stated about online college classes, I found that there are many advantages and disadvantages for those who choose to advance in their career. Online college courses have become worldwide allowing individuals like me to make their own decisions on how to manage their college courses. Before I made a decision to take college courses online I had to be sure I was up for the challenge. Online college classes require the same amount of commitment as the traditional colleges. As I made the decision to attend online college courses I also explore every element of life factors and different skill techniques to help me succeed in my college classes.

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

Writer Bill Maxwell, in his essay “No Short Cuts in Long-distance Learning,” explains the pros and cons of online learning. Maxwell stands heavily on traditional classroom settings rather than the new technological way of earning a degree. As the demand for education in the work field, America has been pushing online classes, even though the dropout rate is extremely higher. In this article, Maxwell uses quite a few statistics in order to inform the reader why he is not a big fan of online classes. One of his argumentative statements was that research shows that many students taking online classes do not graduate, or further their education to a university as often as community college students. This essay was an easy read, but if he had used

Online courses increase students’ access to education. They can work remotely with top professors and take courses on their own schedule. Flexibility is key because so many of today’s students need to juggle coursework with jobs and family obligations.

Online classes have turned out to be to a greater degree a pattern for different individuals. Adaptability and openness from anyplace makes online courses simpler for understudies

Currently, the United States is ranked 14th in its educational standard, 17th in educational performance and 24th in literacy (Mark). Compared to the rest of the world, we are behind countries like Poland, China, Finland and New Zealand. For a country that prides itself on its successful western society, what is stopping us from having an education system to match the standards we have put on the rest of our amenities. However, a solution is closer than it seems. According to Rasmussen College, there are 6.7 million students currently enrolled in online courses, therefore with an increasing number of students attending these classes, it is not a question on whether or not these classes will become normal, but when and how these classes will revolutionize our education system (Bird). Online courses offer students the ability to create an education based around their schedule, and allow students who may struggle or may not be able to attend a traditional school environment the chance to have an equal education. Not only can the students benefit from an online education environment, but both schools and professors can gain from an online system. Moreover, such courses can help create a global education system that allows anyone to have the same access to an education anywhere in the world as long as they have a connection to the internet.

Technology is changing every aspect in our lives, even the way we learn. Online classes are a rapidly growing trend it today’s society. Online classes are a cost-effective substitute for traditional courses and more convenient for many, so more schools and universities are offering this option. Due to the increase in online course enrollment, people are questioning if students truly learn something from online classes because it’s not a traditional learning environment. Online classes are just, if not more, effective as traditional classes because grades have increased and online discussions provide students with the chance to interact through networking while earning a degree for less than what it would cost to enroll at the same university.

Online learning, also known as distance learning, is growing rapidly throughout the United States. The 2012 survey of online learning determined that “the number of students taking at least one online course has now surpassed 6.7 million” (Online Learning Consortium, 2012). With the 2014 online learning statistics being released on February 5, it is expected that the number of students has grown significantly in the past two years and is only set to increase into 2015.

The year 2014 I majored in Information Technology and received my first Online Education class. Privacy, space, and concentration are what Online Education provided. Online Education has granted me a greater learning experience than being taught by the few lazy teachers in the past. Teachers online provide links, videos, and handout-guides for every assignment, anything needed to complete and learn the materials. Not only has Online Education granted me a higher learning experience, but also saved me an immense amount of money on gas and having the need to drive daily to class and paying for parking. Many students struggle financially, and online education has saved me a fortune. It is important to know that Online Education has affected us students in a positive way where we have the alternative to meet an Education without the need to drive daily to campus. Each year institutions’ of higher education has offered more courses that are fully online as well as more that are blended or hybrid in design format (Hoskins and van Hooff, 2005). Colleges and universities are placing greater emphasis on increasing online education offerings (Allen and Seaman, 2005).

In many schools, online classes are becoming more available to students. Recent studies show that the use of online classes has been rapidly increasing over the past three years. Currently, there are a total of 6,700,000 students enrolled in all different variations of courses